Real Survivor

***Survivor*** is the American version of the international *Survivor* reality competition television franchise, itself derived from the Swedish television series *Expedition Robinson* created by Charlie Parsons which premiered in 1997. The American series premiered on May 31, 2000, on CBS. It is hosted by television personality Jeff Probst, who is also an executive producer along with Mark Burnett and original creator, Parsons.

The television show places a group of strangers in an isolated location, where they must provide food, fire, and shelter for themselves. The contestants compete in challenges for rewards and immunity from elimination. The contestants are progressively eliminated from the game as they are voted out by their fellow contestants, until only one remains and is given the title of "Sole Survivor" and is awarded the grand prize of $1,000,000.

The American version has been very successful. From the 2000–01 through the 2005–06 television seasons, its first eleven seasons (competitions) rated among the top ten most watched shows. It is commonly considered the leader of American reality TV because it was the first highly rated and profitable reality show on broadcast television in the U.S., and is considered one of the best shows of the 2000s (decade). The series has been nominated for several Emmy Awards, including winning for Outstanding Sound Mixing in 2001, Outstanding Special Class Program in 2002, and was subsequently nominated four times for Outstanding Reality-Competition Program when the category was introduced in 2003. Jeff Probst won the award for Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality-Competition Program four consecutive times after the award was introduced in 2008. In 2007, the series was included in *Time* magazine's list of the 100 greatest TV shows of all-time. In 2013, *TV Guide* ranked it at #39 on its list of the "60 Best Series of All Time".

## Format and rules

The first U.S. season of *Survivor* followed the same general format as the Swedish series. Sixteen or more players, split between two or more "tribes", are taken to a remote isolated location (usually in a tropical climate) and are forced to live off the land with meager supplies for 39 days. Frequent physical and mental challenges are used to pit the teams against each other for rewards, such as food or luxuries, or for "immunity", forcing the other tribe to attend "Tribal Council", where they must vote off one of their tribe mates.

Once about half the players are remaining, the tribes are merged into a single tribe, and competitions are on an individual basis; winning immunity prevents that player from being voted out. Most players that are voted out at this stage form the game's "jury". Once down to two or three people, a final Tribal Council is held where the remaining players plead their case to the jury members. The jury then votes for which player should be considered the "Sole Survivor" and win the show's grand prize. In all seasons for the United States version, this has included a $1 million prize in addition to the Sole Survivor title; some seasons (particularly earlier seasons) have included additional prizes, such as a car.

The U.S. version has introduced numerous modifications, or "twists", on the core rules in order to keep the players on their toes and to prevent players from relying on strategies that succeeded in prior seasons. These changes have included tribal switches, seasons starting with more than two tribes, the ability to exile a player from a tribe for a short time, hidden immunity idols that players can use to save themselves or others at Tribal Council, special voting powers which can be used to influence the result at Tribal Council and a chance to return to regular gameplay after elimination through the "Redemption Island" or "The Outcast Tribe" twists.

## Series overview

The United States version is produced by Mark Burnett and hosted by Jeff Probst. Each competition is called a season, has a unique name, and lasts from 13 to 16 episodes. The first season was broadcast as a summer replacement show in 2000. Starting with *Survivor: Africa*, there have been two seasons aired during each U.S. television season.

In the first season, there was a 75-person crew. By season 22, the crew had grown to 325 people.

A total of 516 contestants have competed on *Survivor'*s 35 seasons.