Why Survivor?

This is a question that is often asked to me. Why do you like Survivor so much? Why do you still watch it after thirteen years and 26 seasons? Why do you listen to Survivor podcasts and write about the show? Well this blog should answer that.

Survivor isn't just a show that produces great, real drama. It also is a show that changed television. Variety, an entertainment magazine/website ranked it as the most influential show of the decade (2000-2010) in 2009. How is it influential? I guess I should start from the beginning.

In the summer of 2000, when I was five years-old, my family had a rule for us kids. Myself being the oldest at 5, and my two younger siblings would not be allowed to watch any TV or play any computer games the entire summer. We called it "screen-time". Well we weren't going to have any of that the entire summer for the purpose of us being active. It was a great experience, as I spent so much time outside playing pickup baseball with the neighborhood kids, going to the beach, etc. It was a great summer. But as I was saying, we weren't allowed to watch anything except for Cubs games. Well then Survivor came on and there was an exception for that rule. My mom started watching the show, and since she was watching, I could watch too. I thought it was a pretty cool show, although since I was so young, I didn't understand the importance the show had, or its impact. I have gone back and re-watched the season, something I am doing again right now.

When the show first came on, it was a phenomenon. An unprecedented 52 MILLION people watched the finale of the first season. Most people I will talk to will tell me they saw the beginning of the show. Some are surprised that it's still on. But the show was a phenomenon.

Survivor was really the first of its kind. It was a cool and maybe somewhat basic idea, but producer Mark Burnett made it happen. You take 16 strangers, divide them into two separate tribes, and force them to live on an island together for 39 days. Slowly voting one person out at a time and at the same time, they must depend on each other to survive. I love seeing 16 completely different people forced to live together. 16 people that would never meet in real life, and see what happens. They must fight hunger, the elements, and the other fifteen players as only one can win the million dollar prize.

Keep in mind these are just ordinary people going on the show. These ordinary people rose to stardom, and were signing autographs for people on the streets. I think any one that has watched at least one episode of the show, could imagine themselves in a survival situation. While it's a tough game, it's a show anyone could go on. Over the years there has been a huge variety of different kinds of winners. Some are week, some are strong, some are tall, some are short. Some are older than others, some are younger. The point is that anyone can win on any given day, something that was once again proven this past season.

As I said, some of the contestants of the show rose some to stardom. Elisabeth Filarski (Hasselbeck) is now on the talk show The View. Colleen Haskell from the first season starred in the Rob Schneider film The Animal. The show has helped some launch their careers. On the opposite end of the spectrum, some famous people have gone on the show. Super Bowl-winning coach and NFL analyst Jimmy Johnson went on the show. Future hall of fame second baseman Jeff Kent went on the show. Former teen star Lisa Whelchel went on the show. Those are just a few. People like this show, and people want to play this show.

While some players were there to have fun, and weren't interested as much in the money or the game, the show still was a great source of entertainment. The first season had many great story lines. You had Gervase Peterson, a city guy who didn't know how to swim, beating Kelly Wigglesworth, a white-water rafting tour guide in a rowing challenge. You had the unlikely friendship of the 39 year-old openly gay man in Richard Hatch and 72 year-old retired navy seal Rudy Boesch. Those are just a couple of examples. But people were drawn to the show, and it paved the way for the future of television.

Some people may argue that the show isn't real. There are reality shows that are scripted. And keep in mind, they have hours and hours of footage, but they have to edit each set of three days into a one hour show. (Probably 15 minutes of commercials, so really only 45 minutes). So the editing might not be fair, or we might not be getting 100% of the whole story told to us, but it is a real story. And you might say, it isn't real. But it is. Don't believe me? One of the show's most iconic moments displayed the authenticity of this game.

In Survivor: The Australian Outback, the show's second season, contestant Mike Skupin was working by the fire and inhaled smoke, and started to pass out, falling face first in the fire. He quickly caught himself with his hands, but severely burned them and had to be medically evacuated from the game. The clip is available below.

He basically burned his fingers off. Luckily, he was able to get them taken care and his hands are fine now. He was able to return to play twelve years later on Survivor: Philippines, which aired this past fall.

So yeah. This is real. I could point to many other situations that proved the authenticity of the show, but this one should basically answer anyone that questions it.

So as I was saying, there's a lot I love about this franchise. What fascinates me is the psychology and sociology. They have to battle all these things. But when they're voting people out, they have to do it in a gentle way, because the last 7-9 people that are voted out will ultimately decide who wins the game between the final two or three players. It's not an easy game.

You learn a lot about people in this game. You see their selfish desires. While they start in tribes, this is still an individual game. There's so much going on. The drama is real. When someone gets blindsided, you see real emotions coming from people. Some will be a good sport about it, and some won't. But when the show's crazy, that makes for great television. There have been some great moments over the years. I simply can't do any of it justice by simply explaining it. It's something you have to see for yourself.

