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Wednesday, May 4, 2016

Meg Go Run's Ultimate Survivor Season Rankings!

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WARNING: THIS POST CONTAINS SUPER SPOILERS AS TO WHO THE PAST WINNERS OF SURVIVOR SEASONS ARE! PLEASE READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!!!!

I'm a Survivor fan. I wouldn't consider myself a SUPER fan as I can't list every single person who got voted out in order for each season... but I am still a pretty big fan! I listen to Survivor podcasts, am active on the message boards, and I have seen every season... some of them more than once! (Okay, except Season 22, but more on that later!)

Being the Survivor fan that I am, I love to read season rankings. I don't care if the rankings are done by EW, The Wire, or Jo Shmoe.

I want to be that Joe Shmoe! When people Google, "Survivor season rankings", I want Meg Go Run to pop up on the list... even if you have to sort through 30 other Google pages until mine comes up!

I realize many of you will not read this. That's okay. Honestly, this isn't for you. It's for me. And maybe Kristen.



Here are my ultimate Survivor season rankings!


But first... let me explain my list.

My definition of a "good" Survivor season has both characters I love and hate. It's funny. There are power shifts. Ideally someone I like wins, but there are seasons where I don't like the winner but still like the season.

I am also including a list of characters from each season that I loved and hated. When I say I love or hate a character, I mean the CHARACTER on the show. I realize these are real people and I am in no way trying to say they are good or bad people. I'm just basing it off their character on the show and what CBS decided to show us. I'm sure they are all awesome people in real life. Oh, and just because I like a character doesn't mean I want them to win. Sometimes I just like someone because they are a train wreck! (Cough, Shambo.)

When I give my thoughts on the winner, please know that they aren't necessarily my thoughts on whether I think they deserved to win or not. There are a lot of winners I like that didn't play a very good game and winners I don't like but played a great game. I'm just sort of giving my general feelings on the winner unless I directly say something about whether they deserved it or not.


OKAY, NOW THE RANKINGS!!!

Very Top Tier Survivor- These are the best of the best, my absolute favorites!



1. Cagayan- Brains - Beauty - Brawn

Tony is what made this season for me. Kass and Spencer also livened things up.

Characters I loved: Tony, Spencer, Trish, Woo, Brice
Characters I hated: Kass, J'Tia, Sarah  
Winner thoughts: Tony is one of my favorite winners! He flew fast and loose, which was fun to watch.

2. China


Reasons I loved China: Lots of characters to love and lots of characters to hate. There were power shifts and good game play. Courtney was hilarious.

Characters I loved: James, Courtney, Todd, Amanda, Denise (for entertainment purposes only)
Characters I hated: Jaime, Peih-Gee, 
Winner thoughts: Not only do I love Todd, but he did play the best game.

3. The Amazon

The main reason I loved this season was ROB CESTERNINO. Seriously, if you are a Survivor or Big Brother fan and not listening to his podcasts, you are missing out.

Characters I loved: Deena, Butch, Rob, Matthew
Characters I hated: Heidi, Jenna, Shawna, Alex, Joanna
Winner thoughts: Rob was robbed. He was the best player that season. I do not like that Jenna won.

4. Borneo (Season 1)

Borneo has to be listed as top tier Survivor. Not only was it an excellent season, but it has a lot of nostalgia associated with it. I watched this season when it aired in 2000. The whole concept of reality television game shows was brand new. And to think, it's 2016 and this show is still on the air and in it's 32nd season? It's just crazy!

Characters I loved: Greg, Sue, Rudy, Rich
Characters I hated: None.
Winner thoughts: Rich is one of the greatest Survivor winners! I love hearing his insights on the current seasons when he is a guest on RHAP. (Rob Has A Podcast)

Top Tier Survivor- These are seasons I enjoyed a lot.

5. Cambodia (Second Chances)

It is so cool watching a season of returning players when you really enjoy a lot of them. The only sad part is that Teresa wasn't chosen. That was just heartbreaking.

