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. The format was created by Swedish production company Strix.

Contents

1 Premise 2 Concept history 3 Seasons of the American version of the series 4 Rules 5 Miscellaneous 6 Best Survivor Moments According To Survivor: All-Stars 7 UK Survivor 8 External links

Premise

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.

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 off one member of the tribe at "Tribal Council." In addition, most episodes have a "reward challenge" and the winning tribe will receive a prize such as additional food or equipment. Exceptions: In Survivor: All-Stars, there were 18 players in three tribes at the start of the game. In Immunity Challenges, the top two tribes received immunity; only last place went to Tribal Council. In Survivor: Vanuatu, again 18 players began the game, but in two tribes of nine players each. In Survivor: Palau, 20 players began the game, and were divided into two tribes of nine, with the other two players being eliminated immediately.

Later seasons offered twists on pre-merge immunity rules. In the opening moments of Palau, Probst told the 20 contestants (all of whom were rowing in the middle of the ocean) that the first man and woman to reach the shore would be granted immunity. That safety lasted until day 2, when they each picked the first member of their new tribe (Jolanda Jones, the female immunity winner, was voted out on day 3!). On day 7 of Vanuatu, both tribes were told they had to vote out a member. They were then ordered to compete in a reward challenge. The Lopevi tribe won, and their "reward" was an individual competition for immunity -- John Kenney won and was kept safe for that particular vote; he was also sent to the Yasur tribe for a day to watch their activities and award immunity to one player (he chose Ami Cusack). In Palau, on day 12, the Koror and Ulong tribes were forced to vote out one member apiece. Powerhouse Koror won the reward challenge, and the prize was eating a meal in front of Ulong while watching their Tribal Council. A surprise twist revealed only at TC was the opportunity to give one Ulong immunity for that particular vote. Votes were split but a majority went to the Ulong tribe's intended target, Iberhem Rahman , forcing Ulong to vote out another member.

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 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. In the Marquesas, Amazon Vanuatu, and Palau seasons, the player who won immunity had the right to pass it to a fellow tribemate. Several players attempted to barter for this prize, but only two transfers have occured. Amazon winner Jenna Morasca gave her immunity to friend Heidi Strobel on day 33, and Burton Roberts gave up his immunity to Rupert Boneham on day 22 of Pearl Islands (Burton had automatic immunity because of his return to the game from the outcast twist and also won that episode's immunity challenge, so he had one to give up).

The voting is done at the end of each episode at Tribal Council. The show's host, Jeff Probst, 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. Probst takes the players' torch, extinguishes it, and declares "The tribe has spoken." The player then leaves the area and gives his final words, which air during the credits of the episode. If there is a tie, the following tiebreakers have been used: In Seasons 1-3, all players not in the tie voted again. If the tie remained, whoever had received the most votes in prior Tribal Councils was eliminated. If this did not break the tie, a sudden death trivia challenge was used. In Survivor: Marquesas, a tie was broken by a random draw among all players, except Vecepia, who had immunity. Later seasons such as Thailand and Palau have featured players discussing the possibility of a "purple rock", but at Tribal Council they have avoided tiebreaker situations. No vote since Marquesas has required an absolute tiebreaker; the closest was an initial 2-2 tie vote in Palau between Bobby Jon Drinkard and Angie Jakusz . Probst ordered a revote from the three other members of their tribe, and Jakusz was voted out 3-0. In the following episode, Iberhem Rahman and James Miller tied on a 2-2 vote but a revote led to a 2-0 departure for Miller.

The first 6-9 players eliminated leave the game altogether; in the first season they were allowed to return to the United States, but when some of the early exits were sighted during filming (spoiling the outcome of the first few episodes), Survivor instituted a policy forcing pre-jury players to stay fairly close to the filming area (the country itself, or nearby countries). One exception was Tanya Vance , who was voted out on day 6 of Thailand and allowed to return home several weeks later upon learning her father had been killed. Those who finish in ninth through third place remain to form the "jury" which does not directly participate in the show but observes the Tribal Councils. In the final episode of each season, the final four (3 in Survivor: Australia) players typically go through a number of activities during their final days. In the first 4 seasons they competed in an immunity challenge, which has generally been "Fallen Comrades," where players compete (in front of the jury) to answer questions about the jury correctly. Later seasons have featured other physical or mental tasks in place of "Fallen Comrades". Immediately following this challenge, fourth place 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 challenge, generally one of endurance. Whoever wins this challenge has the sole vote to eliminate third place. The final two return, and on the last day go through a symbolic destruction of camp. Then they go to their final Tribal Council, where the seven members of the jury are given the right to ask them questions. At the very end of the show, 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. The runner-up receives $100,000 and the other players voted out receive gradually lesser amounts, down to last place receiving $2,500. In All-Star, each contestant received a slightly higher monetary amount due to their previous participation in the game.

