Digging For Idols

Pregame for season 50 by turning back the clock with us to 2006 for a tantalizingly brief appearance by Survivor legend Cirie Fields in an episode of the soap opera Guiding Light. Will Cirie be "guiding" her way to a Sole Survivor rating or will our hosts "light" her up with a first boot review?

DFI breaks from its normal routine to react to the Season 50 cast announcement with an even-more-chaotic-than-usual 15 minutes of bubbly chatter.

DFI is headed back to the Tubi Sanctuary (where Flu Birds happen) to brave another infectious performance by Bill Posley from Survivor: One World. Did he take flight in his performance as a hacker in this pre-Survivor SyFy original or did he fail to make the bird-merge?

After a quick follow-up on DFI's letter to Santa, Christopher and Taylor dust off a mini from the vault that was pre-recorded in December 2023. In this time capsule-esque episode, they dig into the contents of an iPod that Kellee Kim took to Ponderosa while filming season 39, which Christopher won in an auction.

After a short break, DFI returns with a wintry, year-end recap of pod-favorite Sundra Oakley's performance in the 2024 global box office smash film Bob Marley: One Love. Does this Survivor legend cook (islands) in her role once again?

DFI bids farewell to spooky szn for 2024 by reviewing the no-budget 2010 Texas horror flick Apparition starring Survivor: Micronesia queen Natalie Bolton as a phony ghost hunter with a heart of gold. Sit back with a warm glass of Big Daddy's Ass Burn Hot Sauce and listen to find out just how haunted Christopher & Taylor were by Natalie's performance.

In this fun sized Digging for Idols mini, it's all treat/no trick as we devour the candy bucket of delights that is Jerri Manthey's award-winning performance in the 2005 short film, "Widowmaker."

DFI is dropping dead this week to check out a performance by Julie McGee (Survivor: San Juan del Sur) as a member of the Breaker Girls dance team caught in the crossfire of a high profile lawsuit in season 6, episode 5 of "Drop Dead Diva." Join Team Julie with us! Plus, ratings stats for our first year.

Our Baywatch Summer comes to a close with this episode... that's not about Baywatch but rather Season 3, Episode 1 of the Baywatch parody Son of the Beach that features four(!) different cameos by castaways from Survivor: Borneo.

DFI turns one year old! As our Baywatch summer nears a close, we gaze upon the sunset of peak lifeguard TV to review Joel Klug from Survivor: Borneo and his race against Jason Momoa in in the S11E20 episode of Baywatch, "Dead Reckoning."

DFI sneaks back to the Brian Heidik well to talk Baywatch strategy and cover a second of his acting appearances. Will we be too hot to resist dumping on his performance in S2E2 of Baywatch Nights or will Mr. Freeze cool our wrath with a chilling performance? (Suggested prior DFI listening: "Brian of Sherwood Forest")

When we go Lowe, our listens go high (hopefully). As we wade into the first in a series of Baywatch-related episodes, DFI chats about two-time Survivor Brenda Lowe and her brief appearance as a surfer in the 2017 Olympics-related feature film adaptation.

In (arguably) the most sexually charged episode of DFI yet, Christopher and Taylor fanboy, fangirl, and fan themselves while discussing sizzling brainiac Peih-Gee Law (Survivor: China & Cambodia) and her appearance as a partygoer in the music video for Janet Jackson's equally steamy song "Go Deep."

We've spoken on DFI before about which celebs we'd like to see on a season full of famous faces, but what about the Lisa Whelchel archetype? In this mini, Taylor and Christopher each throw out a short list of (arguably) less household-name level celebrities that we think could or should be dropped undercover into a season alongside folks with more traditional careers.

From the darkest bowels of Tubi, this week we watched "Dennis & Henry's Post-Divorce Checklist" (2022) to answer the age-old question: can Survivor legend Rupert Boneham redeem one of the worst movies we have ever seen in our lives? Plus: enter the nexus of the DFI universe (the 2004 Teen Choice Awards).

Daniel Lue joins Digging for Idols to talk about his experiences breaking into reality tv, wearing a speedo for Pee-wee, smelling his tribemates in the Amazon, contracting malaria, and his reaction to discovering that a podcast devoted a whole episode to  his 2018 performance in the show Lucifer. Lue crew, assemble!

Not much has changed in the twelve years since Survivor: One World. Bill Posley is still doing stand-up and Taylor Swift is still writing songs about ex-boyfriends. In this episode, we look at the multi-talented Bill's brief appearance as a burger joint manager in the obscure 2017 teen romcom "Vikes", which also stars a pre-Euphoria Sydney Sweeney. Plus, which Tortured Poets Department lyrics remind us of Survivor?

Taylor and Christopher find themselves marooned on the Hallmark Channel this week while braving the 2016 fall-in-love-with-your-comment-section-troll romcom "Hearts of Spring" starring Lisa Whelchel of Survivor: Philippines (among other things).

Take shelter from these troubled times with this episode covering Survivor: Tocantins castaway Candace Smith's performance as a social worker in the 2013 Vanessa Hudgens pregnant teen drama "Gimme Shelter". Plus: Christopher and Taylor spin the Tocantins makeout wheel after hearing a clip of Candace running down who she'd kiss on that season.