Characters I loved: Jeff, Kimmy, Keith, Stephen, Terry, Spencer, Jeremy
Characters I hated: Abi-Maria, Ciera, Tasha, Shirin, Joe, Monica
Winner thoughts: What's not to love about Jeremy? Also, I think he has the BEST Survivor body. After he starves for like two weeks, his muscles are POPPING!

6. Africa

I saw Africa when it originally aired and barely remembered it. We re-watched it a year or two ago and I was like, "Damn, this season is good!" Lots of drama and lots of power shifts!

Characters I loved: Linda, Frank, Teresa, Tom, Lex
Characters I hated: Silas, Lindsey
Winner thoughts: Ethan's nice.

7. Pearl Islands

Very good seasons with twists, power shifts, and moments that would forever go down in Survivor history. This is the season with Johnny Fairplay and the dead grandma lie. When I watched this season when it originally aired, I remember loving Rupert. When I re-watched it a year or two ago, I couldn't stand him. He was so emo.

Characters I loved: Fairplay, Christa, Lill (for entertainment purposes)
Characters I hated: Sandra, Rupert
Winner thoughts: I really wish Sandra had made it to the end with Fairplay and he had won it all.

8. Fiji

This season has consistently been rated pretty low, so I was prepared to hate it. On the contrary- we LOVED it! So much drama. Great characters. Dreamz was casting GOLD.

Characters I loved: Earl, Yau Man, Dreamz, Rocky, Lisi (Note: Dreamz, Rocky, and Lisi I loved because they were train wrecks!)
Characters I hated: Mookie
Winner thoughts: Earl deserved it!

9. Philippines

I was glad to see Skupin back but didn't really need to see Penner and Russel Swan. Surprisingly, Lisa did not annoy me at all. In fact, I really, really liked her.

Characters I loved: Denise, Malcolm, Lisa, Michael
Characters I hated: Russel Swan (baby), Pete, Abi-Maria
Winner thoughts: Denise deserved it, but I would have been happy with anyone in the F3 winning.

10. The Australian Outback

This season also has a lot of nostalgia for me. It is probably the main reason it is in this particular tier.

Characters I loved: Jeff, Colby
Characters I hated: Jerri, Alicia, Amber
Winner thoughts: Colby should have taken Keith and won it all.

11. Caramoan - Fans vs. Favorites 2

I can understand how one might not like this season if they don't like Cochran. I happen to like Cochran and think he's really funny. One thing that surprised me this season is how mean the jury was to Sherri! They accused her of not playing the game, but half the jury didn't play the game! Oh well, I am always amused by a bitter jury!

Characters I loved: Phillip, Brandon (for entertainment purposes only), Cochran, Dawn
Characters I hated: Corinne, Malcolm, Andrea
Winner thoughts: Love Cochran!!!

Middle Tier Survivor- These are also seasons I thoroughly enjoyed. I am glad I really enjoy even mediocre seasons of Survivor!

12. Samoa

Oh man. Russel. I hate to say it, but without him and Shambo, this season would be nothing. It's one of those seasons where all the characters I like are train wrecks!

Characters I loved: Russel Swan, Russel Hantz, Erik (cause he was in the tree), Shambo
Characters I hated: Laura, Monica
Winner thoughts: I know people said Russel played a better game, but he pissed of the jury and he didn't account for that. Sorry Russel, I was happy Natalie won.

13. Vanuatu

Paul and I binge watched this season while he was in the hospital. I think it only took us two nights. The best way to watch Vanuatu is in the binge format because once Ami Cusack's snotty, cocky bitch alliance starts getting voted out, it is soooooo delicious.

Characters I loved: Eliza, Twila, Chris
Characters I hated: Ami, Julie, Leann
Winner thoughts: It's cool Chris prevailed against all odds and beat the women, but I did feel bad for Twila.

14. Thailand

This was another season that got very low ratings yet I thoroughly enjoyed it. It is a shame Helen has never been asked back!

Characters I loved: Helen, Jan
Characters I hated: Clay, Robb
Winner thoughts: Based off Survivor ONLY, I thought Brian was a really good player.