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 rarely 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, 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. [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. As of early 2005 ten games have been aired, including a special competition with past contestants. DVD's of the first season, and All-Stars have been released. DVD editions of other seasons are planned.

• Survivor: Pulau Tiga (also called Survivor: Borneo) was set on the remote island of Pulau Tiga in the South China Sea. Richard Hatch was its winner in a 4-3 vote over Kelly Wigglesworth.
• Survivor: The Australian Outback was set in Australia in the Outback (though the location was by Australian standards not particularly remote, nor was it arid). Tina Wesson won 4-3 over Colby Donaldson. In this season, there were 42 days and 14 episodes.
• Survivor: Africa was set in a Kenyan desert. Ethan Zohn won, defeating Kim Johnson by a vote of 5-2. In this season, with 6 players left on each tribe, a "twist" was used for the first time, with three members from each tribe switched places.
• Survivor: Marquesas was set on the island of Nuku Hiva in the Marquesas. Vecepia Towery won by a vote of 4-3 over Neleh Dennis. In this season, with 13 players left, a random reshuffling of the tribes was instituted. In addition, as noted above, a tie was broken by random draw for the first time.
• Survivor: Thailand was set in Thailand. Brian Heidik beat Clay Jordan by a vote of 4-3. Instead of starting the game with predetermined tribes, the two eldest players were given the responsiblitity of choosing their own tribemates, as well as the camp they would live at. At one point, players were given the option to switch tribes, but none did. When 10 players remained, the standard number for the merge, the tribes began to live together, and assumed they were merged, but Probst informed them at the next challenge that they were still competing as two tribes.
• Survivor: The Amazon was set in the jungles of the Amazon River region of Brazil. Jenna Morasca won, with the largest margin of victory yet in the American series, 6-1, over Matthew Von Ertfelda. The season began as a tribe of men vs. a tribe of women, but the tribes mixed later before merging.
• Survivor: Pearl Islands was set in the Pearl Islands off the coast of Panama. Sandra Diaz-Twine won by a vote of 6-1. When 10 players remained, the 6 previously voted out tribe members were given the opportunity to win their way back into the game; Burton Roberts, who later became the first Survivor voted out twice, and Lillian Morris, who went on to become the season's runner-up, re-entered the game in this manner. Osten Taylor, who left the game voluntarily due to exhaustion, was the first Survivor ever to quit.
• Survivor: All-Stars was also set in the Pearl Islands, and featured eighteen contestants from past Survivor seasons. Amber Brkich won by a vote of 4-3 over Rob Mariano. During the finale, Rob M. asked Amber to marry him, and she said yes. 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 Survivor: America's Tribal Council. Several rule changes were used in this season regarding the nature of tribes, and they are listed in the separate article.
• Survivor: Vanuatu: Islands of Fire was set on islands in the archipelago nation of Vanuatu, located in the South Pacific Ocean. Chris Daugherty was the only male contestant of the final seven, but outlasted Twila Tanner by a vote of 5-2. Eighteen players started the game, and, as in Amazon, began as men vs. women and were later mixed before merging.
• Survivor: Palau was set on islands of Palau, located in the Philippine Seas. The season started with 20 contestants, but on Day 2, the number was reduced to 18 in a tribal selection process. This season is currently in progress.

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.

Rules

(rules may vary in foreign versions of the series)

• At Tribal Council, a player cannot vote for themselves.
• When one tribe has more players than the other tribe, the excess members must sit out challenges, a rule which was relaxed only in the season because Jeff Probst felt neither team would be hindered or helped by the number disparity. Beginning with Survivor: Africa, the rules speficially stated that the player who sits out a reward challenge cannot sit out the following immunity challenge. In Survivor: Palau, from episodes 7-8 the Koror tribe had 8 players while Ulong only had 3, then 2, which forced the show to allow various players to sit out back-to-back challenges. The only rule was that the same 2-3 players could not participate in each concurrent challenge. Katie Gallagher and Janu Torrell , both of the Palau season, tie for the most sit-outs of any players (they each sat out 7 challenges over 8 episodes).
• Barring the occasional challenges which involve wrestling or limited combat, any physical violence between players will result in immediate expulsion from the game.

