Another Southwest Virginia man chosen as a Survivor

BRISTOL, Va. – Another Southwest Virginia man has been chosen as a Survivor.

On the CBS.com website announcing his selection, 45-year-old Lebanon, Va., farmer Ralph Kiser describes himself as “an outdoors mountain man.”

He could not be reached by phone, and according to the network, contestants are not available for interviews until next month. The latest version of the reality television series starts Feb. 16.

Kiser is the sixth person from the Tri-Cities region to be selected for the show, which puts a group of contestants in a remote location, organizes them into tribes and pits them against one another in a series of challenges. In each episode, someone is voted off the island.

“I will be the king at camp because I can build shelter, cook, find food and be the leader,” Kiser said, according to the CBS questionnaire.

“I want to be a hometown hero for the folks back home,” he wrote in the questionnaire. He compared himself to another Survivor contestant from the region, Smyth County resident “Big Tom” Buchanan.

Buchanan became a local hero in 2001, after placing fourth in Survivor: Africa, nearly winning the show in Survivor’s third season with an effective strategy belied by his country charm.

The other contestants from the region – Tanya Vance, Travis “Bubba” Sampson, Steve “Chicken” Morris and Melinda Hyder – didn’t fare as well, each being voted out relatively early in their respective seasons.

Daniel Durbin, a professor in communications and media studies at the University of Southern California, said the region’s hillbilly stereotype is likely one reason so many contestants have been chosen from Southwest Virginia and Northeast Tennessee. While no particular regions have been targeted for contestants, Durbin said, the show producers do seek people from diverse groups, including different regions of the country and different socioeconomic groups.

A large part of a show like this is setting up a tension among characters that will leave viewers rooting for their favorite “good guy” characters and hoping the “bad guys” get voted off.

The geography of the Tri-Cities region comes with a country stereotype in the minds of people on the West Coast and upper East Coast that lends itself to portrayal of a "good-guy" character, Durbin said.

The region also is close enough to major East Coast cities to find contestants here and also, being a relatively poor area, is likely to have a lot of applicants with a great motivation to seek a slot on the show.

“One of the oldest things in American popular culture is the innocent country hick and the big city slicker,” Durbin said. “Behind the innocence, there’s somebody who’s actually wise.”

Even with the new type of story that 21^st-century reality TV tells, Durbin said, the same old narratives still form the basis of successful television.

Kiser’s character is, to some extent, summed up in the CBS questionnaire. In it he announces that he’s stubborn and intolerant of “people who are lazy.” He also says he has important survival skills and the ability to be convincing to others.

“I know plants, trees and what most of their uses are,” he says. “I can also build anything; start a fire anywhere and make people believe anything I say!”

The depth of truth in his statements will be revealed as the series unfolds.

dmccown@bristolnews.com
(276) 791-0701 

Survivor contestants from the Tri-cities region: 

“Big Tom” Buchanan
From: Rich Valley, Va.
Occupation: Farmer
How he did: Placed fourth on Survivor: Africa in 2001, then went on to Survivor: All-Stars in 2004, where he placed fifth
Claim to fame: Winning the hearts of viewers as the country bumpkin who turned out to be a shrewd strategist 

Tanya Vance
From: Kingsport, Tenn.
Occupation: Social worker
How she did: Second person voted off Survivor: Thailand in 2002
Claim to fame: Getting dehydrated 

Travis “Bubba” Sampson
From: Blountville, Tenn.
Occupation: Walmart loss prevention officer
How he did: Sixth person voted off Survivor: Vanatu in 2004
Claim to fame: Trying too openly to conspire with former tribe-mates 

Steve “Chicken” Morris
From: Rich Valley, Va.
Occupation: Farmer
How he did: First person voted off Survivor: China in 2007
Claim to fame: Being the first person voted off 

Ralph Kiser
From: Lebanon, Va.
Occupation: Farmer
How he did: The 2011 season, Survivor: Redemption Island, airs at 8 p.m. beginning Wednesday, Feb. 16