Survivor (TV series)
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Survivor is a popular reality television game show produced in many countries throughout the world. In the show, contestants are isolated in a remote location and compete for a cash prize. "Survivor" is based on the successful Swedish show Expedition: Robinson. Survivor is considered to be the mother of reality TV, since its success led to an entire genre of similar shows.
Contents |
Premise
Except where noted, this text refers to the American version of the show. Small differences may exist between it and other versions. Also, rule changes instituted for one season are discussed below.
Tribes and Immunity
Sixteen to twenty players are stranded in a remote location and divided into equally sized teams called tribes. They compete against each other in competitions called challenges. These are divided into reward challenges and immunity challenges. Both types consist of endurance, problem solving, teamwork, dexterity, and/or will power. After the immunity challenge the losing tribe must vote to remove one of their own members from the game at the Tribal Council. Most episodes also have a reward challenge where the winning tribe receives a luxury for winning, such as blankets, spices, or flint. When there are ten,nine, or eight players left in the game they "merge" into a single tribe. From this point, challenges are won on an individual basis. Rewards are given to only one player, and sometimes that player has the option of sharing the reward with one or more other castaways.
Tribal Council
Image:Survivortribalcouncil.jpg
Tribal Council is held at the end of each episode. Here the tribemates vote one person out of their tribe. Jeff Probst, the show's host, questions the players, often provoking revealing details from them of events and interactions since the tribe's previous tribal council. The players then vote in secret, and the player who receives the most votes must leave the game. That player takes his or her torch to Probst, who extinguishes it, and declares "The tribe has spoken." The player then exits the Tribal Council area and delivers some final words that air at the end of the episode.
In the event of a tie, the following tiebreakers have been used:
- A challenge where the loser is removed from the game. (Re-vote Prior) Season 10
- Whoever had the most prior Tribal Councils votes is eliminated. (Re-vote Prior) Seasons 1 - 3
Note 1: With the same number of prior votes, the person to lose a sudden death trivia challenge is eliminated.
Note: 2: Previous Tie-Breaker Re-Votes do not count as Previous Votes in a future Dead-Lock Tie
- The players who do not have immunity pick rocks out of a bag. Whoever draws the purple rock is eliminated. (Verbal Re-vote Prior) Season 4
End of the game
All eliminated players, except the final nine, leave the game altogether. Those who finish in ninth through third place remain to form the "jury". In the final episode the players go through a number of activities that ends in an immunity challenge. Immediately following this challenge another person is voted out. The players return to camp and go through a "memorial" for the players previously eliminated from the game on the way to their final endurance challenge. Whoever wins this challenge votes another player out, thereby determining who receives third place and which two players go to the final two. The final two return to camp for one last day. At the final Tribal Council each of the seven jurors votes for the winner. Probst takes the container with the votes, and it is secured until the live finale of the show, when the votes are revealed and the million-dollar winner announced.
Prizes
Every player receives a stipend for participating on Survivor depending on how long they last in the game. The known prizes for All-Stars are as follows: 2nd = $250,000; 3rd = $125,000; 4th = $100,000. In most seasons, the runner-up receives $100,000. Sonja Christopher, the first player voted off in Survivor's first season, received $2,500. Template:Ref The prizes in seasons with more than sixteen contestants are unknown.
The million-dollar winner also wins an automobile, as does the winner of a specific reward challenge in each season (excluding the first). All players also receive an additional $10,000 for their appearance on the reunion show.
Game rules
(rules may vary in foreign versions of the series)
- Conspiring to split winnings will result in immediate expulsion from the game.
- Except for the occasional challenges which involve wrestling or limited combat, any physical violence between players will result in immediate expulsion from the game.
- At Tribal Council, players are not permitted to vote for themselves, nor can they spoil their ballots or decline to cast a vote. Players must also show who they voted for to the camera inside the voting booth.
- Contestants must abide by U.S., as well as local law.
- Contestants may not skip any tribal councils, nor can they refuse to participate in an immunity or reward challenge except in the case that they are told they can. (example-in Survivor Panama, contestants were allowed to either participate in the immunity challenge, or eat food while the others were competing for immunity) They may also sit out to even the numbers as described below.
