Rupert Boneham was the ultimate pirate, fitting the theme of the show. Jon Dalton was the scumbag, scheming and lying to advance, once even faking his grandmother's death to get a leg up. Andrew Savage was the proud leader of the down early but resurgent Morgan tribe, and seemed to be ready to assimilate his will when the tribes merged. Sandra Diaz-Twine (if you want to use the name she goes by since winning) outlasted them all. Not only that, not once was her name placed on a piece of parchment to be voted off. Her final margin of victory was 6-1, leaving her only a vote from Tijuana Bradley away from perfection. How did she pull it off? In typical form of course, watching all the high powered players get targeted week after week while offering her vote to advance one step closer to the million bucks. Her biggest stroke of luck came when Lillian Morris decided to keep her instead of Jonny Rotten, a move that she'd live to regret.

I do have to say that Mark Burnett successfully revived the franchise by installing a new twist. He brought back a tribe of recently voted out players (the Outcast tribe) and let them compete against the existing tribes for a spot back in the game. They beat both tribes and voted amongst themselves to get Lillian Morris and Burton Roberts back into the game. Both players made their presence known with Burton finishing 5th and Lillian making it to the finals.

Another notable moment was Osten Taylor who has to be the biggest clown ever to wear a Survivor buff. Burnett called him his first casting mistake as Osten quit the game, imploring his tribe mates to vote him off. He whined like a little girl that he was going to catch pneumonia and that his health was more important than the money. This from a guy who says he has mental stability, patience and resourcefullness. What a loser.

So now the much anticipated All-Stars edition is forthcoming, with the debut set for February 1 directly after the Super Bowl. Your entrants are (reportedly):

Richard Hatch (winner) Rudy Boesch, Sue Hawk and Jenna Lewis from the original at Pulau Tiga.

Colby Donaldson (runner-up) Alicia Calaway, Amber Brkich, Jerri Manthey and Tina Wesson (winner) from Australia.

Tom Buchanan, Lex Van Den Berghe and Ethan Zohn (winner) from Africa.

Rob Mariano and Kathy Vavrick-O'Brien (runner-up) from Marquesas.

Shii-Ann Huang from Thailand.

Rob Cesternino and Jenna Morasca (winner) from The Amazon.

Rupert Boneham from Pearl Islands.

The 18 former Survivors will form into 3 tribes of 6 meaning this season will already take on a new dynamic. With 6 of the 18 already having been to the finals, this bunch knows how to play the game.

The only former winners not on board are Sandra (who is an alternate) Brian Heidk (Thailand) and Vecepia Towery (Marquesas). I will miss Brian, along with Hunter Ellis (Marquesas) but not really anyone else.

I'm looking forward to Tom trying to find his way between the ultimate conniving Robs in the Red Tribe. They'll be joined by tough girl Alicia, helpless Amber and Susan who is famous for her diatribe before the Season 1 vote.

The Blue Tribe will feature Rudy buddying up to Rupert while Ethan probably will be the first to go. If not, fellow winner Tina will be. Jenna and Jerri round out the group.

The Green Tribe features 4 players who were finalists, including the best player ever in Colby. He'll be butting heads with Richard early and often while Lex is sure to spark things up. Shii Ann is a clueless player, while Jenna and Kathy certainly know their way around.

Should be an interesting show and you can expect ratings in the 30 if not 40 range.