The Funny 115 - The Third One


The Monkey's Paw Tale of Dan Foley - The Feedback Page



Immediately after I published this entry, I got a lot of interesting feedback about it via email, private messages, and of course the mortal enemy of Dan Foley, the public Survivor message boards. And I thought I'd share my favorite comments with you. Enjoy!







Here's my prediction for this entry: You're gonna end up on a three hour phone call with Dan Foley.




Hey Mario, just finished reading your Dan entry and I absolutely loved it. Dan was one of those characters that just irritated me, and I'm sure if I rewatch he'll still irritate me... but you've reminded me that Survivors are people first, and I feel like I not only understand Dan a bit better, but people in general. Thanks for that!

You have the opportunity to be as mean as you can be with the Funny 115 because we all love laughing at the stupid things that others do, but you always find the good in the situation, which is why I will continue reading the Funny 115 until you stop writing it (please don't stop.)

It was very special to see all the quotes for the Dan entry - I knew people read and loved the 115, but it's great to see all my people out there interacting and loving this crazy game! My husband just said “I can’t disagree with you” and I couldn’t stop laughing!




You know how you theorized that Dan was referencing a movie in his "someone should slap Shirin" comment? Well you'll be interested to see this. Dan flat out says that exact thing, word for word, in one of his interviews. You were right!







This whole series makes it more and more clear that Dan is, at his purest form, one of the superfans in the hotel lobby in the days leading up to the finale-- who just happened to make it through casting. You've met those people. I think Dan does significantly better on Survivor than most of them, but this is the only outcome if one of them goes far.




Wow! I just sneaked my way into the entry two days ago by checking the URL, and you dropped the last part the very next day. I figured you would be happy to hear that somebody from across the Atlantic did it ahah.

It felt like I read a book in two days. I wonder about the sheer volume of this entry. How many words, characters, pictures and time to do it? I recently published a 6000-word article and it feels like you upped me tenfolds. Thanks for taking the time to make it, it's an important topic for you and it shows. I won't agree on everything, I think there are a lot of assumptions and "plot" holes in your argument, but once again it's a great reality check - I'm looking at a TV product, and we're all simply targets of storytelling, one way or another. Won't say I love the guy now, but... I'm hearing what you're saying. And now I see Worlds Apart a bit differently. Thank you for that, that was a great read.




The thing about the Dan entry that is interesting to me is that Dan wasn't very important as a player. You gave him Coach and Russell status (who played multiple times and almost won). Danimal was like Billy Garcia making it to the late jury. Sorry if you're friends with Billy Garcia.




I connect with Dan's story on one level, because two of our kids are adopted. And the psychology that goes into that fear of abandonment is so real. The quote from Tyler at the the end of the entry seemed spot on to me. It encapsulates a struggle we have with two of our children we have loved and provided for for the majority of their lives. But because of things and decisions that were made for them, and to them, before we ever met them, we deal with those emotions and what it stirs up in them and causes them to do on literally an every day basis. I used to make fun of Dan for coming back with his "I'm adopted" line in response to Shirin talking about abuse, but I have no doubt that, in his mind, they are very similar, particularly on the psychological impact left.

Oh, and for the record, we make sure our adopted kids have pants that fit.




Here's my takeaway from what happened to Dan. It touches on a theme that I feel is SO underrepresented in tv/theatre works: The disillusionment of tv notoriety.

This is exactly why I love The Great Gatsby so much. It's a 1920s book that talks about perceptions and how one sometimes cannot see what it's like on the other side til you get there.




You know what I think was the biggest factor in Dan's transgression against production? He actually gave an interview with his local paper prior to his elimination, and without CBS's permission. Survivor players are expressly prohibited from doing any press during the season (the only exception being with Dalton, and that's all arranged by CBS). I've always felt that Dan's transgressions had nothing to do with what he did on the show, and everything he did in that one interview.




I have to say, when I got up to WA on my recent rewatch, I purposely went back to reread your Dan Foley: Monkey’s Paw series first. I went in with a totally new perspective and watched for different things, and it made for such a better experience. What was previously an “eh” season with some out there characters was now a fascinating look into egos, perceptions, editing, and the “hero” narratives that we are shown vs the “hero of one’s own story” mentality that surely every other contestant had.