- When one tribe has more players than the other tribe, it must designate players to sit out of tribal challenges so that equal numbers compete. This rule was relaxed only in the Survivor: The Australian Outback season because Jeff Probst felt neither team would be helped or hindered by the numeric disparity. Beginning with Survivor: Africa, the rules specifically stated that any player who sits out a reward challenge cannot sit out the following immunity challenge. In Survivor: Palau episodes 7-8 the Koror tribe had 8 players while Ulong only had 3 (and then 2), which forced the show to allow various Koror players to sit out back-to-back challenges. The only qualification then was that the same 2-3 players could not participate in each concurrent challenge. Katie Gallagher and Janu Tornell, both of the Palau season, tie for the most sit-outs of any players (they each sat out 7 challenges over 8 episodes).
- Tribe members may not raid or visit the campsite of another tribe unless they are doing so as part of an immunity challenge, reward challenge or tribal merger activity with the other tribe. They also cannot visit the TV crew compound. There have been two exceptions to this rule:
- During the 2nd season when Michael Skupin was injured he was taken to a production tent to await the arrival of a medivac helicopter.
- During one episode in Guatemala, members of the Yaxha tribe visited the Nakum tribe and invited them back to their camp for Danni's birthday party. There is no indication as to whether the rule has changed or if this was a one-time event. It's also possible that because neither Yaxha nor Nakum technically entered the opposing tribes camp that this was not a technical violation of this rule.
- Depending on which country the show takes place in, contestants may be barred from killing certain forms of wildlife and plant life.
Concept history
The creation of the Survivor concept, although credited to Charlie Parsons, was actually 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 sold to the Swedish television company Strix Television as Expedition Robinson (alluding to Robinson Crusoe). The show was a major hit in Sweden.
The initial series was a huge ratings success in the US in 2000 and, along with ABC's prime-time game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, sparked a reality-television revolution. Suddenly networks pushed sitcoms and conventional drama series to the back burner and rushed their own reality shows into development. Even the Fox Network, which had vowed never to air a reality show again just months earlier following media outrage surrounding its "Who Wants to Marry a Multi-Millionaire?" program, broke its promise and launched several competitors of its own. Survivor's 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, indeed in Britain, its failure was a national joke (though ratings for the UK series were considerably lower than ITV had hoped for, it still regularly attracted six to eight million viewers, a decent rather than huge audience, but enough for ITV to commission a second series which appeared a year later). A Japanese version was also produced for four installments which achieved some success Template:Ref. Broadcast rights for the American version have been sold to various broadcasters and is viewed in many countries around the world.
US Survivor seasons
Image:Survivor seasons countries.PNG The United States version is produced by Mark Burnett and hosted by Jeff Probst. It airs Thursdays on CBS.
- Survivor: Borneo (also called Survivor: Pulau Tiga, Survivor 1, or simply Survivor) was set in the South China Sea on the remote Malaysian island of Pulau Tiga. Corporate trainer Richard Hatch was its winner in a 4-3 vote over river raft guide Kelly Wiglesworth. (NOTE: For this season only, it aired on Wednesdays.)
- Survivor: The Australian Outback was set in the Australian Outback (though the location was by Australian standards not particularly remote, nor was it arid). Tina Wesson won 4-3 over Colby Donaldson. During this series, Michael Skupin suffered burns and became the first contestant evacuated due to injuries.
- Survivor: Africa was set in a Kenyan desert. Former professional soccer player Ethan Zohn won, defeating retired teacher Kim Johnson by a vote of 5-2.
- Survivor: Marquesas was set on Nuku Hiva, the largest of the Marquesas Islands in French Polynesia. For the first time the final two were both women. Vecepia Towery won by a vote of 4-3 over Neleh Dennis. This season was the only time the infamous Purple Rock tie breaker was ever used. However, Jeff Probst later admitted that it was not supposed to be used at the final 4 as it was. The Purple Rock is only the tie breaker up to the final 6. At the final 4, the tie breaker is supposed to be a fire-starting challenge.
