#24 and #23 Disclaimer
When I first started posting this list, I specifically mentioned that there was one thing I didn't want to do.
Above all else, I didn't want this list to turn into a collection of moments like "Ha ha! So and so got
blindsided! What a loser!" I didn't want to flat out just make fun of people, I didn't want this list to
turn malicious, and I didn't want to rub salt in the wounds of people who had bad things happen to them on the
show. Because even though someone may have been an unlikable character on TV, I didn't think it was right to be
laughing about the fact that they lost. So unless they had a memorable reaction to being voted out of the game
(like, say, Judd), I was going to try my best not to include "The fall of x..." as one of my top 115
funniest moments. I just didn't want to go there with this list if I didn't have to.
And I tried. You know? I tried soooooo hard not to laugh at peoples' downfalls. I really did put in a Herculean
effort in an attempt to take the high road. But as time went on, again and again I was confronted by the fact
that there was one character's fate that I just couldn't ignore. I couldn't possibly write this list without somehow
mentioning the fall of John Carroll and the Rotu Four in Marquesas. Because I'm sorry, the fall of Rotu was just
one of the funniest (and most memorable) Survivor moments of all time. And as hard as I tried to avoid writing
about peoples' downfalls, as hard as I tried to avoid making fun of people, in time I realized I was doing you
a grave disservice if I left the fall of John off the final list. And once readers start being hurt by my decisions,
that's when I draw the line. The minute I realized you guys were going to be hurt by this... that's when things
seriously got to be changing around here (tm Neleh).
So in the end (and after much soul-searching) I finally decided to say... screw John. And screw the Rotu Four.
Their downfall (especially John's) was funny as hell, and I'm going to put it in my list. So I'm going to make
ONE exception, I'm going to write about ONE downfall, and I don't feel bad about this decision at all. God may
be disappointed in me now, but that's for me and Him to work out down the road. When the time is right. For
now, I had to think of what was best for the column.
So anyway, here it is. The Greek Tragedy, and eventual fate, of Marquesas's John Carroll. I'm proud to finally
present to you my favorite downfall in Survivor histo...
In Survivor his....
(thinking)
Oh crap!
I just realized I need to include another downfall on this list too! Because John wasn't the only smarmy, self-centered,
cocky know-it-all to have his butt handed to him by the angry gods of karma. John wasn't the only guy who was
on the top of the world one minute, and flushed down the toilet the next. And if I'm going to include John on
my list... well then by all rights I also have to include this other guy too. There's no rational way I can include
one but not the other. And it would be awfully fitting if I listed them back to back on the list
at #24 and #23, wouldn't it? So anyway... hmmm. That actually sounds like a good idea. Why not put the two funniest
Survivor downfalls back to back! Yeah! Alright, let's do it!
So at #24 on the list... Mario and the Funny 115 are proud to present one of the greatest karma butt-kickings in
the history of Survivor. It is one of the greatest character downfalls of all time, it couldn't have happened to
a more infuriating player, and it is a storyline so perfect that only the Fall of John Carroll can even compare.
It's the fate of Silas "Don't call me Chip" Gaither, and I'm thrilled to be writing about it in the Funny
115.
Back to The Fall of Silas Gaither (#24)
Back to The Fall of John Carroll (#23)