I’ve been watching Survivor since Borneo premiered when I was 7 and nothing is cooler than finding a new understanding of a show you’ve been watching for over 20 years. So thank you, I have loved the Funny115 for ages as well but that really made me look at WA from a whole different perspective that I otherwise would have missed out on.




You mentioned a couple times in the entry that Dan kept quoting movies in his confessionals. But the much funnier reality that I choose to believe is that Dan doesn’t know he’s quoting movies. He 100% has watched these movies, but he’s so caught up in his own self-image that when he thinks of these quotes, he thinks that he’s the one that came up with them. Just makes his character even better.




I imagine Dan's not going to be happy when he reads this entry. But let’s play that out - even if he does, even if he gets angry, it only serves to confirm your thesis: Dan is mad that his version of reality isn’t reality. The best case is that he sees your writeup and realizes, at least to a reader, what you’re arguing: Dan may love Survivor, but he was in over his head. He can be smug, he can be loud, but to treat him like a pariah is to buy into editing at the expense of evidence.

Case in point, you point out well how he makes his gaffe at the Shirin tribal, but he also walks back realizing he just made a mistake. Editing and passive viewing has you remember the gaffe alone. Empathy has you recall he tried to make amends then, and also earlier in the day.

People should rightfully take heat for saying and doing stupid shit - Will seeming like a prick seems relatively straight up and not conjured out of nowhere, thus why he was a final 3 jewel - but writ large, treating it like a learning opportunity vs. an unforgivable sin is much healthier. Hate speech is different than saying something dumb. Dan had one of many dumb moments. Congrats, he’s a human. He’d be a better player if he owned up to his humanity rather than the character he wanted to watch.




Kudos on the entry, Mario. Dan Foley is still a gigantic idiot though. And I don't feel sorry for him one bit. Even though he did get absolutely railroaded by that horrible reunion show. It's like, I always quip when people ask, "Who do you want to win, the Yankees or the Red Sox?" And I say, "I want the ground to open up and swallow both of them whole." Which side are you on? Dan, or the show? Uhhh... can the earth swallow them both?

I have empathy for those that get shit on by the show. But I don't know if I have sympathy.

I’m reading up on all of this now. And I think there is a huge difference between expecting something and experiencing something. As a superfan, you can prep all you want for the edit, the social media, the fans, etc. But I don’t think you can truly steel yourself when you see that first death threat come in. No matter if you have perspective as to what may happen to you, everyone joins the show with at least some expectation that they’ll do well and win. Otherwise they wouldn’t be cast.




Mario, I think you're missing a clear distinction in the reunion chapter that is really, really important:

If you attack the producers, that's one thing. If you attack the editors, the ones who are just putting together the story that the producers tell them to say, that's another. And Dan consistently, over and over, attacked the editing team, not the producers. Jeff, Matt, and the top producers have a voice to go out there and defend the show. But the editors are behind-the-scenes people who do not have that voice, and that's who Jeff and the producers decided to defend in burying Dan at the reunion. If Dan had focused his ire on Jeff and Matt, he probably doesn't get crushed. But he attacked the quiet, behind-the-scenes staff, and that's why he got what he did.




Carolyn's comment about it seeming like there was way more conflict in Worlds Apart than there actually was is interesting. That, combined with what you said about the casting earlier in the entry, makes it clear that that’s how CBS wanted fans to perceive this season- as confrontational, gritty, and personal, with big villains. I saw another fan speculate that they did this as an overcorrection to the blandness of San Juan Del Sur, and I think that guy was probably right.

I think what the producers failed to grasp is that there’s a middle ground between the blandness of SJDS and the toxicity of WA.




Hey Mario. Finished reading the beast of a character entry you wrote for Dan, and man, I didn’t think it would be so eye opening. As someone who wants to be on the show one day, and has applied before, the breakdown of Dan’s story makes me question if it’s actually a good idea to apply for Survivor. Dan was in his 40’s and had that little self awareness, and was that naive, who is to say I’m not the same way in my 20’s?

