The universal logo of the American Survivor series.
Survivor, also known as Expedition Robinson, is a reality-based competition television show.
The original Survivor franchise logo, used in most versions outside the United States.
History[]
Survivor is derived from a 1997 Swedish television series called Expedition Robinson. Following its success, in 2000, Mark Burnett collaborated with Charlie Parsons (who developed Expedition Robinson) to create the U.S. version, which they entitled Survivor. Initially, Burnett looked for a television network who would buy the concept, but was unsuccessful, until CBS accepted the offer.[1][2]
The American series debuted on May 31, 2000, and amassed huge international success, which prompted Burnett and Parsons to produce more seasons after it.
Following the American franchise, other countries have produced their own versions of the series. The rights to these franchises are bought from Parsons' Castaway Television Productions.
In Survivor: All-Stars, the novel and film Lord of the Flies was said to be an inspiration of the series.
The Survivor series is considered to be the pioneer of the Reality Television genre, spawning several reality shows with completely different premises, either competition-based, or chronicling a famous person's daily life.
Premise[]
The show's premise is to subject sixteen to twenty strangers to a remote location, stripped away of most comforts in life such as food and technology. These contestants would be undergo challenges and physical and mental fatigue for 39 days. Divided in to teams called "tribes", the castaways must construct a new world while battling the elements and one another. Every few nights, the tribe that loses an Immunity Challenge would go to Tribal Council and must vote one of their own off the island. At a certain point, what remains from the original tribes would merge into one final tribe where they will compete for a seat at the Final Tribal Council, where the most recently eliminated castaways will ultimately decide which of the final few would earn the title of Sole Survivor and its accompanying $1,000,000 prize.
Motto[]
The series' motto, Outwit, Outplay, Outlast, is the three key factors to ensure victory in the game. "Outwit" is the strategic factor, where a contestant must cleverly make it through the game as unscathed as possible. To "Outplay" is to consider the other contestants and how to assimilate and/or manipulate them. "Outlast" stands for surviving as many days as possible.
Format[]
To know about Survivor's rules, refer to the Survivor Rulebook page.
Sixteen to twenty strangers will be marooned in an unforgiving territory where they will be divided into teams called "tribes". According to Jeff Probst, the standard sixteen-castaway format is implemented to make the viewers get to know each contestant more; but in seasons with more than sixteen contestants, Probst explained that the expanded cast is to have "wiggle room" in case of unprecedented events such as medical evacuations and voluntary exits.
Given a pre-determined amount of tools and supplies, the tribes would then proceed to their camps, which they will inhabit on for the next 39 days. These tools are usually limited to a machete, a cooking pot and water canteens. In some seasons, contestants are given limited food supplies such as rice and fruits. Otherwise, they have to rely on available flora and fauna for nourishment.
These tribes are also required to compete in competitions called "challenges", where they have to vie for either creature comforts such as additional supplies, food or love from home (Reward Challenges) or the right to stay for another cycle of days (Immunity Challenges). The tribe that loses at the Immunity Challenge must go to an elimination ceremony called Tribal Council where their actions will put into account. The tribe votes, and whoever receives the plurality of the votes (majority vote is not necessary) will be eliminated from the game. Occasionally, however, a twist may be present that allows previously voted out castaways to have a chance to reenter the game at a predetermined point.
At a certain point, the tribes will be merged into one final tribe, where they will now compete as individuals unlike the tribal phase, where challenges are won by group effort. In later seasons, the merge typically also marks the start of the jury phase, where the people who are eliminated will return to subsequent Tribal Councils to ultimately decide who among the final two/three will win the title of Sole Survivor and the million dollar prize that comes along with it at the Final Tribal Council.
Over the years, each franchise has introduced twists to the original format to make the game fresher and more interesting.
