Survivor: Borneo

Survivor: Borneo was the first season of the United States reality show Survivor. It was originally broadcast under the name Survivor but its official title has been changed to Survivor: Borneo to distinguish it from subsequent installments of the series (before the change to Survivor: Borneo, the season was known universally as Survivor: Pulau Tiga, it was then changed to its current name during ). The show was filmed between March 13 and April 20, 2000, and aired between May 31 and August 23, 2000 on CBS. It was set on the island of Pulau Tiga in the state of Sabah, off the coast of Borneo, Malaysia. The show was released on DVD on May 11, 2004.

Contestants were divided into two initial tribes named Pagong and Tagi. After six contestants were voted out, the remaining ten merged into a tribe called Rattana. After the tribal merge, all of the Pagong contestants were picked off one by one by the Tagi tribe before the members of the Tagi alliance turned on their own. Among Survivor fans, the term "Pagonging" has been used to describe this pattern.

At the end of the season, and in the series' only non-live finale, Richard Hatch beat Kelly Wiglesworth to win the title of Sole Survivor and $1,000,000.

Production
In 1998, CBS offered Mark Burnett the chance to present his idea of the show to producers, and in October 1999, CBS held a casting call for the new reality show concept. The idea was to maroon sixteen people on an island 20 miles (32 km) away from the mainland of Borneo. Ten main cameras were set on the island that would film the castaways every day. Every three days, a Tribal Council would be held in which one castaway would be voted off the island. The last castaway remaining on the island would win $1 million.

Over 6,000 people applied for the show; 800 were then interviewed in sixteen cities. 48 semifinalists were then chosen, and after background checks and psychological evaluations done by the producers, the final sixteen contestants and two replacements were picked.

As the survivors waited for the game to begin, the production crews prepared the island for Reward and Immunity challenges, removing any harmful items, checking for any harmful animals in specific locations, and building a Tribal Council set. Camera operators and other crews were sent to the island three weeks in advance for testing. The headquarters of the producers and the crew were set on the opposite side of the island. This facility included many traditional trailers with running water, television sets, and one phone line. The Tribal Council set was built two hundred yards from the crew's facility. It was 30 by 30 feet (9.1 by 9.1 m) wide and consisted only of a wooden platform and a fire pit in the center.

On March 7, 2000, the contestants were flown to Los Angeles, then to the city of Kota Kinabalu in Malaysian Borneo. From there, they were taken by boat to their island. Contestants were not allowed to speak to one another until they got on the boat headed towards their beaches. The two tribes shared the island of Pulau Tiga, which was divided by over 20 miles (32 km) of forest.

Season Summary
The series premiere began with sixteen people divided into two tribes: Pagong and Tagi. After 18 days of competition, the tribes found themselves alternating visits to Tribal Council (with Tagi going first on Day 3, then Pagong's turn at Day 6, and so on) until Day 20. Tagi sacrificed Sonja Christopher (for being old and weak), Stacey Stillman (for her weakness and her disagreements with Rudy Boesch), and Dirk Been (for health problems and lack of work ethic), while Pagong eliminated B.B. Andersen (for being abrasive), Ramona Gray (because she got sick) and Joel Klug (for being egotistic and untrustworthy).

By Day 20, the ten remaining castaways were merged into one tribe - Rattana, and began competing as individuals. When the merge came around, a voting alliance made by ex-Tagi members Richard Hatch, Kelly Wiglesworth, Sue Hawk, and Rudy solidified. This proved fatal for the other six survivors, who were eliminated one by one, starting with the five ex-Pagong members, and then the only Tagi castaway who was not part of the alliance, Sean Kenniff. The alliance, however, showed cracks, as Richard, Sue and Rudy saw Kelly as trying to look more favorable in front of the jury, which seats were filled by mostly former Pagong members. But with Kelly immune on Day 33, the Tagi alliance voted out their only alternative, Colleen, the last Pagong member. The alliance ultimately prevailed, with Sean voted out on Day 36. With all their rivals eliminated, the Tagi alliance of four then had to turn on each other.

Kelly won individual immunity on Day 37. At Tribal Council, Richard and Sue received two votes each, resulting in a revote. As Kelly and Rudy voted again, Kelly switched her vote from Richard to Sue, and Sue became the sixth member of the Jury. At the final Immunity Challenge on Day 38, Richard voluntarily stepped out of the challenge on the assumption that whoever was to win would take him to the Final Tribal Council. After Kelly won immunity yet again, Richard's assumptions were proven correct when she voted Rudy to be the seventh and final member of the Jury.

At the Final Tribal Council, Kelly was accused of being two-faced and manipulative, while Richard was barbed for his arrogance and perceived "unethical" game play for establishing an alliance. But with four votes to three, Richard Hatch became the very first Sole Survivor.

Trivia

 * Survivor: Borneo has been referenced numerous times in the Disney show Lizzie McGuire. In one episode, the tribe names Pagong and Tagi are used as team names at an outdoor camp. In another episode, Lizzie's mother claims she knew Richard Hatch would win the series.
 * This is the first season in which both tribes alternated winning immunity before the merge.
 * This would later happen in Survivor: The Amazon and Survivor: South Pacific
 * This is the only season in which the final jury votes were revealed immediately after being cast, rather than months later in front of a live television studio audience.
 * Borneo was the only season to air on Wednesdays until.
 * Borneo holds the record for having the highest percentage of jury votes being shown as the jury members cast them, with 6 out of 7 being shown (83%). Only Greg's vote was not shown.
 * In 2006, Richard was found guilty of tax evasion connected with his $1,000,000 prize and sentenced to 51 months in prison.
 * Because of this, he was unable to participate in seasons such as Survivor: Micronesia,, and.
 * The Survivor: Borneo finale received the highest ratings of any Survivor episode to date.
 * Many people speculate that Kelly would have won the game had she guessed the correct number to juror Greg Buis' final question. However, Greg himself admitted that Richard had his vote 100% and he would have never voted for Kelly, and that he only asked the number-guessing question to mock the overly-dramatic nature of Tribal Council.
 * This season holds the record for the least unanimous eliminations, with one (if one does not count eliminations with only one voter, or eliminations in which a unanimous re-vote takes place)
 * This was the second season to have a castaway pass-away. The first being Survivor: Palau.
 * This is the only season to have castaways that were born in the 1920's and 1930's.