My biggest takeaway from the entry, and something that I found that adds to the hilarity of it all, is that Worlds Apart is likely the last drama and conflict focused season of Survivor for a reason. Its horrible reception likely drove the show out of that direction completely, and led to the gameplay-focused Survivor that we have today. And a massive factor in the horrible reception of the season was Dan-o. More specifically, the irredeemable piece of garbage the producers portrayed Dan as. The consequences of Dan’s actions have led to a complete revamping of the way Survivor is presented. So while he was a gift to the Funny 115 for his time on Worlds Apart, he is also partly responsible for ending it.




It kinda blows my mind that Dan Foley even exists. He's a socially awkward know-it-all who routinely gets things wrong, and who happens to be a postal worker from New England. He's basically Cliff Clavin from Cheers.




Dan getting absolutely clowned at the reunion is like Jonny Fairplay getting destroyed by the crying old lady at a physical challenge. A hilarious villain downfall that comes of nowhere to cut him down at the last moment, just when he seems in control.

You have this superfan who always knows everything, and always knows what is coming, who has constantly been clowned and destroyed in the game. But now it is his time. Now it is time to speak about his experience on live TV. This is his language. He can finally control the narrative. He knows how the media works. The edit is done, he can no longer be contradicted. But fate has a delicious twist for him, something that the superfan could not predict, and the buffoon falls once more.

The reunion is simply an extension of the show. It is no more real than the show. It still involves ridiculous characters. And Dan's comeuppance is a brilliant bit of storytelling if you don't look at it in the lens of an attack on Dan the human, but as the final irony of Dan the character. It's just perfect.




This might be the most insightful entry since 'Thank you, Brad Culpepper', and as someone who thinks Worlds Apart is overhated, that makes me feel better. Bittersweet since there's only one entry left ever, but I'm sure I'll get plenty of enjoyment from rereading for some time! Thank you, Mario!




The best way to handle bullies online is to block them and not give them a platform. But you can't do that with Jeff Probst at a reunion show when he decides to be a bully. And this is why the Dirty 30 took Dan's side so hard - they all knew the truth. They all knew that Dan and Rodney had been making "Yo Momma" jokes earlier that day, because that's who they are. Jeff eviscerating Dan was totally uncalled for, in large part because of what you referenced regarding Dan's wife getting threats and nasty emails from horribly toxic people. Dan was criticizing the show for enabling such bullying behavior (blocking jerks doesn't change that you saw what they said), and in response Probst decided to participate in it. I think in his desperation to protect his product that Jeff ironically actually did more damage to it, by going postal on the postal worker.




This is a very good read, and what I hope to be the reality. Frankly, if Dan comes back swinging at you for this take, then it serves your whole thesis of him wanting to live in his own storyline rather than reality. And if Survivor fans who don't like having their opinion challenged find fault with it, then, well, yeah, they were already going to. That's also on them.




You know, I was in the minority of the fandom before reading this. I really felt indifferent about Dan Foley. I could take him or leave him. Felt he was a gimmicky “get a load of this guy” archetype. That was up until the adopted child incident. Like most people, I totally bought the narrative the producers were trying to feed me, that Dan was insensitive and minimizing vulnerability in regards to an abusive situation. Left a bad taste for the guy in my mouth. It wasn’t until you really showed me under a microscope what was going on that I realized I’d been duped by the edit. Now I still don’t find Dan particularly entertaining on his season, I still don’t think he’s a good Survivor player (although he’s far from the worst) but I do think Dan Foley is the most interesting editing case study maybe in the shows history! I appreciate you bringing these observations to light as I would have never done the work to figure out what was really going on myself.




This is some of your most perceptive and affectionate writing yet. This piece really sets out to capture Dan’s complexity and it does just that. Even though Dan can be repellent as often as he’s hilarious and sympathetic, that’s the point of reality TV I think, to incite authentic and complicated emotions in us. That’s definitely Dan and I think your piece shows that.




Mario, your latest entry on Dan Foley is probably your best work yet. I laughed. I cried. I did a big fake Rupert-like roar of excitement. Well done sir. Your writing reveals the ridiculousness that is "reality TV", and how something that's crafted for a TV audience to make money for a network is not even close to being honest or ethical. The show takes real people and turns them into characters for our amusement. 

