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'Psychic' TV Predictions Provide No Insight
by David Bloomberg
-- 07/10/2002
Last season, the Chicago Tribune had a psychic make predictions about Survivor 2. He predicted Debb would win and Tina would not make it to the end. Hmmmm. This year, TV Guide had four psychics make predictions about the Fall season, including Survivor: Africa. What do these look like and how will they do?
Last season, the Chicago Tribune had a “psychic” make predictions about how Survivor 2 would play out. A review of those predictions after the series ended showed that the so-called “psychic” could hardly have been farther off. The big tip off? He said Debb would win and Tina wouldn’t have the stamina to make it through.
This year, I haven’t seen any “psychic” predictions that have been quite so specific. However, TV Guide did have four such people who claim to see the future make predictions about the Fall TV season (in their September 15 issue). While most of the questions asked of these folks were specific to several shows (including Survivor: Africa, which we’ll get to shortly), one asked what else they saw happening this season. Because of printing schedules, this was probably asked only a few weeks before the September 11 attacks. Yet none of the “psychics” foresaw this tragic event, nor (tangentially) the effect it would have on the very television season they were discussing. That right there should be a pretty good indicator of their vast psychic powers. But let’s take a look at who they are and what else they had to say.
The four psychics were Shawn Robbins, Justine Kenzer, and Terry & Linda Jamison (the psychic twins). In the questions that weren’t related to Survivor, it’s amusing to see the contradictory answers. Obviously, not all of them have the same powers – or, perhaps I should say, they all have exactly the same powers: Zero. In any event, Robbins claimed that something in Jason Alexander’s past would come out, forcing ABC to cancel his new series. Considering that Alexander has had a successful career for years now, it seems to me that anything that bad in his past would have come out by now. But I guess it’s possible. Kenzer says Alexander’s show would be painful to watch. You don’t need to be psychic to know that is a likely possibility. She adds that it will be canceled after six episodes. Meanwhile, the psychic twins say it will be a brilliantly funny show. Hmmm.
We have a similar divergence of opinion on Emeril Lagasse’s new show. The twins and Kenzer say it will be terrible. Robbins says it will be a classic along the lines of I Love Lucy. Yeesh. Same with Ellen DeGeneres’s new show – Robbins says it will fold after a season, but Kenzer says it could be as big as Roseanne (the show, not Ellen herself). All three of them come up with different shows as the "breakout hit of the season." Amusingly, Robbins said Danny would be "big in the vein of Everybody Loves Raymond." For the record, Danny was so big that last week CBS announced it was being canceled after only two episodes. Good job, Mr. Robbins!
As indicated earlier, none of them predicted the most major event of the year (and, incidentally, the TV season). None mentioned the Emmys being postponed not once, but twice. Instead, when they were asked to go out on a limb and predict what else would happen, Robbins said 24’s star would demand that a new real-life love interest be written in to the story; Kenzer said Wednesday wouldn’t be CBS’s night (oooh, really going out on a limb there, since NBC has owned Wednesday night with Law & Order and West Wing); the twins showed a bit of professional jealousy and said John Edward’s Crossing Over would die quickly (we can only hope they got that one right).
Getting back to their Survivor predictions (this is a reality TV site, after all), they were asked what they saw happening on Survivor: Africa. Robbins said somebody would be kicked off for being caught (and filmed) having sex with a crew member. Um, yeah. Right. It’s probably safe to say that one won’t come true. At least it will certainly be easy to check at the end.
Kenzer said a contestant would be bitten and poisoned – though not fatally – by a rare bug. OK, another one that will be easy to check at the end of the show. She also added that she sees “strong female energy as the winner.” This gives her a better than 50/50 shot at having a correct prediction, since half the players are female, and one male is gay, so she could try to take credit for the “female energy” bit even if he wins (note that she didn’t just say it was going to be a woman).
The twins say a female participant will be seriously injured from a fall. There are already rumors circulating that one of the women do indeed get injured, but we don’t know how. Want to bet these two take credit no matter how that woman is hurt? They also say – you’ll love this one – that “We see knock-down, drag-out fights among the contestants.” Fighting between contestants? On Survivor? No way! Sheesh, they really made a tough prediction there.
So what does all of this mean? Absolutely nothing. But here are my psychic predictions (hey, they are exactly as psychic as these other four folks): None of the specific predictions from these four “psychics” will come true. A couple of the general ones might, which is precisely why they make them so generic. Even so, all four of them will take credit for these somehow in order to further their own images.
