The show that created reality television as we know it (and often loathe it) today premiered in 2000 on CBS, becoming a national sensation by the end of its inaugural run.
The earlier seasons are fun enough, with a little more emphasis put on the locations, whereas today they appear to be entirely Fiji-based.
The most cringemaking segments are when the contestants are made to play Peace Corps (as a reward? No thanks!) but even more so when Jeff shamelessly tries to get an emotional moment out of them, epitomized by those "heartwarming" visits from "loved ones," where they are briefly reunited with family or friends.
The first season is a little rough around the edges and is honestly better for it. The contestants still didn't really know what they had signed up for and some of the younger ones (Gen Xers, how time flies) are openly cynical and derisive of the show's ceremony and rules, such as the concept of voting people out.
The show never became the survival show it was envisioned as being. Alpha males and females are early targets and the strategy of an alliance has given way to cliques, turning the whole thing into Mean Girls: The Game Show. In more recent seasons, Jeff Probst (first host, now producer and apparently dictator for life) has grown fond of adding as many twists as possible, many of them utterly ludicrous. It has led fans to be covet a season according to the "classic" rules, some even wanting one without "Hidden Immunity Idols" (introduced in Survivor: Guatemala).
For all its faults, the show is reasonably entertaining and one could do a lot worse on network television (variations on the concept, such as the execrable Big Brother, already have). The show will never have the kind of cultural popularity and influence as it did with that initial season in Borneo, but what does these days?
The earlier seasons are fun enough, with a little more emphasis put on the locations, whereas today they appear to be entirely Fiji-based.
The most cringemaking segments are when the contestants are made to play Peace Corps (as a reward? No thanks!) but even more so when Jeff shamelessly tries to get an emotional moment out of them, epitomized by those "heartwarming" visits from "loved ones," where they are briefly reunited with family or friends.
The first season is a little rough around the edges and is honestly better for it. The contestants still didn't really know what they had signed up for and some of the younger ones (Gen Xers, how time flies) are openly cynical and derisive of the show's ceremony and rules, such as the concept of voting people out.
The show never became the survival show it was envisioned as being. Alpha males and females are early targets and the strategy of an alliance has given way to cliques, turning the whole thing into Mean Girls: The Game Show. In more recent seasons, Jeff Probst (first host, now producer and apparently dictator for life) has grown fond of adding as many twists as possible, many of them utterly ludicrous. It has led fans to be covet a season according to the "classic" rules, some even wanting one without "Hidden Immunity Idols" (introduced in Survivor: Guatemala).
For all its faults, the show is reasonably entertaining and one could do a lot worse on network television (variations on the concept, such as the execrable Big Brother, already have). The show will never have the kind of cultural popularity and influence as it did with that initial season in Borneo, but what does these days?