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Survivor (First Season)
See also : Survivor : The Players,
which was written after the finale aired.
From the very first show, you really want to love Survivor.
This is CBS' sure-sell; an ingenious cross between "Who Wants to be a Millionaire"
and "The Real World" (the best of both audience
"worlds"? Perhaps...). Its premiere was so popular,
it was shown twice in its first week on the air. It's second
episode was so popular, it beat Millionaire in its Wednesday,
8 o'clock time slot. So why, oh why, by as little as the third
episode, is it so close to a "near miss" rating...?
Let's be fair, and discuss the show's strengths. For starters,
the premise : 16 strangers are put on a deserted island, for
an island "adventure" --a contest which leaves the
winner with a cool 1 mil, and others with additional (though
far more minor) cash prizes. This
contest has no rules, aside from surviving. Just to make sure
nothing libelous happens, the castaways are given enough to not
die (water, clean beaches, lack of predators, etc.), though
not much more. After all, survival is the key here. To
make things even more interesting --and not half as annoying
as most teenybopper dramas-- the castaways chosen for the contest
are from all walks of life, and are often as different as oil
and water. In short, the roots of a potentially gripping, documentary-type
contest series.
The first
team listed in the opening credits --and for good reason-- is
the Pagong team. These guys seem to be having the most fun, with
the least backstabbing; probably because their real-life jobs
require social skills over "every man for himself"
skills. Colleen (shown above) and Jenna are both Students. Greg
is an Ivy League Graduate. Gretchen is a Teacher. Gervase is a Gym Coach. Ramona is a Chemist. Joel is a Health
Club Consultant. B.B. is a Real Estate Developer. This resulting
team has a far stronger sense of camaraderie than the "Tagi."
By episode 2, they have a night party they call "The All
New, Newly Stranded Game," which is a real ice-breaker.
After all, the key to survival is getting along; with each other,
as well as the TV audience.
The other team --the one most struggling to survive-- is the
Tagi. This team tries vainly to put "I" in t-e-a-m,
and has lost the most competitions because of it...as well as
other team failures. No sooner does Sonja play the ukulele for
"team spirit," then she's voted the first to go! Dirk,
by comparison, contributes only enough to not be voted off the
team (a potentially good strategy, though not exciting "on
the air"). Richard
is a Corporate Trainer who can catch "slow" fish, though
not much else. Sean (a doctor) made his own fully-operational
fishing reel, yet hasn't caught a single thing. Stacey is an
Attorney who complains about the living conditions and lack of
food. Kelly is a river guide; a skill that would appear to be
the most contributing, yet she's often just following Susan's
shadow. Susan is a cynical, tattooed truck driver who has issues
with other female teammates. Rudy is a retired Navy
Seal with a lot of issues about, basically, the entire rest of
the team. What a motley crew!
The show is narrated by Jeff Probst, who acts as host to the
games, the tribal council, and the show itself. Halfway thorough
each episode, a note is placed in each team's bamboo mail tube,
and they must follow its directions to Probst, and the next challenge. Such
competitions vary from water and beach races, to a bug eating
contest. The prize for each challenge is often survival equipment,
such as waterproof matches or a fishing spear. Winners also receive
the "immunity idol," where the team stays as it is
until the next challenge. The losing team must go to tribal council,
where one team member must be voted to go. These competitions
are the moments that are the most gripping, and the most in tune
with the show's intended theme.
These contests are often only 1/6th of the show, however.
With survival the key to winning (and not getting sick),
the majority of the first shows have been making their sleeping
quarters and finding food resources. Adding to the intrigue,
however, is how bad these people are at "surviving"
in the wild. Their tents, by the time it starts to rain, show
that they might as well be made of paper. As for food resources,
the Tagi team is busy eating fish, though only after winning
the snorkel/spear equipment needed to do this. The Pagong, by
contrast, have started eating rats. Is this good TV? Perhaps,
though it could get rather repetitive in just a few more episodes.
It's the teammates which will soon ruin this show, however.
Better team spirit might result if the million was split between
all team members; instead, only one single "survivor"
will truly win. The end result is a free for all, where every
man and woman is for him or herself. While
the Pagong team seems to want to have fun as much as win --a
tactic that has made them achieve both, so far-- there is still
an awful lot of bickering, and this affects the show's appeal.
The Tagi tribe, by comparison, is a shambles. Whether you liked
Stacey or not, she was responsible for the Tagi
team's one "real" win so far, and yet she was
voted to leave in the very next episode; talk about lack of team
spirit! Meanwhile, caustic teammates like Susan are still there. Even if they contributed the
most (which they don't), they contribute the least in
Nielson Ratings. Think about it.
Such show flaws might affect the appeal of the show in record
time. The end result is not unlike an episode of Gilligan's Island,
where Gilligan and Mary Ann are voted to leave. Sure, they "contribute
the least," though you just piffled away a big chunk of
Nielson ratings. It's not like people will tune in just to see
the Skipper and Mr. Howell! If I have to see the Tagi team's obnoxious
whining for many more episodes, I'll switch back to ABC's Millionaire
show...though it was nice to tune into CBS again, while the fun
lasted.
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