It's crazy how much the game has changed over the past thirteen years. When the show started, it was almost more of a documentary of people living on an island, meanwhile a game was going on. Now the show is completely based around all of the strategy. I guess if you're 26 seasons into the show, you don't need to see what the camp-life is like and see as much of the actual Survivor skills. That's not to say I don't want to see it, but that must be the logic coming from the producers. Nevertheless, even after thirteen years and 26 seasons, Survivor is still producing. After a few years of some rather sub-par seasons in comparison to others, this past television year has reminded us all why we watch the show. The last two seasons were some real good ones, and maybe some of the best. The show is still going strong.

So how long can it stay on the air? I have no idea. I never thought it'd be on this long. I always thought about "what if I were to play?" when I was little but didn't think the show would still be on when I was 18. Well, it is. It's amazing how much of a run this show has had. If it were to end today, it would still be one of the most influential shows ever.

Survivor was the first of its kind. The success of Survivor inspired many other reality TV competitions, and probably also helped the future of other reality TV shows. Reality TV competition starts to take over television, with shows like Fear Factor and American Idol. Think about all the shows that might not be on today if it weren't for Survivor. If you watch any reality TV show, you owe it to yourself, and Mark Burnett to watch at least a season of Survivor. But when the show started, America was in love with it. The show had a big cultural impact. There have been Survivor video games. There was a Survivor theme park ride at a theme park in California. The show has been spoofed and parodied on episodes of other television shows such as 30 Rock, House, and The Office. I think most people would recognize the quote "the tribe has spoken."

People slowly started drifting away from the show, and I'm not sure many more people there are out there that have watched from the very beginning. There are kids like me who grew up on the show and are still watching, now as they enter into early adulthood. What's surprised me is how there are a good amount of people that are new to the show. They started watching some time in the past five or six years, and haven't been around since the beginning. This was very clear around the time of Survivor: Samoa and Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains. People complained that Russell Hantz, who made it the to final tribal council in both seasons got robbed and deserved to win. Some called him the greatest player ever. But if they had been watching from the start and had seen Survivor: All-Stars, they would have known that you can't win the game without a social game. And if you treat people like garbage, they aren't going to vote for you. So while people criticized the winners from those seasons, Natalie White and Sandra Diaz-Twine and called them "the worst winners ever", keep in mind that that is indeed a good strategy. Take someone who is not liked by people on the jury to the end with you. Align yourself with them and let them take all the bullets, while you're the one doing stuff behind the scenes. That's a legitimate strategy. And people who fail to recognize that don't know a lot about the show. Many people were saying that the game is flawed because Russell couldn't win. Russell's game was flawed. So really, that makes the game good. Also, there's not one blueprint you must follow to win the game. There are several different strategies that can be used, and maybe there are even some out there that haven't been used that that can be a effective.

The show has produced several great moments. One great moment that sticks out is when Ozzy Lusth (who was in a great position in the game) was blindsided, holding a hidden immunity idol in Survivor: Micronesia. The idol was something that only he had, and he could play before they read the votes, which would keep him immune from being voted out. Instead, he didn't play his idol and paid the price.

And since it is real, it's almost like sports. In sports, sometimes you can't write a better ending to a story. You don't know what's going to happen, because it isn't scripted. So really there are hundreds of reasons to watch this show. I'm not sure if you were to watch the first season today, if it would still have the same appeal to the average person, because it might not be as new or exciting. But at the same time, I've never showed the show to someone and had them not be interested in it.

Again, not every season is going to be great. There have been a couple I stop watching in the middle or towards the end because it was such a snoozer. But the great seasons heavily outweigh the bad ones, and I will always come back to watching the show.

Like I said, if you've ever consistently watched any reality show, you owe to yourself and to CBS to watch a season of Survivor. Don't like it? That's fine. Or maybe you get tired of it. That's alright. I just think for your own sake, you should watch a season of the show.

Survivor is really the only show I keep up with and watch every week. Some shows I'll watch if they're on, or on Netflix or Hulu Plus. But Survivor is one I never miss. Again, I have no idea how long the show can stay on the air. I don't know if it is a show that has a lifespan or if it can become a show like Wheel of Fortune that will be on no matter what. How long will Jeff Probst keep hosting the show? Again, I have no clue what the future holds for the show. But I will gladly enjoy the show for now. And if Survivor were to end today, it will go down as a show that changed television.

I guess I should finish my rambling and wrap things up here. Thanks for reading my article, and let me hear your thoughts. Have you ever watched Survivor? Let me know. Comment, write on my Facebook fan page or tweet me on Twitter @vellvita7. Have a nice weekend!