- Survivor: Thailand was set on the island of Koh Tarutao off the coast of Thailand. For the first time the tribes were not predetermined by producers, but were rather picked by the two oldest players, Jake and Jan. Also, this season was the first to feature a "fake merge" and a delayed merge. Also, two opposing tribes lived together on the same beach. For the first time the final two were both men. Used car salesman Brian Heidik beat restaurant owner Clay Jordan by a vote of 4-3. This season is often considered the worst season among fans due to its unlikable cast and its mean-spirited nature.
- Survivor: The Amazon was set in the jungles of the Amazon River region of Brazil. This was the first time the two tribes were divided up by males and females. Student and model Jenna Morasca won by a vote of 6-1 over Matthew Von Ertfelda.
- Survivor: Pearl Islands was set in the Pearl Islands off the coast of Panama. Sandra Diaz-Twine defeated Lillian Morris by a vote of 6-1. This season was the first time players who had been voted out were allowed to return to the game as part of the Outcast Tribe. This season also features arguably the greatest lie ever told. Considered a favorite among Survivor fans due to a great cast and a popular winner.
- Survivor: All-Stars was also set in the Pearl Islands. The game featured eighteen past Survivor contestants divided into three tribes. Amber Brkich won by a vote of 4-3 over Rob Mariano. Just before the live vote was revealed, Rob and Amber became engaged. Survivor: America's Tribal Council was held four days later, and a second million-dollar prize was awarded to Rupert Boneham for being voted by the viewers as their favorite contestant.
- Survivor: Vanuatu - Islands of Fire was set on islands in the archipelago nation of Vanuatu, located in the South Pacific Ocean. Chris Daugherty defeated Twila Tanner by a vote of 5-2.
- Survivor: Palau was set in the island nation of Palau, located in the Philippine Sea. The season started with 20 contestants, but on Day 3, the number was reduced to 18 in a tribal selection process. The season concluded with firefighter Tom Westman prevailing over Katie Gallagher by a vote of 6-1.
- Survivor: Guatemala - The Maya Empire was set in the Yaxha National Park. 18 Survivors (16 new contestants plus Stephenie LaGrossa and Bobby Jon Drinkard from Survivor: Palau) were stranded amongst the ruins of the Maya civilization. The season concluded with Danni Boatwright defeating Stephenie LaGrossa by a 6-1 vote.
- Survivor: Panama - Exile Island premiered on 2 February, 2006. Filming started on 31 October, 2005 in the Pearl Islands of Panama, marking the third time this location has been used for Survivor. Bruce Kanegai became the second person to leave the game due to a medical emergency in the history of the show.
- CBS has signed on for at least two more seasons of Survivor, carrying into 2007. Jeff Probst is currently contracted to host until at least the sixteenth edition.
- 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.
- Beginning with Survivor: Vanuatu - Islands of Fire, an internet talk show called Survivor Live airs the day after a show on CBS.com.
- In 2005, the US cable Network OLN (formerly known as Outdoor Life Network) began showing reruns of the first ten series.
DVD releases
Image:Survivor2dvd.jpg Best of
| DVD Name | Release Date |
|---|---|
| Season One: The Greatest and Most Outrageous Moments | 1 January 2001 |
| Season Two: The Greatest and Most Outrageous Moments | 25 September 2001 |
Full seasons
| DVD Name | Release Date |
|---|---|
| The Complete First Season | 11 May 2004 |
| The Complete Second Season | 26 April 2005 |
| The Complete Seventh Season | 7 February 2006 |
| The Complete Eighth Season | 14 September 2004 |
| The Complete Tenth Season [1] | TBA |
Controversies & legal action
Template:Unreferencedsect Turmoil between players is commonplace for any reality series, but Survivor has had a few instances which went beyond mere intertribal squabbles:
- In February 2001, Borneo player Stacey Stillman filed a lawsuit claiming producers interfered in the process of the game by persuading two members of her team (Sean Kenniff and Dirk Been) to vote her off instead of Rudy Boesch. Been supported her allegations. Mark Burnett countersued Stillman for $5 million. The case was eventually settled out of court.
