Are you ready for some Rupert?

The cast of this month’s new “Survivor: Heroes and Villains” season has just been announced, and I’m happy to report that Jonny Fairplay is not involved. Not that he wasn’t a great villain (you remember the whole fake “My Grandma died!” situation) but he got sort of tedious. And by the time he came back for his second season, he was a complete pill, and once he realized that he was with a bunch of people who knew who he was and expected his act, he seemed bored with himself, and bowed out to “spend time with his pregnant girlfriend.” I always thought he decided it wasn’t gonna be fun anymore, and quit.

Because, you know, he lied about his grandma. So were we really supposed to believe that?

You will also find that there is no Richard Hatch this year – the first season “Survivor” and greatest player of them all (and yes, I’m including Russell Hantz) has had some legal issues and just got out of prison in October. And that’s OK…with all of the mugging and “Look at me, I’m evil!” sure to be ensuing this season, we don’t really need him. Also, I hope he’s getting himself together somewhere.

Who you will find are: Boston Rob, almost-winner of “Survivor: All Stars” and noted reality show junkie, overbearing human teddy bear Rupert, Pavarti,one of my least-favorite survivors of all time who wound up winning anyway and earning my grudging respect, and James, who got voted out with, like, 37 immunity idols in his pocket. You will notice that many of these people are back for their third season of “Survivor,” which isn’t surprising — after a while, they’re gonna have to write “reality show contestant” on their tax returns.

I’m gonna watch it, even though I think the first few weeks will be tedious, as I said, with all the supposed villains trying to out-evil each other. However, my friend Maria had an excellent point – once they realize that they aren’t going to get anywhere as a tribe unless they stop mugging and start working together, their combined evil could be delicious.