International Franchises[]
Africa and the Middle East[]
| Country | Local title | Network | Presenter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arab World | Survivor | LBC | Tareq Mounir |
| Israel | Survivor | Channel 10 (season 1-6) Channel 2 (season 7-) |
Guy Zu-Aretz |
| South Africa | Survivor South Africa | M-Net | Mark Bayly (season 1-2) Nico Panagio (season 3-present) |
| Pan-Regional | Survivor Africa | Anthony Oseyemi |
Americas[]
| Country | Local title | Network | Presenter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Argentina | Expedición Robinson | El Trece (season 1–2) Telefe (season 3) |
Julián Weich (season 1–2) Alejandro "Marley" Wiebe (season 3) |
| Brazil | No Limite | Rede Globo | Zeca Camargo (season 1–4) André Marques (season 5) Fernando Fernandes (season 6–7) |
| Canada (Quebec) |
Survivor Québec | Noovo[3] | Patrice Bélanger |
| Chile | Expedición Robinson | Canal 13 | Karla Constant Sergio Lagos |
| Colombia | Survivor | Caracol TV (season 1-2) RCN TV (season 3-) |
Margarita Rosa de Francisco (season 1-2) Guillermo Prieto (season 3–6) Katerine Porto (season 3) Tatán Mejía (season 7) |
| Ecuador | Expedición Robinson | Teleamazonas | Marisa Sánchez |
| México | La Isla | Azteca 7 (season 1-6) Azteca Uno (season 7-) |
Alejandro Lukini |
| Survivor México | Azteca Uno | Arturo Islas Allende (season 1) Carlos Guerrero (season 2-) | |
| United States | Survivor | CBS | Jeff Probst |
| Venezuela | Robinson: La Gran Aventura | Venevisión | N/A |
Asia-Pacific[]
| Country | Local title | Network | Presenter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Australia | Australian Survivor | Nine Network (season 1) Seven Network (season 2) Ten Network (season 3-present) |
Lincoln Howes (season 1) Ian Dickson (season 2) Jonathan LaPaglia (season 3-present) |
| Azerbaijan | Extreme Azerbaijan | Space TV | Emin Əhmədov |
| China | Into The Shangri-La | CCTV | N/A |
| Georgia | Ukanaskneli Gmiri | Rustavi 2 | Giorgi Korkia |
| India | Survivor India | Star Plus | Sameer Kochhar |
| Survivor Tamil | Zee Tamil | Arjun Sarja | |
| Japan | Survivor | TBS | Munehiro Tokita |
| New Zealand | Survivor New Zealand | TV2 | Matt Chisholm |
| Pakistan | Survivor Pakistan | PTV ARY TVOne Global |
N/A |
| Philippines | Survivor | GMA | Paolo Bediones (season 1-2) Richard Gutierrez (season 3-4) |
| Vietnam | Tôi là người dẫn đầu | HTV7 | Phan Anh |
Europe[]
| Country | Local title | Network | Presenter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baltic states | Baltic Robinson | TV3 Estonia TV3 Latvia TV3 Lithuania |
Emil Rutiku (season 1-3) Pauls Timrots (season 1-3) Vytautas Kernagis (season 1-4) Tõnu Kark (season 4) Raimond Dombrovskis (season 4) |
| Bulgaria | Survivor | BTV | Kamen Vodenicharov (season 1) Vladimir Karamazov(season 2-3, 4-6) Evtim Miloshev (season 4) Vanja Džaferović (season 7-) |
| Croatia | Survivor Hrvatska | HRT (season 1) RTL Televizija (season 2) Nova BH (season 3-) Nova M (season 3-) Nova S (season 3-) Nova TV (season 3-) |
Kristijan Potočki (season 1) Andrija Milošević (season 2) Antonija Blaće (season 2) Marijana Batinić (season 2) Milan Kalinić (season 2) Bojan Perić (season 3-) Mario Mlinarić (season 3-) |
| Czech Republic | Survivor Česko | Prima televize (season 1) TV Nova (season 2-) Markíza (season 4-) |
Marek Vašut (season 1) Ondřej Novotný (season 2-) Martin Šmahel (season 4) |
| Denmark | Robinson Ekspeditionen | TV3 | Thomas Mygind (season 1–6) Jakob Kjeldbjerg (season 7–) |
| Finland | Suomen Robinson | Nelonen | Jarmo Mäkinen (season 1) Arttu Harkki (season 2) |
| Selviytyjät Suomi | MTV3 (season 3) Nelonen (season 4-) |
Heikki Paasonen (season 3) Juuso Mäkilähde (season 4-9) Riku Rantala (season 10-) | |
| Flanders | Expeditie Robinson | VT4 (season 1–5) NET 5 (season 1-5) Tien (season 6–8) 2BE (season 6–14) RTL 5 (season 6, 8–14) VIER (season 15-16) |