15. Panama

There were so many crazy, quirky things going on this season. I remember laughing a lot- mostly thanks to Shane, Bruce, and of course the Aras vs. Terry story line.

Characters I loved: Bruce, Terry, Courtney, Shane, Cirie
Characters I hated: Aras
Winnter thoughts: I wish it had been Terry in the end. Aras was a brat.

16. Palau

First of all, it is a crime that Wanda has never been asked back to Survivor and Stephenie has been back twice. What's up with that? I would also love to see Ian again. I know part of the reason I rank this season so high is because I loved Tom. I realize if Tom annoys you, you might not like this season! Speaking of people who annoyed me, Katie is probably one of the Survivor contestants I hate the most!

Characters I loved: Wanda, Bobby Jon, Stephenie, Ian, Tom
Characters I hated: Katie

Winner thoughts: Tom is like the ultimate Survivor winner. He is good at everything and controlled his alliance from day one. The only bad part about him having such control and always having immunity is that he never got to show his strategic chops.

17. Tocantins


I couldn't wait to watch Tocantins because I always listened to Stephen on RHAP's Survivor Know It Alls. It was cool to finally see him on the screen! 

Characters I loved: Sierra, Coach, Taj, Stephen, JT
Characters I hated: Tyson, Debbie
Winner thoughts: JT definitely deserved it. I liked him too.

18. Marquesas

Kathy is one of the reasons I enjoyed this season so much. It was also the fact that even though it was old school survivor, there was still a lot of strategy and alliances going on.

Characters I loved: John, Sean, Kathy
Characters I hated: Tammy


Winner thoughts: A was happy for Vecepia, but the F2 was so lackluster for me. I really wanted Kathy to win in the end. I was happy for an all female F3, though.

19. Nicaragua

So here is another season that is always rated really low but I enjoyed it very much. There were a lot of people to root for and against.

Characters I loved: Marty, Jane, Holly, Fabio, 
Characters I hated: Shannon, Brenda, NaOkna, 

Winner thoughts: I was glad Fabio got it. If it couldn't be Holly, then he was good.

20. San Juan Del Sur


I'm so on the fence about this season. I mean ultimately, it was entertaining. But there weren't many people in the game I actually was rooting for. They all left too early.

Characters I loved: Keith, Josh, Reed
Characters I hated: John, Missy, Baylor
Winner thoughts: I didn't like Natalie.

21. Cook Islands


Characters I loved: Yul, Cowboy, Penner
Characters I hated: None

Winner thoughts: I was proud of Yul and his alliance.

22. Gabon

I know this season is not usually rated very high, but I did enjoy it. It wasn't super action packed but I liked the challenges and I liked how Sugar kept messing up everyone's plans! Oh, and Corinne is a horrible, horrible person.

Characters I loved: Ken, Randy, Sugar, Matty
Characters I hated: Corinne

Winner thoughts: Bob was nice but that whole F3 was very lackluster!

Bottom Tier Survivor- Seasons I did not like at all. The only thing that keeps them out of the very bottom tier is that there were some good characters I liked.

23. South Pacific

The only thing that saves this season for me is Cochran, Dawn, and Coach. I enjoyed these characters. Sophie annoyed the crap out of me and is one of my least favorite winners ever.

Characters I loved: Coach, Cochran, Dawn, Brandon (for entertainment purposes only)
Characters I hated: Sophie, Ozzy
Winner thoughts: Like I said, Sophie is one of my least favorite Survivor winners. Her and Parvati can just eff off!

24. Guatemala

The reason I hate Guatemala is that I didn't like Stephenie or anyone in her alliance. I loved Stephenie in Palau, but in this season, she acted SO entitled and like she knew everything about Survivor. I was so annoyed that she made it to the end. The only reason this season doesn't make the very bottom of the barrel for me is because Danni ended up winning and I liked her. After all, who doesn't love an underdog?