Miscellaneous

• In all, there have been 150 different American Survivor players over the 10 seasons, 18 of whom got to play twice.
• Of the 112 different players from the seven pre-All Star seasons, only three have never been eliminated from the game: Vecepia Towery, Brian Heidik, and Sandra Diaz-Twine. Each of the other five winners lost in their other season. Jenna Morasca never had her torch snuffed out because she quit Survivor: All Stars.
• Five others were never voted out of their tribe:
  • Michael Skupin left Survivor: Australia due to injury
  • Paschal English was eliminated from Survivor: Marquesas in a random tiebreaker
  • Osten Taylor quit the game in Survivor: Pearl Islands.
  • Jenna Morasca won Survivor: The Amazon before quitting Survivor: All-Stars.
  • Bobby Jon of Survivor: Palau was eliminated during a special challenge, because there were only 2 people left on the Ulong tribe.

(Note: Susan Hawk became the third person in the show's history to quit in All-Stars, however she had been voted off in her previous season.) One could also argue that Jonathan Libby and Wanda Shirk from Survivor: Palau also never had their torches snuffed out because they were never placed on any tribe. (Note: Osten Taylor asked his tribe to vote him out but Jeff Probst told them it wasn't necessary.)

• Only 3 players have quit the game without being voted out at that time: Osten Taylor, Jenna Morasca, and Susan Hawk. The quit that was considered most dishonorable by Jeff Probst was Osten Taylor's quit, because unlike Jenna and Susan, he had no real reason to leave the game.
• Five players, after their tribe has lost a group immunity challenge, have asked their tribe to vote them out of the game. Palua Tiga (also known as Borneo)'s BB persuaded his tribe to oust him on day 6, a move he said he later regretted. Shawna Mitchell of the Amazon season complained of illness and asked to leave on day 12, but her tribemates refused. She recovered but was voted out on day 18. Osten Taylor of Pearl Islands opted out on day 19 -- in protest, Jeff Probst tossed his extinguished torch to the ground and the show refused to allow him a post-departure confessional (the confessionals play over the closing credits). On day 6, Ashlee Ashby of Palau, complaining of illness and exhaustion, convinced her team (Ulong) to eliminate her. On day 8, Jeff Wilson, also of Ulong, was voted out after seriously injuring his ankle on a loose coconut.
• 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.
• 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 (Africa} for the single series record) and an additional seven during her second appearance. Black, Ryan Opray (Pearl Islands} and Willard Smith (Palau) share the record for a single Tribal Council, with eight votes.
• 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.
• In Survivor: Palau, Koror became the most successful tribe in Survivor history. Ulong became the first tribe in the show's history to lose EVERY immunity challenge, and won only a total of three reward challenges. As of April 7, 2005, for the first time ever there was one person left in a pre-merge tribe (Stephenie LaGrossa). When it was down to Bobby Jon Drinkard and Stephenie LaGrossa, they lost another immunity challenge; because there were only 2 players left on Ulong, when they went to tribal council, Bobby Jon and Stephenie had to compete in a fire-building contest. Stephenie won. When Bobby Jon brought his torch to Jeff Probst to be snuffed, Probst said, "The tribe has definitely NOT spoken. Nonetheless, it's time for you go."
• Tom Buchanan has been on Survivor the longest, lasting a total of 73 days (across two seasons). Amber Brkich lasted a total of 72 days.
• Jonathan Libby and Wanda Shirk have been on Survivor the shortest, lasting only until Day 2 due to not being picked during the tribal selection phase on Survivor: Palau.
• In the 9 completed seasons of Survivor, 5 women have won and 4 men have won. There has been one final competition between a pair of men (Thailand) and two between pairs of women (Marquesas, Pearl Islands). In the six other final competitions between a man and a woman, three were won by each gender. All-Star was the first season where the final 2 were in a romantic relationship (Amber Brkich and Rob Mariano).
• The 10 players voted off to start the game each season: Sonja Christopher (the very first Survivor ever to be voted out), Debb Eaton, Diane Ogden , Peter Harkey , John Raymond , Ryan Aiken, Nicole Delma , Tina Wesson (who won Survivor: The Australian Outback but first out on Survivor: All-Stars), Brook Geraghty , and Jolanda Jones. However, Jolanda was not the first to be eliminated in Survivor: Palau, because Jonathan Libby and Wanda Shirk were eliminated by default in the tribal selection process that started the season.
