Longevity in Reality Television: How Survivor Outwits, Outlasts and Outplays Item Type text; Electronic Thesis Authors Harrison, Natasha Alexandra Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 30/09/2021 20:18:57 Item License http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/312070 LONGEVITY IN REALITY TELEVISION: HOW SURVIVOR OUTWITS, OUTLASTS AND OUTPLAYS By NATASHA ALEXANDRA HARRISON ____________________ A Thesis Submitted to The Honors College In Partial Fulfillment of the Bachelors of Arts degree With Honors in Media Arts – Producing THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA DECEMBER 2013 Approved by: ____________________ Dr. Bradley Schauer School of Theatre, Film and Television Abstract The reality television show, Survivor, has been broadcasted on CBS since May 2000. This paper outlines the various ways Survivor has been able to outwit, outlast, and outplay for twenty-seven seasons. This award-winning American reality competition show tests the physical, mental, emotional, and social limits of anyone who is willing to be “stranded” on a deserted island in order to have the chance to win $1,000,000. As contestants try to adapt to their new island lifestyle, producers try to adapt new ways to keep the audience engaged from season to season. This paper gives readers a detailed history of how the show came to be as well as prediction as to where the show will and will not go in the future. It also analyzes the successes and hardships the show has seen over its twenty-seven years on air. While the game challenges, contestants, and ratings are constantly changing from season to season, the premise of this social experimental reality television show has always remained the same: to “outwit, outlast, and outplay” the competition. Survivor: Outwit, Outplay, Outlast Harrison I. Introduction At one point or another, most of us have wondered what it would be like to be stranded on a deserted island with complete strangers, or even completely alone. Some might view it as a vacation, while others might view it as a death sentence; either way it is the adventure of a lifetime. Authors have written exotic stories about being stranded on deserted islands since 1105 when ibn Tufail wrote Philosophus Autdodidactus, one of the first philosophical novels to explore this escapade (WDL). However, a limited amount of individuals have actually lived this adventure and 406 of them have been contestants on Survivor, with 59 of them competing in multiple seasons. Only 27 of them truly “survived,” by winning the competition. Survivor is an award-winning American reality competition show that tests the physical, mental, emotional, and social limits of anyone who is willing to be “stranded” on a deserted island in order to have the chance to win $1,000,000. The show follows a group of strangers who have been placed in an isolated location. These castaways are expected to fend for themselves after only being given rice and clean drinking water for survival. The contestants are stripped of life as they know it -- no technology, no loved ones, and no comfort. In addition to the difficulties of surviving in a desolate location, contestants are expected to compete in a series of mental and physical challenges in order to stay in the game longer. However, it is not just the challenges that decide the game; contestants are expected to vote members from their tribe off of the island and therefore out of the running for the million-dollar prize. Often, castaways are removed from the island and taken out of the competition for reasons other than the majority vote, such as for psychological or medial needs, or by personal choice (quitters). On day 39 of the competition, the last two or three remaining contestants are then judged and voted for by 1 Survivor: Outwit, Outplay, Outlast Harrison their previously eliminated tribe members, known as “The Jury,” in order to win a million dollars and the title of “Sole Survivor.” Survivor has been on the air since 2000 and is currently airing its twenty-seventh season. Countless elements coalesced perfectly together to create one of the longest lasting television series in history. One reason Survivor has achieved this success is because it is more than a reality show; it is a social experiment. Armchair psychologists rejoiced when the show aired because they were able to view one of the greatest experiments of all time from the comfort of their own couch. The longevity of this reality competition show in comparison to others is due to the ability of the show, the players, and the producers to adapt. The objective of the hit reality game show, Survivor, is to outwit, outlast, and outplay your competition, which is exactly what the show has done for 27 seasons. By adding new contestants, bringing back returning players, including new game twists, and relocating the show is able to reinvent itself each season while remaining with the main premise of Survivor: to outwit, outplay and outlast the competition. Additionally, the show stays relevant by utilizing and establishing connections through social media like Facebook and Twitter. Ultimately, a deep analysis of Survivor reveals that the show’s longevity is due to the adaptability of the contestants, the producers, and the game itself. II. History Survivor premiered on CBS on May 31, 2000 and was originally used to fill summer airtime for the major network (Kissell). According to Burnett, summer shows are meant to be filler, “they are the kind of thing a network airs as an afterthought” (Survivor II 24). Slating Survivor as a summer show decreased the risk for CBS. Due to the fact that every advertisement 2 Survivor: Outwit, Outplay, Outlast Harrison for the show had to be sold prior to filming, CBS would be none the poorer if the show tanked (Survivor II 24). However, when the show made its debut, it cultivated huge international success, which then opened the door to the creation of the Survivor franchise. However, the show was not an overnight success. It took perseverance, inspiration, nerve, and an unbelievably adventurous dream to make Survivor a reality. The executive producer of the show, Mark Burnett, first began selling t-shirts on the beach in Southern California and has truly taken the American dream to a whole new and global level. Ex-British soldier, Mark Burnett, was fresh off of a stint in the British Paratroopers and only had $600 to his name when he immigrated to the United States. With no family wealth or formal education, he wanted to pursue the American dream. His first job was being a nanny for a producer in Los Angeles (out of pure luck). After that position, he sold t-shirts on the beach in Venice and then went on to create his own credit card marketing business. While reading the Times one morning, Burnett found his new goal: bring an expedition race to the U.S called the “Eco-Challenge” (Dare to Succeed 3). As detailed in his autobiography Dare to Succeed, since Burnett is a “method producer,” he wanted to be able to have experienced an expedition race first hand so that when potential contestants and investors of his race asked about the competition, he would be able to recount his own experiences. He participated in three expedition races before he landed his own in 1992. Burnett purchased the rights from Gerald Fusil’s expedition race concept and brought it to American households. Burnett’s first reality competition show, Eco-Challenge, aired on the USA Network from April 1, 1995 until April 22, 2002. The show was arguably the world’s toughest and first ever expedition race across the world’s most unforgiving landscapes. More than fifty-four-person 3 Survivor: Outwit, Outplay, Outlast Harrison teams of risk-seekers gathered annually to race for eight to ten nonstop days of competition across the globe. Less than half of the teams ever finished and the elite Navy SEALs fielded teams for five years before one managed to finally finish the race. Burnett said the biggest lesson he learned from the fierce competition show (both through producing and participating) was that the success of an individual depends far more on team dynamics and interpersonal skills than any other attribute. This realization then led Burnett in the hunt for a game that would test social skills to the maximum level in addition to physical challenges. Burnett wanted to give men and women the opportunity to discover who they really were (Dare to Succeed 9). Burnett found what he was looking for when he laid eyes on the Swedish television series, Expedition Robinson, originally created in 1997 by Charlie Parsons. After purchasing the North American rights show from Charlie Parsons in 1998, Burnett pitched the show concept to CBS in the fall of that same year. However, he wanted his to be substantially different from Parsons’ “My Survivor would be bigger, more dramatic, and more epic than any non-fiction television ever seen” (Dare to Succeed 6). He envisioned the show as “Gilligan’s Island meets Lord of the Flies meets Ten Little Indians meets The Real World” (Survivor 10). All are about people stranded, typically with strangers, in a remote location where they are meant to survive the harsh and unfamiliar territory, whether it is an island or a house filled with seven strangers. All of those works referenced all reflect on the human condition and ability to outlive and outlast.