Survivor has been on screens since the year 2000. Derived from a Swedish show, it was a launching pad for a reality TV boom that was inescapable in that decade. While viewership numbers have declined since then, there is still a dedicated fan base faithfully watching as its fiftieth season recently kicked off. I am unapologetically one of those fans.
Voluntarily Starving on Television
I’ve watched Survivor from the beginning. The show would air on a free government-run channel in South Africa. The season we were watching was normally at least a full year or more behind when it aired in the US. Government channels have tight budgets. But social media hadn’t been invented yet to ruin the season winner so it didn’t matter that much.
Every week I would watch as an eclectic group of Americans starved, played mind games with each other and competed in strength and endurance challenges that would test them to their limits. Ending each episode with the group democratically voting out (read stabbing in the back) their tribe mates.
Inflation over the last twenty-five years has significantly diminished the value of the million dollar prize pool. $1 million in 2000 is roughly worth $1.8 million today. But that hasn’t stopped the brilliant cast pipeline pouring in. It’s still a nice pile of cash — but the real prize, it turns out, isn't the cheque. Look no further than the current season which includes twenty-four players who have returned just to play against the best of the best - some who have already won.
While I may not be a die-hard fan in the sense that I stalk previous cast members online or know their children’s names, I have faithfully watched season after season and always look forward to the next one. We even dropped into the Survivor pop up in Miami when we were there a few weeks ago.
Jeff the G.O.A.T
Jeff Probst or ‘Uncle Jeff,’ the multi-Emmy Award-winning talented host, is the show’s constant guiding force. He’s been there from the beginning. Other local spin-offs of the show are never as good to me, which I think is largely because they’re missing a Jeff. There’s an art to presenting and narrating a competition like this that is not easily replicated. I vividly recall one of the South African hosts getting frustrated that the tribe he was talking to was not giving him the answers he wanted. The tribe just stared at him blankly.
What Makes It Magic
The show itself is so fascinating because it mixes so much of the human experience. Competitiveness, compassion, cunning, heart. Pushing yourself to the limit for no apparent reason other than to prove you can. It’s a game that can be played as a villain or a hero but it’s one of the few reality shows that has a built-in consequence for those who get to the finish line by playing the villain. In the end, the people you vote out decide if you’re worthy of the title of Sole Survivor.
My favorite part of watching the show over the last few years has become watching it with friends. It’s a brilliant excuse to get together every week, catch up, watch something entertaining, shout for our favorite underdogs (albeit much more quietly now that the baby is sleeping in the other room) and then pontificate on what we would have done if we were on that beach. We would probably be getting more sleep even with the bugs.
There’s this interesting relationship you build with a show you’ve watched over 20 years. This entertainment ritual that has been part of your life through so many of your own seasons. As a kid in your parent’s home, as a single person, as a couple, as parents, and if the show keeps going maybe even our daughter will sit down to shout for her tribe one day.
Still On The Edge Of My Seat
Sure it’s just a television show, but in the age of throw away trash generated without effort or thought - today it may not even be generated by humans - there’s something so special about a show with this kind of lasting power.
Needless to say I’m on the edge of my seat for who takes the Season 50 crown.
"Survivors ready? Go!"