• Traditionally one of the final reward challenges 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 Survivor: All-Stars, was awarded a car as part of the final reward challenge, but she was selected by Rob Mariano, the actual winner of the challenge.
• 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.
• Wanda Shirk and Jonathan Libby of Survivor: Palau are the only contestants who never belonged to a tribe on the show, due to the tribe-selection process that eliminated them. Rupert Boneham of Survivor: Pearl Islands and Survivor: All-Stars holds the record for belonging to the most tribes, with a total of seven. On Pearl Islands, he belonged to Drake (his original tribe), Morgan (he was briefly considered a member when the opposing tribe "kidnapped" him as part of a reward), and Balboa (the season's merged tribe); on All-Stars he belonged to all four of the seasons tribes: Saboga (his original tribe), Chapera (when Saboga was dissolved), Mogo Mogo (as a result of the "tribal shuffle") and Chaboga Mogo (the merged tribe).
• When the original tribes merge into a single tribe, the players are given the responsibility of naming the new tribe, as well as creating a flag for it. Five seasons have had a merged tribe named after something or someone: Survivor: Pulau Tiga's Rattana tribe was named for the large amount of rattan wood on the island, Survivor: The Australian Outback's Barramundi tribe was named after the barramundi fish, Survivor: Africa's Motomaji tribe was derived from the Swahili words for "fire" and "water", Survivor: The Amazon's Jacaré tribe was derived from the Portuguese word for the Yacare Caiman, and Survivor: Pearl Islands's Balboa tribe was named after the explorer Vasco Núñez de Balboa. Two seasons of survivors have fashioned the merged tribe's name from the names of the original tribes: Survivor: Thailand's Chuay Jai was formed from Chuay Gahn and Sook Jai, and Survivor: All-Stars's Chaboga Mogo was a combination of Chapera, Saboga, and Mogo Mogo. Two seasons have had merged tribe names that were coined to have a special meaning: Survivor: Marquesas had a merged tribe named Soliantu, which the survivors made up to mean "sacred allegiance to the sun"; the survivors of Survivor: Vanuatu named the merged tribe Alinta to mean "people of fire". Survivor: Palau did not have a merge due to Ulong's losing streak; the only remaining Ulong, Stephanie LaGrossa , was absorbed into the other tribe, Koror.
• Currently, the least popular survivor is Jon Dalton from Survivor: Pearl Islands (18%) and the most popular Survivor is Rupert Boneham from Survivor: Pearl Islands and Survivor: All-Stars (95%). However, the player with the lowest popularity ever was Daniel Lue from Survivor: The Amazon 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 Survivor: Africa, 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.
• The toy company, Mattel, published a board game and a card game based on the television series in the year 2000. The card game was officially called Survivor: The Australian Outback Card Game.
• Rudy Boesch is currently the only Survivor contestant to have an action figure created in his image.

Best Survivor Moments According To Survivor: All-Stars

• Sue Hawk's "snake and rat" speech in Survivor: Pulau Tiga
• Michael Skupin falling in a fire in Survivor: The Australian Outback
• The Ghandia scream in Survivor: Thailand
• Jenna Morasca and Heidi Strobel taking off their clothes in Survivor: The Amazon
• Jon Dalton (aka Johnny Fairplay) making up a lie that his grandmother had died when she really hadn't in Survivor: Pearl Islands
• Rupert Boneham stealing shoes from his rival team in Survivor: Pearl Islands

UK Survivor

Survivor (UK) hit screens in the United Kingdom in 2001. The format was similar to that of the US version, and was screened on ITV1. 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. The first series was won by Charlotte Hobrough . Despite hype surrounding the show, it was a ratings flop, and was heavily criticised by the press.

Despite the disappointing performance of the first series, ITV decided to commission a second one, with some changes. Presenters Mark Austin and John Leslie were axed, and replaced by Channel 4 cricket presenter Mark Nicholas . There were twelve contestants instead of sixteen, the show was scheduled in a later time slot, and was set in Panama. The series was won by Jonny Gibb . Ratings were still disappointing, and so ITV1 decided to axe the show completely.

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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.

External links

• UK Gameshows Page: Survivor
• R2TV.com