Characters I loved: Brian, Bobby Jon, Lydia, Danni 
Characters I hated: Judd, Cindy, Stephenie
Winner thoughts: Good job, Danni!

25. Blood vs. Water 1

I think the reason I didn't enjoy this season a lot is that when I watched it, I hadn't seen a lot of the past seasons that these contestants came from. Most of them were new to me. Now after having watched all the old seasons, it's hard for me to understand why they picked some of these players to come back! Colton, Kat, and Monica? Really??? We plan to watch this season again and I hope to enjoy it more the second time around. But of the characters I feel very "meh" about so sometimes it's hard to get into a season when you just don't care about anyone.

Characters I loved: None.
Characters I hated: Laura M, Ciera, Tina, Katie
Winner thoughts: Is Tyson really such a great player? It took him three tries to win.

Very Bottom Tier- Hate, hate, hate, will never watch again, only finished watching the seasons because Paul made me.


26. All-Stars


I feel bad putting this on the bottom since there were a lot of characters I liked. Plus the old school nostalgia aspect should theoretically bump it up the list. But it's Rob and Amber's straight path to the end and Amber's ultimate win that soured it for me. Now, I do understand why contestants just settled for 5th, 4th, and 3rd place, and if you want to get into that, we can do so in the comments. And understanding does make me a little less butt hurt, but I am still butt hurt about it. Obviously, I am not a Boston Rob fan and it would be easier to enjoy this season if I was.

Characters I loved: Rob C, Kathy
Characters I hated: Boston Rob, Amber, Jenna, Rupert
Winner thoughts: We pretty much covered this. Amber shouldn't even have been on All-Stars.

27. Worlds Apart - White Collar, Blue Collar, No Collar

I wanted to like this season, but there were just so many unlikable people and no one I felt like rooting for. Isn't that the theme of all these "Very Bottom Tier" seasons? Shirin annoyed the ever loving crap out of me and I freaking HATED the Jen/Joe/Hali alliance. When Jen used her idol, I almost threw up in my mouth.

Characters I loved: Carolyn, Rodney, Dan (for entertainment purposes only)
Characters I hated: Jen, Joe, Mike, Shirin, Will,
Winner thoughts: I was so underwhelmed by Mike's win. 


28. Heroes vs. Villians

This is pretty much Micronesia Part 2 for me. I heard it was good, I wanted to like it, but I hated it. I wanted to stop watching, Paul made me keep going, and that's 13 hours of my life I'll never get back.

Characters I loved: Tom, Coach, Courtney, Candice, Colby
Characters I hated: Stephenie, Cirie, James, Amanda, Russel, Parvati, Sandra
Winner thoughts: I didn't think anything could be worse than a Parvati vs. Amanda F2, but then I was wrong. Parvati vs. Sandra is at least tied, if not worse.

29. Micronesia - Fans vs. Favorites 1

I really wanted to like this season. In all the season rankings I had read, this one is always near the tippy top. So I was completely surprised that after the first two episodes I wanted to give up and stop watching! Paul, the voice of reason, convinced me to keep going. I'm glad I did, just to say I saw the season, but it is really one of the worst seasons... mainly because there were so many players I just could not stand! And you will notice, a lot of the returning characters I loved in their first season but hate in this season! Why is that? I don't know. They were cockier? Something along those lines. And Parvati... she was a non entity in Cook Islands. Now in Micronesia I couldn't stand her flirting, her laugh, her smile... everything she did was WRONG, which clearly means I am being over dramatic.

Characters I loved: Chet, Eliza, Erik
Characters I hated: Parvati, Cirie, Amanda, Natalie, James, Ozzy
Winner thoughts: I still don't understand why Parvati is considered one of the best winners.

30. One World


I pretty much did puzzles while we watched this whole season. There was no one I liked! I didn't even like Kim! I don't know why she rubbed me the wrong way but she did. I hear her on RHAP and like her a lot on there. But on the TV show... no.

Characters I loved: Tarzan, Colton (for entertainment purposes only)
Characters I hated: Chelsea, Kim, Kat
Winner thoughts: Kim deserved to win but really, everyone else sucked so bad! My left shoe could have won that season.

