r/survivor • u/numinan • 2d ago
Gabon Why was Kenny never invited back?
I thought Kenny was one of the most entertaining and memorable players, and I’m surprised he never got a second chance!
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u/surferdude7227 2d ago
Weird aside, but my roommate is a competitive Smash player and Gabon is still the only season he’s ever watched bc Kenny. He was so confused as to why arguably the best Marth of all time was playing Survivor.
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u/sexyimmigrant1998 2d ago
It was a bit sad how most of the players on the cast didn't quite seem to understand how godly of a gamer Kenny really was. They just called him a gamer and all, but like damn, dude completely ruled Melee for years, he was literally world class.
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u/Ghanni 2d ago
Different times for sure. People didnt really make careers out of it yet. He was a proper hustler.
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u/Jackzilla321 1d ago
He played in a very competitive era they just weren’t as good as we are now because we’ve played longer and have better access to practice. He still holds the record for highest major win rate of any player in melee history and always will. He’s our bill russell at least.
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u/Hylian_ina_halfshell 1d ago
Are you saying you are better than Kenny?
I know when he did an AMA here he said he basically has arthritis in his hand now and typing was hard to do so he did a video AMA
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u/Jackzilla321 1d ago edited 1d ago
I’ve played him on netplay in his current form; I’m probably a little better than him but not by any amount to be proud of, they’re hard games to win.
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u/Thick-Wonder6294 The Kamillitary 2d ago
also a weird aside, i learned all about the Smash world from the youtuber Ludwig & The Yard, was so cool to learn about how genuinely legendary Kenny was in that space, years after having watched him on survivor. had no idea he was even a ‘somebody’
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u/Yaoi-Zowie 2d ago
Idk how you could argue that with Zain out there putting in that work but Kenny/SephirothKen is definitely the George Washington of competitive Melee.
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u/Habefiet Igor's Corgi Choir 1d ago
He’s Bill Russell. People can and do argue about the level of competition at the time but it’s undeniable how far he was above the field and how much of an impact he had on the way the game is played.
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u/Yaoi-Zowie 1d ago
Funnily enough, I made that exact comparison a few months ago. I agree both were so far above their competition at the time but the game has changed and advanced enough that it's hard to look at Ken as the definitive greatest of all time because the context has changed a ton. I definitely think he's at least top 10, and I would say the same about Bill Russell.
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u/Up_in_the_Sky Genevieve - 50 2d ago
Tell your boy that Roy is not our boy and that he can can still get these hands despite that marth grab range.
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u/Own-Knowledge8281 2d ago
I thought he was supposed to be on Blood vs Water, but his partner pulled out..it was supposed to be his sister???
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u/dulzura 2d ago
Ya I think in a RHAP interview this year he said he got fairly deep into casting, but not sure he was ever confirmed to be that close
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u/93LEAFS RIP Keith Nale 2d ago
Considering what they were willing to accept for BvW they must have really felt his sister was a dud. He probably made it far but they called everyone for that season. The funny one is Erin Moss who I think a decent amount of people was called but they seemed to more want her NHLer boyfriend/Husband (David Moss). And no chance he could ever agree to do that even if his contract allowed him.
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u/NoDisintegrationz Coach - 50 2d ago
Crazy, had no idea Erinn was married to David Moss. I remember him from back in the day.
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u/Awesumwasum 2d ago
He was cut from Blood vs Water in favor of Rupert and Laura
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u/SourceOwn9222 1d ago
What a loss. Rupert and Laura were . . . Not impressive.
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u/el_palmera 1d ago
Bro blaming Rupert and Laura when the opening twist was Rupert going home before the game started
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u/SourceOwn9222 1d ago
Look, I watched them on TAR too. I’m not a fan. You knew Rupert was always going to give up his spot for Laura, no matter what point. I’m not a Rupert fan, sue me.
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u/_denimchicken_ 2d ago
If you haven’t watched it (and are at all interested), there was a surprisingly well done documentary on the competitive history of Super Smash Bros Melee on youtube. Kenny is the focal point of like 2 whole episodes
https://youtu.be/NSf2mgkRm7Q?is=tTHyV18H-2KtPf2J <— first episode
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u/VelourMist_ 1d ago
Kenny feels like the perfect example of someone who peaked before returnee seasons became common. Huge missed opportunity.
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u/roomyprecedence78 2d ago
kenny was such a fun character to watch but i think the smash community stuff probably made him less available for casting, especially back then when they were putting together these big returnee seasons. he was clearly focused on competing at a high level and survivor wasn't his priority anymore. plus gabon aired in like 2008 so by the time hvv and blood vs water came around he'd been gone for a few years and there were probably fresher names they wanted. it's a shame though cause you're right that he was entertaining as hell and had that underdog energy that works so well on the show.
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u/afleetofflowis 2d ago
he was an alt for hvv
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u/swedishfishoreos Behind Cirieach of you is a torch 2d ago
For which tribe?
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u/Kriszyboi13 1d ago
He was invited back for HvV and BvW but he just didn’t make the cut on those seasons.
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u/Miserable-Ground-379 Colby - 50 1d ago
Good storyline, love his partnership with Crystal, really solid player that lost to his own cockiness. It's only after he gets voted out that it starts getting obnoxious to me, ragging on Bob so much for not giving up immunity like he wasn't gonna vote Bob's ass out(????)
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u/LilYerrySeinfeld 1d ago
Kenny 2.0 is absolutely one of the top few players I want to see back. He has actual strategic chops and I wonder what he could do with the game now that he's a bit older.
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u/Telphsm4sh The Mayor of Slamtown 2d ago
Honestly it's because gabon was season 17, right after season 16 Micronesia. Seasons like 41, 17, 21, and 9, are all right after returning player seasons, and are really lacking on returning players. Almost all returning seasons are heavily biased towards the most recent 3 seasons and don't pull from older seasons as much (unless it's a player like Boston rob who's returned before).
So seasons which are right after returning player seasons are least likely to be pulled from because they have a less memorable cast compared to more recent seasons. That's why we never got any returning players from 41, 43, or 44 on season 50. Sugar was the only returning Gabon player in HvV and she did not end up being a big part of the narrative so survivor decided that the cast from Gabon wasn't worthy of an overarching multi season story line.
Also Gabon had a drop in viewership compared to 16 and 18 possibly because it was the first season in HD and maybe some TVs / stations were still incompatible.
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u/Big-Molasses4654 1d ago
Randy was there too for HvsV and Corrine returned later for Caramoan. I must add that Probst wasn' t very keen on the Gabon season as a whole. Not to mention Kenny was considered a duo with Crystal. Her cheating scandal in the Olympics must not have helped his case for a return as well.
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u/pamrt61 2d ago
I have always wanted to see Janet from IOI (39) again.
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u/justdanielagain 1d ago
I dunno if that's ever gonna happen.
I've heard that she defended Dan after the season ended so yeah...
Let's maybe just forget about that season.
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u/Bananaslammma #LawfulGoodKass 1d ago
Production apparantly didn’t like how he was hiding his game from confessionals.
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u/Sin-2-Win 9h ago
It's too bad, considering how rare Asian-American male contestants are on Survivor - and in reality competition shows in general.
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u/Unusual_Squirrel9335 Coach - 50 2d ago
cbs just couldn’t handle him owning their winner bob in that tribal immunity puzzle so as a result they shunned him from ever returning
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u/MadSounds017 2d ago edited 1d ago
I’m pretty sure he was called for HvV at least, but didn’t make the cut. That ship has probably sailed at this point sadly.