So much of Dan's experience... and really most of Survivor over the years... reminds me of one of my favorite episodes of the Simpsons: Homer Bad Man. This is the episode where Homer is falsely accused of sexually harassing the babysitter, even though he was just reaching for a gummy that got stuck to her butt. The scene where the Rock Bottom producers cut up Homer's quotes about the babysitter to make him look like a monster are no different than the Survivor producers trying to make Dan (and so many others) look like villains for the sake of our entertainment.

Did Dan have a bombastic personality and certain characteristics that made him unlikable? In a word... ABSOLUTELY. Was he the misogynist, combative monster that the show made him out to be? ABSOLUTELY NOT. He's just a regular guy. A guy who works for the post office from Maine. An emotional, flawed guy, who thought he was living out his dream of being on Survivor. Instead he ended up on the wrong side of the narrative and became this major villain. Anyone could go on the show and have a similar experience. Maybe they wouldn't be as oblivious as Dan, but if the show wants you to wear the black hat, you're going to wear the black hat. And if you want to speak up against it? Well then you're really going to pay.

Dan learned a lesson that has been taught many times over in terms of how people consume TV and other forms of entertainment. To quote Ed Harris in The Truman Show, "We accept the reality of the world that we are presented." TV producers working for a billion-dollar network are always going to win out over a somewhat misunderstood, blowhard sap from Maine. Dan's tale should be a lesson to anyone who wants to go on Survivor.

Thanks, as always, for the great work.




There was one part in the writeup where you said something that really resonated with me. You said, "the audience can't handle a season of conflict-based TV anymore." It was interesting that you phrased it that way, because this is something I have been noticing as a teacher for YEARS. I can't tell you how many kids come through my classroom these days, and they have no ability to handle anything that involves conflict. If anything makes them uncomfortable, or anxious, or it challenges their world view at all, they just completely shut down. They have no idea how they are going to be able to deal with it. And it's funny you brought it up in your writeup, because it fits in so well with what I see every day in my class. I eventually just started to call it "The Disney Channel Effect." To me, this is what happens when you have a generation of kids who were raised on things like the Disney Channel, where everything is perfect, and neat, and nice, and no one ever gets into any conflict with anyone. Eventually you start to think that THAT'S what the world is. The reaction to seasons like Worlds Apart reminds me so much of that, that I had to mention it to you.




I’m SURE Dan has mixed emotions reading all of this. But I hope he can come out of it feeling a little lighter, like someone saw him, and he can laugh at himself a little too. Because I think you did a great job.




I think there’s an important element to Dan's story that often gets overlooked. Dan was a buffoon. He was coarse. He wasn’t media savvy. He had no idea about PR. But he was brave. He stood up to Probst and production. He refused to let them have the final word, which is foolish. They ALWAYS have the final word. But he took a stand. And for that I think he’s courageous. Or, you know, again, maybe just foolish.




Mario,

-pause for effect-

Ohhhhhhhhh, Mario.

You have the auDACity, the unMITIGATED Gall to redeem Dan Foley in the eyes of this fffffandom with this chaaaaracter entry from Maaaaaine.

[editor insert: "That is stupid. That is the dumbest thing you could do."]

Survivor fans' heads are HOllow. They won't. Read it. This is an entry about a FffAt guy. It will SPLit the fandom, and DRopppp us.

But I gotta say, I read this entry like a girl and I empathized. I am HALF your age, I've written SO much less stuff than you have. Dude, dude, you got this. I don't disagree with anything you've said. The editors have danced. They have skirted. They have dodged. What you wrote. THAT. FINALLY. Was real.

Now that that's out of the way, I HATED Worlds Apart on my first watch and I thought it was the worst season since South Pacific (sorry, I know you liked that one too, but I consider it unwatchable). I thought to myself 'how in the heck could this mean-spirited cast of sexist pigs be considered the last great Survivor season in your eyes?'

However, that being said...

I sat down, opened my ears, and listened to you. And I became frustrated because I realized that by my own metric of judging a Survivor season, because I'm an aspiring writer that looooooooves a cohesive dramatic narrative, I actually objectively consider Worlds Apart better than pretty much every other Season on the Funny 115 v3 except Caramoan (I will defend the Wacky Adventures of the Three Amigos to the death).