Are you wondering where Season 22 is? We haven't watched it! I heard it is horrible and there is really no reason to waste my time. For now, we aren't going to watch it but I may change my mind in the future. Never say never!

And now, I am sure you are all wondering my thoughts on the current season of Survivor that is airing NOW... Kaoh Rong. Well, the jury is still out! If Aubrey, Tai or Sydney wins, I think I will rate it as at least a middle if not top tier (not very top) season. If Michelle, or Joe win, it is going to be bottom tier. If Jason wins, it will be very bottom tier!!! There is so much more game to be played, but at the moment, I am really enjoying the season!
Do you watch any reality TV? We do Survivor and Big Brother.

Which reality TV show would you be the best or worst at? I would suck at Survivor because I hate people, can't hide my feelings, and get really unreasonable when I am hungry. 

Any huge Survivor nerds out there want to tell me ANYTHING? I love talking about Survivor!

23 comments:

  1. Wow, you really put some thought into this! I've never watched survivor or Big Brother but I do know my parents are huge fans of both!
    Next time I see you I have a story to tell you about that!

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    1. LOL I know, lots of thought for a post no one will read. :) Can't wait to hear your story.

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  2. I don't watch Survivor but like you, I don't think I'd do very well--I wear my heart on my sleeve. And yes, there's that whole I hate people thing... :p

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  3. I have not watched survivor, but now I'm intrigued. I used to binge watch America's Next Top Model, they were all so catty, all the time! It sounds strange, but it taught me a lot about human nature... people will lie, cheat, betray, to get their way!

    I've never watched American Idol either, but I would be perfect as a judge. I have the whole "You suck and you are wasting my time" attitude for it.

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    1. OMG I used to watch ANTM too! I loved it. I actually realized from watching that it would be hard to be a model.

      You would think as a music teacher I would like American Idol but I don't and I don't watch it! I watched the first maybe 5 seasons?

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  4. So reading this post left me confused. Survivor is the one where a group is dropped off and they compete with hardly any food and stuff right? I don't have regular tv and when I did I never watched it. Mostly due to kid commitments and an early bedtime...and no DVR. I guess one of these days I will have to pull myself out of the stone age and get with the program.

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    1. Yes, you are right that's the show. It's just mindless fun. :)

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  5. OMG. I love how much you love stuff that you really love. Like, when you're passionate about something, you are PASSIONATE. Commendable! I don't watch TV so I skimmed through this entire post.

    Why do you hate people? I doubt that. I think you push them away because you're so sensitive and empathetic that it's too many feels, so you put up walls and pretend you hate them. xoxo Do you hate me now? Ha ha ha <3

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    1. You know what, you and Paul GET me. He notices that about me too- when I love something, I love it. :) My brother is like that as well and Paul thinks it's funny. Although my brother and I are passionate about totally opposite things!

      LOL I do not hate you. :) When I say I hate people, obviously I don't hate people. I am very caring. I just know that on Survivor you have to live right beside people, everyone smells, and obviously it would be hard to get along with them. :)

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  6. ... Wow. You really put a lot of time and effort into that! lol I kind of love how passionate you are about Survivor. So random! I don't have a TV, so I don't watch any reality shows. I do think that Frank and I would be great on the Amazing Race. We actually applied to be on it but got declined. I guess we'll never know. Haha!

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    1. lol thanks :) Go big or go home, right?? :) I think you and Frank would be AWESOME on TAR!!! I say keep applying.

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  7. I. Love. This.

    Reading this literally makes me want to watch every season/episode over again from the beginning. I think I should do this one day - maybe when I'm stuck on the trainer all winter and need some entertainment. I loved reading your thoughts on every season and characters that stood out. It brought back memories and some people/seasons are definitely more memorable than others.

    I have to know - do you have an all-time favorite character? One of my top favorites is Cochran. Seriously, that guy lived and breathed Survivor. He played so well.

