Survivor: The Australian Outback

Survivor: The Australian Outback was the second installment of the popular United States reality show Survivor. It was filmed during 2000 and aired from January 28, 2001 to May 3, 2001 on CBS and was so popular that it gained the highest average Nielsen rating for the 2000-2001 season. It was set in what the producers called the Australia Outback of Australia. In fact, the location was only slightly remote by Australian standards (it was within three hours drive of Cairns, Queensland|Cairns, a small city on the coastline), and it was located in a wet, semi-tropical area rather than the desert, true outback. The two initial tribes were Kucha and Ogakor, the Aboriginal words for "kangaroo" and "crocodile", respectively.

Fourteen episodes aired weekly the first one airing after the Super Bowl. The elimination of contestant Michael Skupin during the sixth episode is noteworthy for being the first case where a Survivor contestant has had to be evacuated due to injuries. Michael Skupin, while attempting to start a fire, breathed in smoke and momentarily fainted, falling into the fire and suffering severe burns to his hands. After being cared for by medical personnel, a helicopter was brought in and Skupin was evacuated. As a result of his evacuation, no immunity challenge and no tribal council were held. Had Skupin's injury not occurred Kucha was heavily favored to win the next immunity challenge and Ogakor might have voted out their fourth castaway, however they were notified before the immunity challenge, only being told that there was an accident in the other tribe's camp and someone was evacuated. This means that Ogakor and Kucha went into the merge with an equal number of tribe members, instead of the possible six to four had Ogakor gone to Tribal Council. Ironically, at the next tribal council, the first merged one, Ogakor squandered their good luck, breaking a tie along former tribal lines and voting off Jeff Varner. The winner, Tina Wesson, was announced on May 3, 2001.

Gameplay changes between the first two seasons included the game lasting 42 days instead of 39, meaning that the rapidfire elimination of a "Final Four" turned into a "Final Three". This series also began the Survivor tradition of revealing the results live, so that none of the castaways would know who won until the finale.

During a reward on Day 34 where the remaining five contestants were permitted to communicate with their family members, Ogakor/Barramundi member Keith Famie asked his girlfriend to marry him. She said yes.

The entire season was released in DVD format on April 26, 2005.

Survivor: The Australian Outback, along with CBS' then-breakout hit CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, was instrumental in CBS instantly becoming a major competitor on Thursday nights. It was announced on December 19, 2000 that CBS was going to move Survivor (from Wednesdays) and CSI (from Fridays) to Thursday nights starting in February 2001 to challenge NBC's long-standing and popular Must-See TV lineup, which included the hit shows, Friends and Will & Grace. As a result, CBS has now become the most-watched network on Thursday nights due to the departure of NBC's Friends in 2004, ER's gradual decline in viewer numbers for NBC, and the emergence of another popular CBS crime drama, Without a Trace, since the fall of 2002.

This season was the most watched TV series of the 2000-2001 Television Season according to the Nielsen Ratings.

Voting history
Keith and Mitchell were tied 3-3 at Tribal Council and in a Tribal Council countback Keith had no previous votes, but Mitchell had one, Mitchell was eliminated. On Day 17 Michael fell into a fire and had to be evacuated due to injuries, as a result he was the sixth person to leave the game meaning no Tribal Council was held.  Colby and Jeff were tied 5-5 at Tribal Council and in a Tribal Council countback Colby had no previous votes, but Jeff had two, Jeff was eliminated

