Survivor (television series)

Survivor is a popular reality television program produced by many countries throughout the world. The show consists of contestants isolated in a remote location competing for a cash prize.

Table of contents

1 Premise
2 Concept history
3 Seasons of the American version of the series
4 Miscellaneous

Premise

The basic premise of the show is that each series starts with sixteen players and on each episode one player is voted off by the other remaining players. Initially, the players are divided into two eight person "tribes" which compete against each other in "challenges" - competitions of endurance, intelligence, teamwork, dexterity, or will power. Each episode has an "immunity challenge" and the tribe that loses this challenge must vote one member of the tribe out. In addition, most episodes have a "reward challenge" and the winning tribe will receive a prize such as additional food or equipment.

At some point in the season the remaining players from the two tribes "merge" into a single tribe. From this point, challenges are won on an individual basis. Rewards are given to only one player (who is however often given the option to choose one other player to share the reward with), and only one player wins immunity. This immune player cannot be voted off on that episode, although he or she still has the right to vote against other players.

The voting is done at the end of each episode at the "tribal council". The show's host (Jeff Probst in the U.S. version) questions and provokes the players about events that have occurred and their opinions about the other players. The players all then secretly vote, and the player who receives the most votes is out of the competition. The first seven players are off the show, but the next seven remain to form the "jury" which does not directly participate in the show but observes the tribal councils. When the number of players has been reduced to two on the final episode, the jury members have the opportunity to interrogate them and then vote on which of the two is the "sole survivor" and grand prize winner.

In the American version of the series, the grand prize winner wins one million dollars. The players that were voted off win lesser monetary prizes ranging from $2500 for the first player to be voted off to $100,000 for the fifteenth player. Also there is typically a brand new car awarded during one of the final reward challenges.

While the show is based on the theme of wilderness survival, the real basis of the show is interpersonal relationships. The survival aspects are difficult enough to discomfort the players, but contestants are of course never truly endangered (only one has ever had to leave in mid-series due to injuries). The real survival skills required are the ability to make deals and form alliances with other players to keep from being voted off. Because of the steadily diminishing number of players and the fact that the players being voted off will in turn choose the ultimate winner, considerable political skills are required.

Concept history

The Survivor concept was conceived by Bob Geldof's Planet 24 television company. It initially failed to attract the attention of any of the major broadcasters in Britain or the United States and was eventually taken up by Swedish television in 1997 as Expedition Robinson (alluding to Robinson Crusoe). The show was a major hit in Sweden, and it is estimated that half of Sweden's population watched the final episode.

The initial series was a huge ratings success in the US in 2000. Its second season, in the winter/spring of 2001, drew even larger audiences. Subsequent US versions have attracted smaller but still substantial audiences. There have also been British and Australian versions of the show in 2002. Both were ratings flops, so much so that in Britain, it was a national joke. A Japanese version was also produced for four installments which achieved some success. [1] Broadcast rights for the American version have been sold to various broadcasters and is viewed in many countries around the world.

Seasons of the American version of the series

The U.S version is produced by Mark Burnett and hosted by Jeff Probst. When the program is broadcast, it airs weekly on CBS. So far, eight complete games have been aired, the last of which was a special competition with past contestants.

was set on the remote island of Pulau Tiga in the South China Sea. Richard Hatch was its winner.
was set in Australia in the Outback (though the location was by Australian standards not particularly remote, nor was it arid). Tina Wesson won.
was set in a Kenyan desert. Ethan Zohn won.
was set on the island of Nuku Hiva in the Marquesas. Vecepia Towery won.
was set in Thailand. Brian Heidik won.
was set in the jungles of the Amazon River region of Brazil. Jenna Morasca won.
was set in the Pearl Islands off the coast of Panama. Sandra Diaz-Twine won.
was also set in the Pearl Islands, and featured eighteen contestants from past Survivor seasons. Amber Brkich won. A second million-dollar prize was also awarded to Rupert Boneham for being voted (at the CBS website and by mobile phone) as the viewers' favorite contestant on .
: Islands of Fire, in the fall of 2004, will be set on islands in the archipelago nation of Vanuatu, located in the South Pacific Ocean.

Survivor: Marquesas was not shown in Australia as the network was showing a series of Australian Survivor instead. The latter was not a ratings success, and since then the American edition of Survivor resumed airing.

Miscellaneous

In all, there have been 112 different American Survivor players over the 8 seasons, 18 of whom got to play twice.

Of the 112 different players, 105 have had their torches snuffed out (11 of them had it snuffed out twice. However, if you include the 2 Outcasts, then 13 had them snuffed out twice.) The rest either won, quit or had to be taken out because of illness. 4 of the 105 players won once but then had their torch snuffed out in . The above facts about players' torches being snuffed out include the players that come in second.

Four players won in the final vote without having any votes cast against them in any previous Tribal Council: Tina Wesson, Ethan Zohn, Brian Heidik, and Sandra Diaz-Twine. Kelly Wiglesworth made it to the final vote without having had a vote cast against her. Michael Skupin and Paschal English both left the show prior to the last vote without having had a vote cast against them. In Survivor All Stars, Jenna Morasca and Susan Hawk both quit the game; thus, their torches were not snuffed.
Jerri Manthey has had the most votes cast against her with a total of nineteen. She had twelve votes cast against her on her first appearance (tying Clarence Black for the single series record) and an additional seven during her second appearance. Ryan Opray had a record eight votes cast against him in a single Tribal Council.
Lucinda Allen in Australian Survivor also received eight votes, however she voted for herself, the only contestant to do so. This is against the rules in the American edition.
As of 2004, only 3 players in Survivor history have quit the game: Osten Taylor, Jenna Morasca, and Sue Hawk. Jenna Morasca is the only player to have won one game and quit another.
Tom Buchanan has been on the Survivor the longest, lasting a total of 73 days (across two seasons). Amber Brkich lasted a total of 72 days.
In the 8 seasons of Survivor 5 women have won and 3 men have won. There has been one final competition between a pair of men and two between pairs of women. In the five other final competitions between a man and a woman, the woman won three times.
Traditionally the final reward challenge of each series has awarded a car as a prize. No player who has won this challenge has gone on to win the million dollar prize. However, Amber Brkich, winner of , was awarded a car as part of the final reward challenge, but she was selected by Rob Mariano, the actual winner of the challenge.
Only one player in Survivor history has been voted out based on pure luck: Paschal English from (when he, Neleh Dennis and Vecepia Towery pulled rocks from a bag.)
Both winners in the British series won the grand prize by a 7-0 vote. No grand prize winner on any of the other series have won by a 7-0 vote.
Currently, the least popular survivor is Jon Dalton from (18%) and the most popular Survivor is Rupert Boneham from and (95%). However, the player with the lowest popularity ever was Daniel Lue from who was at 9% popularity in the 5th episode but his popularity went up. The player with the highest popularity ever was Jessie Camacho from , who was at 98% popularity in the pre-show (but her popularity went down drastically once the game started.) However, since Jessie's popularity was only high before the game, Rupert is considered to be the most popular ever.

There was a similarly titled series, Survivors, a 1970s series by Terry Nation, set in the then-present day, when most of the world's population were suddenly wiped out by a virulent plague. It followed the fortunes of a few of the "lucky" people who were immune.