Désiré Naessens (season 1) Ernst-Paul Hasselbach (season 1–9) Roos Van Acker (season 2–5) Lotte Verlackt (season 6–8) Evi Hanssen (season 8–14) Eddy Zoey (season 11–13) Dennis Weening (season 14) Bartel Van Riet (season 15-16) Geraldine Kemper (season 16) |
| France | Koh-Lanta | TF1 | Hubert Auriol (season 1) Denis Brogniart (season 2–) |
| Germany | Survivor | ORF (season 1) RTL 2 (season 1-2) ProSieben (season 3) VOX (season 4) |
Volker Piesczek (season 1) Pierre Geisensetter (season 2) Sascha Kalupke (season 3) Florian Weber (season 4) |
| Greece | Survivor | Mega TV (season 1-4) Show TV (season 3) Sigma TV (season 5-) Skai TV (season 5-) TV8 (season 7) |
Grigoris Arnaoutoglou (season 1-2) Acun Ilıcalı (season 3, 7) Konstantinos Markoulakis (season 3) Giannis Aivazis (season 4) Sakis Tanimanidis (season 5-7) Giorgos Lianos (season 6-) Murat Ceylan (season 7) |
| Hungary | Survivor – A Sziget | RTL Klub | András Stohl (season 1-2) Istenes Bence (season 3-4) Miklós Varga (season 5-) |
| Italy | Survivor Italia | Italia 1 (season 1) | Pietro Suber (season 1) Benedetta Corbi (season 1) |
| L'Isola dei Famosi | Rai Due (season 2-10) Canale 5 (season 11-) |
Simona Ventura (season 2–9) Marco Mazzocchi (season 2) Massimo Caputi (season 3-4) Paolo Brosio (season 5) Francesco Facchinetti (season 6, 8) Filippo Magnini (season 7) Rossano Rubicondi (season 8) Daniele Battaglia (season 9) Nicola Savino (season 9-10) Vladimir Luxuria (season 10-11) Alessia Marcuzzi (season 11-15) Alvin Bonato (season 11-12, 15, 17-) Stefano Bettarini (season 13) Stefano De Martino (season 14) Ilary Blasi (season 16-) Massimiliano Rosolino (season 16) | |
| Netherlands | Expeditie Robinson | VT4 (season 1–5) NET 5 (season 1-5) Tien (season 6–8) 2BE (season 6–14) RTL 5 (season 6, 8–20) RTL 4 (season 21, 23-) VIER (season 22) |
Désiré Naessens (season 1) Ernst-Paul Hasselbach (season 1–9) Roos Van Acker (season 2–5) Lotte Verlackt (season 6–8) Evi Hanssen (season 8–15) Eddy Zoey (season 11–13) Dennis Weening (season 14-20) Nicolette Kluijver (season 16-21, 23, 25-) Kaj Gorgels (season 21, 23) Bartel Van Riet (season 22) Geraldine Kemper (season 22, 24) Art Rooijakkers (season 24, 26-) Rick Brandsteder (season 25) |
| Norway | Robinsonekspedisjonen | TV3 (season 1-14) TV2 (season 15-16) TV3 (season 17-18) |
Nils Ole Oftebro (season 1) Christer Falck (season 2-16) Silje Torp (season 17-18) |
| Poland | Wyspa Przetrwania | TVN (season 1) Polsat (season 2) |
Hubert Urbański (season 1) Damian Michałowski (season 2) |
| Portugal | Survivor | TVI | Paulo Salvador Teresa Guilherme |
| Romania | Survivor România | Kanal D (season 1, 3-4) Pro TV (season 2, 5-) |
Andrei Gheorghe (season 1) Dragoș Bucurenci (season 2) Dan Cruceru (season 3) Daniel Pavel (season 4-) |
| Russia | Posledniy Geroy | C1R (season 1-6) TV-3 (season 7-9) |
Sergei Bodrov, Jr. (season 1) Dmitry Pevtsov (season 2) Nikolai Fomenko (season 3) Aleksandr Domogarov (season 4, Serdtse Afriki) Vladimir Menshov (season 5) Kseniya Sobchak (season 6) Yana Troyanova (season 7-9) |
| Scandinavia | Expedition Robinson VIP | TV3 Denmark TV3 Norway TV3 Sweden |
Mikkel Beha Erichsen (Denmark) Christer Falck (Norway) Robert Aschberg (Sweden) |
| Serbia | Survivor Srbija | A1 Televizija (season 1) PRO TV (season 1) Prva (season 1-4) Alternativna Televizija (season 1-2) NTV Hayat (season 2) TV 3 (season 2) Sitel (season 2-4) TV In (season 2-4) OBN (season 3-4) RTL (season 4) Nova BH (season 5-) Nova M (season 5-) Nova S (season 5-) Nova TV (season 5-) |
Andrija Milošević (season 1-4) Antonija Blaće (season 4) Marijana Batinić (season 4) Milan Kalinić (season 4) Bojan Perić (season 5-) Mario Mlinarić (season 5-) |
| Slovenia | Survivor | TV3 (season 1) POP TV (season 2) |
Ula Furlan (season 1) Miran Stanovnik (season 2) |
| Slovakia | Survivor Slovensko | TV JOJ (season 1) Markíza (season 2-) TV Nova (season 3-) |
