Monday, August 21, 2000
The University Daily Kansan
Section A·Page 23
Nation/World
Final Survivor to be revealed Wednesday
The Associated Press
NEW YORK — Well, she's gotna be; Rudy, Richard, Kelly or Susan?
If you can't place these names, if "Tagi" and "Pagong" don't ring a bell, you must have squandered your summer at the beach, ballpark or backyard grill.
On Wednesday, host Jeff Probst will preside over the multiround elimination process that will decide the show's one true survivor — the one who will have a million bucks.
Everybody else has been binging on Survivor, CBS' Darwinistic campout. And come Wednesday, after 12 tension-building episodes, the mystery — who won this crazy game show? — will be revealed.
It's been a real endurance test, and not just for the 16 castaways who marooned themselves on that island near Borneo.
What was it about the show that kept viewers watching all summer? What inspired the viewing parties with tropical drinks and fake bugs in the guacamole dip? The heated weekly debate over who will be voted off the island?
One attraction is the ritual punishment of the tribal council vote. Watching someone banished is cruel fun.
"People enjoy being mean," says Steven Reiss, professor of psychology and psychiatry at Ohio State University. "It's tough to acknowledge, but it explains a lot of human behavior. And we need relatively harmless outlets for that."
Pulitzer Prize-winning TV writer Tom Shales condemned *Survivor* as "a worthless piece of crap." Other critics who decry so-called reality TV, however, make a sporting exception for *Survivor*.
They like the eye-popping scenery; the slick production values that juice up the story as it naturally unfolds; the love 'em, hate 'em cast of characters; the psychological intrigue; the subversive alliances.
Each castaway must work to guarantee the others' support while contriving to do them in.
"This is like an extreme version of an office or a large family," executive producer Mark Burnett said.
Survivor started with a bang May 31, then saw its audience get even bigger. Perched in the Nielsen top spot every week since its fourth broadcast, it drew its largest audience yet last week — 28.7 million viewers.
Chris Loria was among them. A real estate professional from Riverside, Calif., he loves talking about Survivor at work. He prowls the Survivor Web site. And with his satellite dish, he catches the East
Coast feed three hours earlier.
As for who won it, that actually was decided back on April 20, the show's 39th and final day on the island. Since then, remarkably, the network has managed to keep the secret — despite no end of attempts, particularly by computer hackers, to unveil it.
The conclusion plays out at 7 p.m.
Wednesday, to be followed two
hours later by an hour-long live
union chat with all 16 castaways.
"I think the oversell of the drama is part of the fun," said Probst, who will announce the results.
Burnett also is developing Destination Mtr, which would blast a contestant into outer space. And in January, immediately after CBS Super Bowl telecast, his Survivor 2 will premiere, taped in the Australian outback.
—Edited by Amy Randolph
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