The Death, Taxes and, Bananas podcast is covering another reality show. Recently, Bananas met with Survivor alumna Carolyn Wiger to talk about The Traitors.
On the show, Bananas mentioned that he was on the shortlist to appear on season 4, and Carolyn was surprised that he didn’t get a chance to return. Dorinda from The Real Housewives of New York was the first person murdered on season 3, and she got to come back on season 4. But, Bananas never had the same luck, even though he was the first person murdered on season 2.
Bananas explained that one of the reasons he didn’t make the final cast was that producers wanted fewer “gamers” on the show. And if you look at the season 4 cast, that’s pretty obvious.
Season 2 was primarily filled with gamers — plus, it had a serving of Housewives mixed in. Then, the season 3 cast saw a slight reduction in gamers, only to have three reality tv masterminds (Boston Rob, Wes Bergmann, and Derrick Levasseur) show up as part of a twist.
On season 4, we have some strategic reality TV personalities, but noticeably fewer than the two prior seasons. Instead, we have Travis Kelce’s mom, a chef, a K-Pop star, a controversial comedian, and Stephen from Laguna Beach.
Without spoiling the show, The Traitors 4 does seem to have fanfare, but there are also some concerns. The biggest topic of discussion appears to be Michael Rapaport’s inclusion on the cast.
Both Carolyn and Johnny seemed irked by the notion that fewer “gamers” would be cast on The Traitors, and it’s unclear why production would move in that direction, but I have two theories.
Theory 1: The show is hunting for another breakout star. On season 3, Dylan Effron appeared and got a lot of attention. He won the season, ran the media circuit, and appeared on Dancing With the Stars. This shifted a lot of eyes onto The Traitors, and people who weren’t into reality TV were talking about the show.
Theory 2: This is an NBC/Peacock show, but all of the highly anticipated gamers come from CBS/ MTV/ Paramount entities. That’s not to say they’re the only strategic players; people like Peter Weber and Phaedra Parks played phenomenal games. But this was a surprise that was only realized after the show started airing. Peacock wants to create an environment where their Housewives talent won’t get overshadowed by longstanding CBS drama.
For reality TV fans, The Traitors seasons 2 and 3 felt like must-see events. I don’t get that feeling from season 4, even though I am interested in some of the competitors. It feels like the show went from casting A-list reality TV stars (who are really Z-list celebrities) to casting a potluck of D-list celebrities.
And without the gamers, you have to wonder what these people on the show are playing for? Dylan Effron won approximately $50,000 on The Traitors 3. I don’t know his personal financial situation, but he certainly didn’t seem desperate to win money from the show. Don’t get me wrong, his head was in the game, but he was happy to split the grand prize with three other people. On the other hand, gamers need the money. Even people like Boston Rob or Johnny Bananas, the folks who have a lot of reality TV opportunities, won’t pass on the opportunity to get a cut of a $250,000 prize.
I don’t see that hunger in someone like Michael Rapaport, Donna Kelce, or Dylan Effron. The gamers give the show purpose, and Bananas and Carolyn should be annoyed that Peacock wants to cast fewer of them.
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