- At the trivia immunity challenge for Africa's final four players, host Jeff Probst asked which female player in their season had no piercings. Kim Johnson answered Kelly Goldsmith, got the point, and went on to win the challenge, which pushed her to third and ultimately (after another immunity win) second place. Tom Buchanan was eliminated. Months later, the cast and producers (who were preparing for the live finale and reunion) watched the episode backstage. During the rebroadcast of the challenge, Lindsey Richter shouted to the TV that she had no piercings. Lex van den Berghe's answer had been Lindsey, yet the show had not awarded him a point, thus drastically changing the outcome of the game (van den Berghe was eliminated in third place). CBS later paid van den Berghe and Buchanan a settlement Template:Ref.
- In the fifth episode of the All-Star season, a naked Richard Hatch may or may not have come into contact with Sue Hawk after she blocked his path during an immunity challenge. Hatch was voted out that day for other reasons; Hawk quit the game a few days later (episode six). Hawk considered filing a lawsuit against the parties involved, but appeared with Hatch on The Early Show the morning after the sixth episode aired, stating she opted out of legal action because CBS had helped her "deal with the situation".
- In order to be sure to win the Reward Challenge in which the castaways competed to win a visit from their friends/loved ones, Pearl Islands Survivor Johnny Fairplay Dalton conspired beforehand with friend Dan Fields in what has gone down as the biggest lie on Survivor to date. Fields told Dalton that his grandmother, Jean Cooke, had died, in order to win sympathy from his tribemates and subsequently the reward. In reality, Cooke had not died, a fact that only emerged to his tribemates once the episode had aired. When the show staff heard about Cooke's "death," they called Dalton's family to offer condolences, only to have Cooke herself answer the phone. Dalton admitted in confessional after the challenge that his grandmother was alive and probably watching Jerry Springer.
- Richard Hatch, the winner of season 1 of Survivor, was charged and found guilty of failing to report his winnings to the IRS to avoid taxes.Template:Ref
Trivia
- In all, there have been 182 different American Survivor players over the 12 seasons, 20 of whom got to play twice. (All Survivor: All-Stars players, Stephenie LaGrossa, and Bobby Jon Drinkard.)
- 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.
- Series host Jeff Probst declared that strategic mastermind Rob Cesternino from Survivor: The Amazon was the "smartest player to never win."
- Tom Buchanan holds the record for most days on Survivor ever, with 73 (37 days on Survivor: Africa and 36 on Survivor: All-Stars). Amber Brkich comes in a close second, with 72 (33 on Survivor: The Australian Outback and 39 on All-Stars). Stephenie LaGrossa is third with 69 days (30 on Survivor: Palau and 39 on Survivor: Guatemala).
- The first twist ever was a swapping of tribe members. This has happened six times in the first eleven seasons. (Survivor: Africa, Survivor: Marquesas, Survivor: The Amazon, Survivor: All-Stars, Survivor: Vanuatu, and Survivor: Guatemala). Guatemala did this the earliest, on day ten (according to the review-of-season montage in the finale).
- The winner of the car reward challenge has never gone on to win the title of "Sole Survivor". This has become known as the "Car Curse." This was particularly shown in Survivor Guatemala episode 13, when Cindy Hall was given a chance to give up her car that she had won in a Reward Challenge in exchange for all four of the remaining suvivors (Stephenie LaGrossa, Rafe Judkins, Danni Boatwright, and Lydia Morales) to receive a car. She reluctantly refused and was promptly voted out at the subsequent tribal council.
- All winners of the loved one visit reward have always gone on to lose, but there has been no real reference to this as a "curse."
UK Survivor
Survivor (UK) premiered in the United Kingdom in 2001. The format was similar to the US version and was screened on ITV. Sixteen contestants were marooned on the island of Pulau Tiga and were split into two tribes. They completed in challenges and schemed against each other. Charlotte Hobrough won the first series. Despite the hype surrounding the show it did poorly in the ratings and was heavily criticised by the press.
Despite the disappointing performance of the first series, ITV commissioned a second series with some changes. Presenters Mark Austin and John Leslie were replaced by Channel 4 cricket presenter Mark Nicholas. There were twelve contestants instead of sixteen and the show was scheduled in a later time slot. The second series was set in Panama, in the Bocas Del Toro area, not in the Pearl Islands, and Jonny Gibb won. The ratings were still low so ITV cancelled the show.
