Pirate Master ship uses a “ghost crew”

The first person kicked off of CBS’ Pirate Master says that the show’s cast isn’t entirely responsible for making the ship sail safely. Instead, there’s a “ghost crew” on board, according to the pirate identified as a “scientist/exotic dancer.”

“I was expecting a lot of really hard work … that if we don’t get this done (we’re in trouble). (But) it was a very safe environment. There was never any danger with any incompetence on the ship,” John Lakess told the Boston Herald. The paper says that there was “a ‘ghost crew’ aboard the floating set to keep the cast safe.”

The third episode airs tonight; the first was watched by only 6.99 million people, and the second 6.2 million viewers, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

I finally watched the first two episodes of the show, which is beautifully shot and amazing to look at, but is ultimately a dumbed-down version of Survivor. There’s just one challenge, and it’s a scavenger hunt rather than the physical and mental challenges on CBS’ other reality show. If there’s strategizing, we see very little of it; instead, most of the focus is on the outrageous arrogance of the captain, JD, and the reaction of the rest of the crew to the game, which gives the captain half of all rewards. If they were going to make a show that’s somewhat derivative of Survivor, they should have just kept the best parts.