Pirate Master

Well, I tried it! I sat down last night and watched the new show Pirate Master. And it was silly! It seemed very much like a Survivor rip-off, but I don't understand that since it is by the same creator (Mark Burnett). I'll give the brief summary of the premise and rules, and then, I'll share some interesting high and low lights of the episode.

So, the premise is that 16 contestants are now the crew of a pirate ship. Between challenges, they are responsible for supporting and running their pirate ship. During the treasure hunts (challenges), the crew is split in two completing teams. The team who finds the treasure wins and gets prize money that is divided up by the rank of the members on that team. There is a captain (50% of the money), 2 officers (25% split between them), and the crew (the other 5 people get 25%). The captain also has the option of sharing his money more evenly. After each challenge, the captain (and officers if he chooses) get to select 3 crew members to be marked for pirate court. In this "court", these 3 crew members have a chance to state their case to the remaining crew who either votes one of them out or tries to mutiny against the captain. To win the mutiny, the vote must be unanimous and the two officers must also agree with the uprising.

In last nights episode, the winning team selected their first captain, Joe Don (before knowing how the money would be split), and he immediately went on a power trip. He was bossing everyone around and kept the entire captain's share for himself even though he didn't do anything to truly deserve it. His biggest opponent was the quite odd John who tried to incite mutiny during the pirate court by stealing the ships compasses. It backfired badly and John was the first to be eliminated.

As I said this show is a little silly, but I'll give it a chance since my summer TV standards are quite low (see previous post about On The Lot). I'm interested in seeing how Joe Don's power trip works out, and also, in seeing how the money comes into play. It appears that the money won during the game can be used to make bribes or to pay people for doing what you want them to. This could add some great twists. My biggest concerns are the cheesy feel of the show and the fact that the first challenge wasn't that interesting or exciting and the competition should be a focal point on the show.

I'll tune in for another week or two and let you know what I think. It will never win any awards, but it could turn into a decent bit of summer TV fun.