I use the editorial "we" here -- your author must confess to having eschewed the CBS summer smash so far. It's not the eating of rats and bugs or even, necessarily, the prospect of seeing naked fat guys that has repulsed me most about the series. It is, rather, a social distaste: I'm too much of a wussy to enjoy the show's basic concept of a group of people forced to live together and also to systematically betray each other. Maybe it stems from a deep-seated fear that this is too acute a caricature of the way that the world of grown-up business affairs is run. Or maybe it's just the knowledge that, as soon as everybody got a look at the hair on my back, my ass would be on the next boat for the mainland.
In any case, it's clearly my loss. Friends I otherwise regard as highly intelligent have told me that Survivor is very compelling TV. If I do break down and watch any of the remaining episodes, I'll likely do so at BD's Mongolian Barbeque, 501 South Mill in Tempe, which is hosting "Survivor Parties" each Wednesday through the three-hour grand finale on August 23.
Along with the yummy all-you-can-eat stir-fried bill of fare -- which, the management apologetically admits, does not include rat or nurse shark -- BD's will offer extended happy hours through 7 p.m., "Reward Challenges" of ring-toss and other games for prizes during the commercial breaks and "Immunity Challenges" at the end of the show. The immunity in question is from the bill; the victors get their dinner on the house. For details call 480-858-0807.