    Also, what are your thoughts on the current season? One of my favorite moments was when Tai blindsided Scott. I jumped out of my seat. I think Cydney will win it all if she makes it to the end.

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    1. I am so glad you read this! I wanted you to. :) Have you see Season 22? So many people told me it's not even worth watching. Do you have CBS All Access? It's like $7.99 a month and every season of Survivor is available for streaming. That's what we did after watching all the seasons the library had.

      I really can't pick an ALL TIME favorite character, there are just so many good ones. I loved Cochran as well and I realize I have a bit of recency bias for him because I just saw his two seasons within the last couple months. But he was great. Rob Cesternino is great and of course I love him because of his podcast. Do you listen to it? If you want to geek out on Survivor, you should. He has a silly idea for a season: Survivor Undercover Butch. Do you remember Butch from The Amazon? Rob thinks they should send him in as a returning player but don't TELL anyone he is a returning player. They can say he is Butch, but the fun of it is that no one will remember him. Undercover Butch. It's dumb but I think it is funny. :)

      I am loving this season now that it seems like Jason and Scott are getting their comeuppance! I was jumping out of my seat too when Tai wouldn't let him use the idol! I LOVE Aubrey and Cydney and would be extremely happy if either of them won. I will hate it if Jason wins. I don't even want him to get to FTC because I don't want him to get second place. My dream Final 2 would Cyd and Aurbrey. :)

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    2. I have seen all the seasons, however I watch them live, so once the season is over and years have passed, I forget a lot. I might have to subscribe to that CBS All Access for a couple months when I am ready to commit! :) I don't listen to Rob's podcast but will check it out. It might be good listening while I am out walking Axel.

      Aubrey is my favorite this season. I love her! Justin has Tai in our character pool, so we kind of want him to win (just so we win the money), but I would be happy to see Audrey or Cydney win.

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  8. Oh gosh! I'm so guilty of watching junk TV! I'm also a big fan of Big Brother and Real Housewives of pretty much everything lol!

    How Running Makes Us Happy, But Happiness Makes Us Better Runners: https://candiesandcrunches.com/2016/05/04/how-running-makes-us-happy-but-happiness-makes-us-better-runners/

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    1. I used to watch RH. :) Do you like all the franchises? I really only got into NY. I loved Bethenny Frankel for awhile but now she annoys me.

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  9. Wow, impressive that you could note so much about each season! We are big Survivor fans at our house. We watch it DVR'd on Thurs, every week, no matter what! It's our date night, along with beer & pizza. However, I can't remember any details about the show after it's over! But I LOVE watching it all the same. I'm also catching up on The Biggest Loser for my treadmill show. Something encouraging about watching them bust their asses, makes me want to run a little more :)

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    1. Well full disclosure, I did have to wikipedia so I can review who was a contestant when. I feel like I remember more because I listen to podcasts all through each season, so not only do I listen to the 1 hour episode but I listen to at least 4 hours of podcasts about it too! But I think when a new season starts, I forget a lot. It's just like everything... you gotta make room in your brain!

      Can't wait to watch tonight! We DVR too but watch it Wed (as long as I can stay awake) and start at 8:16 because it lines up perfectly so we don't have to watch commercials.

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    2. LOL about the staying awake part. By the time my kids get to bed (9pm) and we start watching, very often I'm pretty much fighting to keep my eyes open by the time Tribal comes around!! ;)

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  10. I think I watched maybe 3 seasons of Survivor and know I could NEVER be on that show. Seriously, one missed meal or a night of being cold and I would be out. I admit it, I am a quitter if my basic needs aren't being met. Rick still watches but the only reality TV show I watch is RHONY (so ashamed of that). Right now I am really into Oprah's "Where Are They Now". Lame but mindless and harmless.

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    1. " I admit it, I am a quitter if my basic needs aren't being met." <----- lol this made me laugh. Me too Susan!!!

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    2. I don't consider myself high maintenance but gotta have a fully belly and be warm and get good sleep. That show is not about any of that--in fact, I think that was why I had to quit watching it if I am being completely honest.

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