And from a storytelling perspective, Mike blowing up that auction and the carnage that resulted, culminating in a final showdown between him and Rodney, with Dan as the tragic casualty along the way, makes Worlds Apart so much more epic than I even realized on my first watch.

And I'm only up to Ghost Island right now, but already I'm seeing the flaws in modern Survivor. At first I thought it was the popularity of Cambodia, but now I'm starting to see it was equally the unpopularity of Worlds Apart. And it's kind of heartbreaking to me that Worlds Apart may have inadvertently tainted the thing that made Survivor so special in the eyes of the fans, which -was- the interpersonal dynamics in a difficult situation (Yeah, I love Kelley Wentworth playing an idol, but I also love Coach telling a campfire story about how the coronavirus vaccine is derived from the truth in his blood).

Worlds Apart -was- great, but it was also Faustian, just like Dan. And I can identify on a personal level what it must have meant to Dan to have his experience with his dream tainted in that same way. Fortunately, the showrunners took some hits for the season as well. 

I hope Dan finds some peace with everything that went down, and since like I said I am an aspiring writer (and not to split hairs, but that's a big difference from Shirin's situation), I happen to think it was really cool he got to be the 'deuteragonist' of his own Survivor season (sorry Shirin fans, Dan was more important to the story). More than his comedy or his case study, I appreciate Dan for being a memorable character, and I honestly wish I could get a Survivor villain's edit someday myself. [ominous music playing]

Thanks for reading, now go write some more big moves.




Wanted to say I finished reading this and it really think this and your wider work on Worlds Apart is a really great and unique piece of tv criticism, I don’t always agree with all of your takeaways, but I really think of the season in a whole new way now. You should really be proud.




Hey, I’m loving the Dan Foley entry. A few years ago when I thought going on Survivor was a good idea I got a group of friends together to go to the Big E to audition. We stood next to Dan for a few hours waiting to audition, and chatting. I got to witness him yelling at the producers, although at the time I didn’t really understand why. When we left I turned to my friends and said “I don’t know if any of us will get on Survivor but I know that dude isn’t getting on." Fast forward a few months later to the Worlds Apart cast reveal and my phone blows up with my friends being like “holy shit that guy from the Big E made it onto Survivor!”, so that shows what I know about casting haha.





This was a great entry, it bought up some really good points and I think it shows that we NEVER know what is really going on out there. You're really spoilt for choice if you're an editor on the narrative to choose for the season. That's why so many people have been able to re-edit seasons like Samoa so effectively. We need to remember that Survivor is a game second, but a TV Show first.




I didn't expect my mind to be changed by this, and well... I was wrong. You did a really good job emphasizing a perspective I genuinely hadn't considered. This was an excellent read.




I binged the entire Dan Foley entry last night, and I think it's probably the best thing I've ever read on this site. It was funny, but it was also a really sobering look at the editing process and the way that Survivor tends to treat its players. Dan was over-the-top, and I think genuinely unaware of how he comes off at times, but to me a lot of the time he came off as a guy who was basically a big kid, letting his excitement get the better of him, and trying his best to say and do all the right things but never actually really being able to pull it off.

I saw a lot more of myself in Dan Foley than I'd ever care to admit, because I too think I am a hilarious guy that is loved by everyone around me, and I'm probably more wrong about that than I know. That's why I'm really grateful for this entry, because it gave us a balanced look at the good things about Dan. The way he loves his wife. The way he reached out to Shirin. The way he tried to be a good sport when he was winning rewards and Rodney wasn't. The way he wanted to be loyal and got that loyalty twisted and distorted by more unethical players. There was a lot of good in Dan, even if it wasn't obvious.

My takeaway from this is that Dan's biggest sin is just not understanding how he comes off. It doesn't seem right to hate a guy who's out there trying his ass off every day to make you laugh and entertain you the best way he knows how, but just doesn't manage to do it right. If nothing else, I think he deserves respect for the sheer amount of effort he put in, even if it didn't pan out.