Elimination notes

 * Debb Eaton - Debb proved to be socially inept and her personality quickly grated on the nerves of her Kucha tribemates. Finding herself unable to fit in and unable to convince the tribe that Jeff was a weak link, Debb found herself unanimously booted. (voted out 7-1)
 * Kel Gleason - Like Debb before him, Kel proved to be the outcast of the Ogakor tribe, never truly bonding with anyone else. When he was accused by Jerri of smuggling beef jerkey into the game, his fate was sealed, and despite being one of the stronger members of the tribe, he was voted off in a unanimous decision. (voted out 7-1)
 * Maralyn Hershey - Despite being well-liked by her tribe, "Mad Dog" Maralyn proved to be too much of a challenge liability to keep around. Her stumble in the Episode 3 Immunity Challenge confirmed her to be a weak link, and she was voted off by even her closest allies. (voted out 5-1-1)
 * Mitchell Olson - Mitchell had made a strong alliance with Jerri and Amber, who believed Colby was with them in the vote. However, Keith and Tina proved to have stronger ties to the Texan, and Colby sided with them in the vote, creating a deadlocked tie. As Mitchell admitted he was ready to leave the game (having been targeted in the first place for being too weak), a past vote cast against him at the previous tribal council voted him out of the tribe (Keith, voted for by the Jerri/Amber/Mitchell alliance, had no previous votes). (voted out 3-3)
 * Kimmi Kappenburg - Kimmi, who had a hard time fitting in with her tribe, found herself on the oustide of Kucha when she argued with Alicia over treatment of chickens won on a reward challenge. When Kucha finally ended their winning streak, it was Kimmi who paid the price. (voted out 6-1)
 * Michael Skupin - Leader of the tribe, Michael fell into a fire while tending to it at camp. Suffering serious burns on his hands, he was airlifted out of the game, and could not return. This was the first time anyone had left Survivor due to injury.
 * Jeff Varner - Once the merge arrived, the 5 Ogakors and the 5 Kuchas found themselves deadlocked in the vote. Ogakor correctly voted for Jeff, who had been revealed earler in the game by Kimmi to have had previous votes cast against him. Kucha mistakenly voted for Colby, who had no previous votes to his name. With the tie decided by previous votes, it was Jeff who was voted out. (voted out 5-5)
 * Alicia Calaway - Secure with their alliance, the Ogakor tribe picked off the strongest remaining member of the Kucha tribe, Alicia. Kucha targeted the annoying Jerri, but did not have the votes to turn the game around. (voted out 5-4).
 * Jerri Manthey - With Nick winning a crucial immunity challenge, Colby, Tina, and Keith from the Ogakor alliance finally decided to take out one of their own. Jerri, who got along with very few members of her tribe, was booted by everyone except her close ally, Amber. (voted out 6-2)
 * Nick Brown - Nick was targeted by Ogakor as the strongest remaining member of Kucha, as well as one who was becoming progressively more sick. (voted out 4-2-1)
 * Amber Brkich - Deciding that Elisabeth and Rodger deserved to stay in the game, Tina and Keith turned on the Ogakors for the second time as they voted out the lingering Amber, whose game had ended the moment her close ally, Jerri, had been voted out. (voted out 4-2)
 * Rodger Bingham - Outnumbered by Ogakor's 3-person alliance, Elisabeth and Rodger found themselves with no place to turn. Rodger volunteered to go before Elisabeth, as she needed the money more than he did. (voted out 3-2)
 * Elisabeth Filarski - As the last remaining member of Kucha, Elisabeth was unanimously booted by the Ogakor alliance. (voted out 3-1)
 * Keith Famie - When Colby proceeded to win the final immunity challenge (his 5th IC win in a row), it was Keith who was voted off by the dominant Texan, who decided he'd rather face Tina than Keith in the Final 2, despite the fact that Keith would have been an easy player to defeat.
 * Colby Donaldson - Colby's final vote proved to be a fatal one, as Tina narrowly defeated him in the jury vote. Colby received votes from Amber, Nick, and Rodger, all of which felt they had developed more of a friendship with Colby than Tina (Rodger felt Colby played a more dominant game as well). He ultimately lost the votes of the other jury members, who considered Tina the better strategic player.
 * Tina Wesson - Tina received four votes from the jury giving her the million dollars and title of Sole Survivor of the Australian Outback. Deemed the more adept strategic player by the jury, Tina was voted for as the winner by Keith, Elisabeth, Alicia, and Jerri. Prior to the final tribal council, Tina had never received a vote against her during the game.

Tina, Colby, Jerri, Alicia, and Amber would all later be cast in All-Stars. They would place 18th, 12th, 10th, 7th, and 1st, respectively.

External link

 * Official CBS website