Survivor: a chronology
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 1994-1995 | British producer Charlie Parsons created the idea for Survivor, but was unable to find a TV company interested in the idea. |
| 1995 | Mark Burnett first told about the idea that would become Survivor. |
| 1996 | Sweden bought the rights to Survivor. |
| Summer 1997 | Sweden's Expedition Robinson series 1 filmed by Strix. |
| Fall 1997 | Sweden's Expedition Robinson series 1 aired and is a huge hit. |
| Unknown | John de Mol bought the rights to 'Survivor', but created Big Brother instead. |
| 1998 | Mark Burnett bought the United States rights to Survivor. |
| Summer 1999 | Mark Burnett's Survivor was turned down by NBC, ABC, CBS, and UPN. He got another chance at CBS, and Les Moonves bought it. |
| June 1999 | Mark Burnett scouted locations in Borneo for Survivor. |
| 13 March - 20 April 2000 | Survivor Borneo was filmed. |
| 31 May - 23 August 2000 | Survivor Borneo aired. |
| 23 August 2000 | The Survivor Borneo finale aired, but Mark Burnett was in Borneo preparing for Eco-Challenge. |
| 23 October - November 2000 | Survivor The Australian Outback was filmed in Australia. |
| 28 January - 3 May 2001 | Survivor The Australian Outback aired. |
| July - August 2001 | US Survivor Africa was filmed. |
| August - September 2001 | Mark Burnett began preparing in Jordan for Survivor Arabia. |
| 11 September 2001 | After 9/11, Mark Burnett decided not to hold Survivor 4 in Jordan. |
| September 2001 | Leslie Moonves told Mark Burnett that the start date for Survivor 4 filming would stay the same, so Mark Burnett must find a new location quickly. |
| 15 September 2001 | Mark Burnett flew to Tahiti in French Polynesia to scout out a location for Survivor 4. |
| 17 September 2001 | Mark Burnett scouted the Marquesas Islands. |
| 20 September 2001 | Mark Burnett picked the Marquesas. |
| 4 October 2001 - 17 January 2002 | Survivor Africa aired. |
| 12 November - December 2001 | Survivor Marquesas was filmed in place of Survivor Arabia. |
| 28 February - 13 May 2002 | Survivor Marquesas aired. |
| 13 May 2002 | The Survivor Marquesas reunion aired outdoors in Trump Wollman Rink. |
| Summer 2002 | Mark Burnett chose Thailand over Vietnam, Cambodia, and Indonesia for Survivor 5. |
| Summer 2002 | Survivor Thailand was filmed. |
| 19 September - 12 December 2002 | Survivor Thailand aired. |
| Fall 2002 | The Philippines was selected as the location for Survivor 6. Because of terror alerts it was moved to The Amazon. [2] |
| 7 November - 15 December 2002 | Survivor Amazon was filmed. |
| 2003 | Survivor versus I'm A Celebrity... court case was decided in favor of Celebrity. |
| 13 February - 11 May 2003 | Survivor Amazon aired. |
| 1 May 2003 | Survivor Amazon reunion was to be at Trump Wollman Rink, but it was moved indoors to the Ed Sullivan Theater at the last minute due to weather. |
| The week of 23rd of June 2003 | Survivor Pearl Islands was filmed. |
| 18 September - 14 December 2003 | Survivor Pearl Islands aired. |
| Fall 2003 | Survivor: All-Stars was filmed. |
| 1 February - 9 May 2004 | Survivor All-Stars aired. |
| 13 May 2004 | America's Tribal Council was held, and America voted to give Rupert Boneham a million dollars. |
| July - 11 August 2004 | Survivor: Vanuatu - Islands of Fire was filmed. |
| 16 September - 12 December 2004 | US Survivor: Vanuatu aired. |
| Fall 2004 | Survivor: Palau was filmed. |
| December 2004 | Mark Burnett scouted Madagascar as a possible future Survivor location. |
| 17 February - 12 May 2005 | Survivor: Palau aired. |
| Summer 2005 | Survivor: Guatemala - The Mayan Empire was filmed. |
| 15 September - 11 December 2005 | Survivor: Guatemala - The Mayan Empire aired. |
| 31 October - 8 December 2005 | Survivor: Panama - Exile Island was filmed. |
| 2 February 2006 - present | Survivor: Panama - Exile Island aired. |