Janko Kroner (season 1) Petra Polnišová (season 1) Marián Mitaš (season 2) Martin Šmahel (season 3) Ondřej Novotný (season 3-) |
| Spain | Supervivientes | Telecinco (season 1-2; season 7-) Antena 3 (season 3-6) |
Juan Manuel López (season 1-2) Paco Lobatón (season 2) Paula Vázquez (season 3-6) Alonso Caparrós (season 3) Nuria Roca (season 4-6) Jesús Vázquez (season 7-11) José María Íñigo (season 7) Mario Picazo (season 8-10) Eva González (season 11) Jorge Javier Vázquez (season 12-) Raquel Sánchez (season 12-13) Lara Álvarez (season 14-21) Carlos Sobera (season 18-) Laura Madrueño (season 22-) |
| Sweden | Expedition Robinson | SVT (season 1-7) TV3 (season 8-10) TV4 (season 11-15, 17-) Sjuan (season 16) |
Harald Treutiger (season 1-2) Anders Lundin (season 3-7, 23, 25-) Robert Aschberg (season 8-10) Linda Isacsson (season 11, 16) Paolo Roberto (season 12-15) Anders Öfvergård (season 17-21) Petra Malm (season 22, 24) |
| Switzerland | Expedition Robinson | TV3 | Silvan Grütter |
| Turkey | Survivor Türkiye | Kanal D (season 1) Mega TV (season 2) Show TV (season 2-6) Star TV (season 7-8) TV8 (season 9-) Sigma TV (season 13) Skai TV (season 13) |
Ahmet Utlu (season 1) Acun Ilıcalı (season 2-) Konstantinos Markoulakis (season 2) Hanzade Ofluoğlu (season 4) Burcu Esmersoy (season 6) Alp Kırşan (season 7-12) Giorgos Lianos (season 13) Murat Ceylan (season 13-) Sakis Tanimanidis (season 13) |
| Ukraine | Ostanniy Heroy | ICTV | Ostap Stupka |
| United Kingdom | Survivor | ITV (season 1-2) BBC (season 3) |
Mark Austin (season 1) John Leslie (season 1) Mark Nicholas (season 2) Joel Dommett (season 3) |
Success[]
Through Borneo until Tocantins and from Nicaragua to South Pacific, Survivor remained as one of the most watched television shows, breaking in to the Top 20 Most Watched shows of their respective television seasons. The season finale of Borneo, "The Final Four", featured the series' highest number of viewers, with 51.69 million viewers. The change of time slot in Survivor: Nicaragua (from Thursdays to Wednesdays) did not seem to affect ratings.[4]
Impact[]
Survivor's success is largely thought as the proponent of the Reality Television genre, spawning several other reality shows, competition-based or otherwise. On a similar note, Mark Burnett subsequently produced several other competition-based programs such as The Apprentice, Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?, Combat Missions (which starred Survivor: Borneo and Survivor: All-Stars contestant Rudy Boesch), The Voice, among others.
Merchandise[]
In the United States version, other than DVDs and replica buffs, merchandise ranges from mugs, flash disks, keychains, computer games, and shirts. Several of the US show's props, such as contestants' torches, Immunity Idols and challenge paraphernalia are auctioned off for charity.
Awards[]
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External links[]
- US version official website
- Australian version official website
- South African version official website
- Brazilian version official website
- Finnish version official website
- Mexican version official website
References[]
- ↑ Carey, Dachary (2004). "Survivor the Reality TV Show History". Life123. http://www.life123.com/arts-culture/television/survivor/a-brief-history-of-survivor-the-reality-tv-show.shtml. Retrieved October 27, 2012.
- ↑ Metz, Winifred. "How Reality TV Works". Howstuffworks. http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/reality-tv3.htm. Retrieved October 27, 2012.
- ↑ https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/the-tribe-has-spoken-and-theyre-making-a-quebec-version-of-survivor
- ↑ VanDerWerff, Todd (July 2, 2012). "Is Survivor the only great reality TV show?". AV Club. http://www.avclub.com/articles/is-survivor-the-only-great-reality-tv-show,81982/. Retrieved October 30, 2012.