Dan showing up to the finale in the Mail Escort shirt was an amazing way to troll Probst, to be honest.




Honestly, this Funny 115 entry turned around my whole view on Worlds Apart. It was a season I had ranked 2nd to last (just above Thailand) and I’ve stated several times that I had no interest in rewatching it. But I just finished rewatching it (I restarted it after the chapter right before Dan’s vote off) and I have much more appreciation for it now. It’s definitely moved up in my rankings. It’ll never be my favorite, but it’s definitely moved to a mid-level season worth rewatching now and again.




The whole entry does a great job at making Dan sympathetic. I don’t see him as a bad guy anymore, just someone who lacks social skills and sometimes speaks before thinking. 




Dan being the one who got all the shit from Jeff at the reunion while Rodney and Will were sitting right there always drove me crazy. But we all know why it happened. You can never question the almighty editors or else they’ll do their best to embarrass you. And to top it off, after humiliating Dan for twenty minutes, they bring out a birthday cake for Rodney because they have to give the baby a little celebration.




It's interesting to me how split the Survivor community is on Worlds Apart / Dan Foley. I personally think that Dan is one of the funniest (unintentionally or not) characters that the show has ever had. But obviously a lot of people disagree, seeing as the season was ranked one of the worst seasons in the RHAP poll, and Dan is such a large part of that. If you don't find Dan / Rodney funny, then I can see why it is such a bad season for you - but if you do, I think it really shoots up the rankings to one of the funniest seasons that the show has ever had.

Glad we have Mario to help turn that narrative a bit. Reminds me a bit of the original audience/fan base reaction to Chris Daugherty.




Going into this entry, I really wasn't a fan of Dan's at all, but I have a new respect for him as a character after this. Dan reminds me a lot of Shane Powers to be honest, he got as far as he did because he was well connected with his tribe and mostly well liked, but all the moments that were shown on TV made him look like a complete dolt who everyone hated.

Considering Max, Shirin, and Dan's edits, Worlds Apart should be required viewing for any super fan applying for the show, to see how they will likely be portrayed as in the edit.




Hey Mario! Love the Funny 115, been reading for years :)

I saw that your Dan character entry on the third version is now up, and by coincidence I’m currently in a tournament at American Pool & Billiards in Portland, ME, where the Danimal himself is a semi-regular.

I happened to be walking past while he was at the bar ordering some wings (using his black Merica buff as a mask, because COVID) and the bartender asks him if he wants ranch or blue cheese, to which, in typical Dan fashion, he responds - “What? Blue cheese? Do I look like some kind of delinquent?! HAWHAWHAWHAWHAW!”

It is so emblematic of a Dan confessional that I had to share it with you. Thanks for the amazing writeups and years of Survivor comedy!




Just finished reading up the humongous Dan Foley entry and in a way it made me more angry at the production than at him. It also gave me small vibes to how misunderstood the whole Fuck You Brad Culpepper moment was.

Survivor and Reality TV are funny that way, I guess.




The Dan Foley entry is wonderful (and epic!). I love how it takes such a nuanced approach. You deservingly mock Dan, but also give him a very gracious and humane treatment, and treat everyone else - even Jeff and the show - fairly and measuredly well. Even now that Survivor is far from the show it was in its glory days, you are doing such a great service making us laugh but also being a true (and real-time) historian for the show. It's a real public service!




So I finished the article, I don't know if it's changed my opinions on Dan being a four episode character stretched out to twelve episodes, but it reaffirmed all the reasons why I hate Probst becoming a show runner.




I rewatched this season with my family after years of not having watched Survivor after 31 because of no cable. First thing my mom says after she sees Dan is oh I remember that guy isn't he a fuckin' idiot.




On Twitter:
I finally got all the way to the end of @MarioJLanza's Funny 115 entry about Dan Foley, and honestly, it should be required reading for any superfan applying for Survivor. My favorite F115 entries are the ones that really dig into the editing and show you the tricks.




Well shit, reading the intro, I think I might be Faustian.

















I'll probably add more to this page as I get different types of feedback in the future. So come back again later at some point, and see how it looks.

And yes, I can already tell you I know Dan has read this entry.

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