2009 Black History Month: Favorite Black TV Characters (#4)

By: Luke Florence

My Favorite Black TV Characters

#4 - February 25th - Gervase Peterson - "Survivor"

Outwit, outplay, and then outlast. Gervase Peterson was able to accomplish two of the three, but failed with the latter. Had he won the original Survivor, he might have topped this list as well.

Have you ever found yourself on your own rooting for a team? All of your friends are rooting for the popular pick, but you go out on a limb and go against them? If that team ends up winning, you feel a better sense of accomplishment than if you had won with everyone else. It's why I love the 1999 UCONN men's basketball team, and it's why I love Gervase Peterson.

When Survivor came out in March of 2000, you got a sense it was going to be a huge hit. Everyone was talking about it. It was the first of its' kind. A reality television show. The stars were actual people, no scripts involved. I had to watch, and I'm glad I did. Survivor turned out to be a great television show.

As I saw the cast of characters the first time through, I quickly picked Gervase to be my horse. Yes, he was the only black guy, which not going to lie, somehow appealed to me. But, he was also a YMCA basketball coach, and seemed to be the guy I would want to hang out with the most from the bunch. I figured he would be athletic, in shape, and be able to handle the load physically. Mentally, well, since I picked him from day one, I had no idea.

But, as the season wore on, I found myself rooting harder and harder for Gervase. I loved his relaxed demeanor, and also how he was shown never helping out with anything. Every time they showed Gervase he was laying out on the beach, playing cards, or doing anything else that wasn't cooking, building, etc. I thought this was a genius strategy. He stayed out of the way, but his personality was solid enough to make him likable among everyone else. In my mind, he was going to win the whole thing.

Turns out that Gervase wasn't able to break up the solid alliance of Rudy, Richard and Kelly, who ended up being the top three. But, Gervase did manage to make it to the merging of the two groups, thus putting him on the final jury. He finished in seventh, as he just couldn't pull off enough immunity victories to save him.

Also, not gonna lie, I know how much Barnes loves Survivor (it was his top rated television show of all-time, or in his top-five at least), and that played a small factor into why Gervase is up this high. But, don't get me wrong, I will never forget Gervase because he is the only character on Survivor I ever passionately followed. My interest in Survivor faded as the seasons wore on, to the point that I don't watch it at all anymore. If they were to bring back Gervase, I would be back in an instant, because then I would have my guy in there to root for.

Okay, enough from me. Make sure to check our Barnes' blog (located on my sidebar) to find his thoughts on my picks. I am more anxious to hear what he thinks of this pick more than any other thus far, because I know how big of a Survivor fan he is.

Hint for #3: This character has done several commercials, multiple television shows, and was even a stand-up comic. But one role stands out amongst the crowd, in a big way.

Until tomorrow, "read it, roll it, hole it."