Be sure to sign up for our e-mail update so you can stay informed about new articles on the site and be registered for giveaways and special offers! You can find all of our articles about this show at the Survivor: Africa Page, and take a look at our sections on The Amazing Race and Mole 2. You can even buy reality show stuff at our Reality TV Store!
This year, I haven’t seen any “psychic” predictions that have been quite so specific. However, TV Guide did have four such people who claim to see the future make predictions about the Fall TV season (in their September 15 issue). While most of the questions asked of these folks were specific to several shows (including Survivor: Africa, which we’ll get to shortly), one asked what else they saw happening this season. Because of printing schedules, this was probably asked only a few weeks before the September 11 attacks. Yet none of the “psychic” foresaw this tragic event, nor (tangentially) the effect it would have on the very television season they were discussing. That right there should be a pretty good indicator of their vast psychic powers. But let’s take a look at who they are and what else they had to say.
The four psychics were Shawn Robbins, Justine Kenzer, and Terry & Linda Jamison (the psychic twins). In the questions that weren’t related to Survivor, it’s amusing to see the contradictory answers. Obviously, not all of them have the same powers – or, perhaps I should say, they all have exactly the same powers: Zero. In any event, Robbins claimed that something in Jason Alexander’s past would come out, forcing ABC to cancel his new series. Considering that Alexander has had a successful career for years now, it seems to me that anything that bad in his past would have come out by now. But I guess it’s possible. Kenzer says Alexander’s show would be painful to watch. You don’t need to be psychic to know that is a likely possibility. She adds that it will be canceled after six episodes. Meanwhile, the psychic twins say it will be a brilliantly funny show. Hmmm.
We have a similar divergence of opinion on Emeril Lagasse’s new show. The twins and Kenzer say it will be terrible. Robbins says it will be a classic along the lines of I Love Lucy. Yeesh. Same with Ellen DeGeneres’s new show – Robbins says it will fold after a season, but Kenzer says it could be as big as Roseanne (the show, not Ellen herself). All three of them come up with different shows as the “breakout hit of the season.”
As indicated earlier, none of them predicted the most major event of the year (and, incidentally, the TV season). None mentioned the Emmys being postponed not once, but twice. Instead, when they were asked to go out on a limb and predict what else would happen, Robbins said 24’s star would demand that a new real-life love interest be written in to the story; Kenzer said Wednesday wouldn’t be CBS’s night (oooh, really going out on a limb there, since NBC has owned Wednesday night with Law & Order and West Wing); the twins showed a bit of professional jealousy and said John Edward’s Crossing Over would die quickly (we can only hope they got that one right).
Getting back to their Survivor predictions (this is a reality TV site, after all), they were asked what they saw happening on Survivor: Africa. Robbins said somebody would be kicked off for being caught (and filmed) having sex with a crew member. Um, yeah. Right. It’s probably safe to say that one won’t come true. At least it will certainly be easy to check at the end.
Kenzer said a contestant would be bitten and poisoned – though not fatally – by a rare bug. OK, another one that will be easy to check at the end of the show. She also added that she sees “strong female energy as the winner.” This gives her a better than 50/50 shot at having a correct prediction, since half the players are female, and one male is gay, so she could try to take credit for the “female energy” bit even if he wins (note that she didn’t just say it was going to be a woman).
The twins say a female participant will be seriously injured from a fall. There are already rumors circulating that one of the women do indeed get injured, but we don’t know how. Want to bet these two take credit no matter how that woman is hurt? They also say – you’ll love this one – that “We see knock-down, drag-out fights among the contestants.” Fighting between contestants? On Survivor? No way! Sheesh, they really made a tough prediction there.
So what does all of this mean? Absolutely nothing. But here are my psychic predictions (hey, they are exactly as psychic as these other four folks): None of the specific predictions from these four “psychics” will come true. A couple of the general ones might, which is precisely why they make them so generic. Even so, all four of them will take credit for these somehow in order to further their own images.
Be sure to sign up for our e-mail update so you can stay informed about new articles on the site and be registered for giveaways and special offers! You can find all of our articles about this show at the Survivor: Africa Page, and take a look at our sections on The Amazing Race and Mole 2. You can even buy reality show stuff at our Reality TV Store!
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