Survivor (Courtesy Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

Survivor is a popular reality television game show produced in many countries throughout the world. In the show, contestants are isolated in a remote location and compete for cash and other prizes. The format for Survivor was created in the UK in 1992 by Charlie Parsons, and the first production of it was the Swedish show Expedition: Robinson in 1997. The US version is commonly considered the mother of American reality TV because it was the first highly-rated and profitable reality show on broadcast television in the USA. The show even has its own "reality coaster" at Paramount's Great America in Santa Clara, CA, called Survivor: The Ride!.

Premise

Except where noted, this text refers to the American version of the show. Small differences may exist between it and other versions. Also, rule changes instituted for one season are discussed below.

Tribes

The show is hosted by former news reporter and game show emcee, Jeff Probst, where at least 16 strangers (18 in All-Stars, Vanuatu, and Guatemala; 19 in Fiji; 20 in Palau and Cook Islands) are stranded in a remote location and divided into two, three or four equally sized teams called tribes. Depending on the season, tribes are usually given a minimal number of tools with which to survive: commonly, this has included a machete, water canteens, and a special water well created for the show. This well holds brackish water that the players need to boil prior to drinking, forcing tribes to make fire on their own or to win (as a reward) the tools to make fire. Tribes are encouraged to build shelters to protect themselves from the elements and to forage on the local flora and fauna for nourishment. In some seasons, tribes have started with food supplies (typically rice) provided by the show, while other seasons have given the tribes no additional help at the start of the game.

Initial tribe divisions have been made in several ways over the years. Early seasons tended to feature tribes divided based on a roughly equal distribution of age and gender within each tribe. Several seasons have featured tribes split by gender, age, and/or racial background. Divisions are generally made by production, however, two seasons have had the tribes selected in a schoolyard pick (where the last selected member picks a player from those remaining of the opposite gender). Tribes are given unique names and identifying colors which are used on tribe flags, challenge courses, on-screen text and various other items.

Each player is given a buff, an elastic ring of material generally patterned with the logo for the current season, that can be worn as an armband, headband, tube top, or mini skirt. Players are required to wear a buff with the color of their tribe in a visible location at all times, allowing the audience to identify tribal affiliation. Upon switching tribes (due to a merge or swap), players are required to give up their old buff and obtain a new one in the new tribe's color.

The producers have generally made sure that all players will not back out prior to being stranded, and will generally have backup players ready to go if one does drop out, but in the case of Survivor: Fiji, one contestant backed out the night before day one of the game. Since producers were not prepared for this turn of events, Fiji was the first season to feature an odd number of players, and subsequently required the production team to alter how the tribes would initially be divided.

Challenges

During the course of the game, players compete as tribes or individually in contests called challenges. Challenges consist of endurance, problem solving, teamwork, dexterity, and/or will power, and are usually designed to fit the theme of the current season. A common style of challenge is a race through a series of obstacles to collect puzzle pieces which then must be assembled after all pieces have been collected. Challenges have also included "gross food" challenges (including foods eaten by the local population), and knowledge quizzes about the locale or players. Many seasons also include during individual challenges: a 'loved one' challenge where a family member, friend or significant other of each player participates or is part of the challenge reward; the 'Survivor Auction' in which contestants bid against each other on luxury items and strategic advantages; a challenge in which the winning contestant receives a car; and a challenge that includes components of previous challenges from that season, known as 'Second Chances'. Some challenges have had the tribes compete at their own beaches by constructing a shelter or an SOS signal. The results are then judged by an expert and the winning tribe notified by the receipt of a package dropped from a plane or delivered by boat.

Players are notified of when and where challenges are to take place via special messages left at a location near camp, dubbed 'treemail' (a portmanteau of "tree" and either "mail" or "e-mail") by competitors, due to the fact that the messages were delivered to a basket hanging from a tree in Survivor: Borneo. These messages nearly always include a rhyme which gives hints to the nature of the challenge and sometimes include props that may be useful for the upcoming challenge, allowing tribes and players to attempt to form a strategy prior to the challenge. In some cases, the tribes have been given equipment to practice with or information they need to memorize prior to the challenge.

There are two types of Challenges: Reward Challenges and Immunity Challenges.

In Reward Challenges, the contestants compete for luxuries that are not essential for survival but make their lives easier and/or more enjoyable. Examples of rewards have included food, flint, matches, rain gear, and even short trips away from camp.
In Immunity Challenges, the contestants compete for immunity (tribal or individual), meaning they get to stay in the game until at least the next Immunity Challenge. After the Immunity Challenge, a voting ceremony called Tribal Council is held where one or more contestants are removed from the game. When there are still two or more tribes in the game, only the losing tribe generally goes to Tribal Council; when the tribes have merged, all contestants go.

There have been several combined 'Reward/Immunity' challenges in later seasons. These have come in two approaches:

In cases where there are more than two tribes, the the reward may be given to the first place tribe, and immunity to all but the last place tribe.
In later seasons, when there are two tribes left, there have been challenges which result in both tribes going to Tribal Council (one after another), but with the winning tribe getting an additional reward, such as a meal, while they watch the proceedings of the other tribe's Tribal Council.

Prior to the merge, all challenges are between tribes, resulting in tribal rewards and immunities. After the merge, contestants compete in challenges on an individual basis. Individual rewards have often included the option to select one or more other tribe members to participate in the reward. After merging, there have been reward challenges where two or more teams are created from the remaining players, with the winning team reaping the reward benefits.

In recent seasons, a special message, held in a bottle or by Probst, has been given to the winners or the losers of the challenge, with instructions to either read the note immediately after the challenge, or to hold the note unread until Tribal Council. These notes have provided additional instructions to the tribe that holds it, such as deciding to avoid Tribal Council but requiring the tribe to move to a less desirable beach, or to vote off a second player immediately after voting off a first player at Tribal Council.

When one tribe has more players than the other tribe, but not more than twice their numbers, it must designate players to sit out of tribal challenges so that equal numbers compete. This rule was relaxed only in the Survivor: The Australian Outback season because Jeff Probst felt neither tribe would be helped or hindered by the numeric disparity. Beginning with Survivor: Africa, any player who sits out a reward challenge cannot sit out the following immunity challenge. When one tribe is more than twice as large as the other tribe (which only occurred twice, during Survivor: Palau) the larger tribe must choose different players to participate in the immunity challenge than those that participated in the previous reward challenge. These "sit out" rules do not apply to an immunity challenge and the next immediate challenge, due to the changes in tribe numbers that will occur following the immunity challenge.

The challenges are usually held in a 3 day cycle - one day of rest, one day for the reward challenge, and one day for the immunity challenge and Tribal Council.

Tribal merges and swaps

In seasons which start with more than two tribes (Survivor: All Stars, Survivor: Panama, Survivor: Cook Islands), there is typically an early merge of the tribes down into two tribes, typically after the second or third Tribal Council. In All Stars, the merge was done by two tribes selecting which members of the dissolving third tribe they wanted, while in the other seasons, the two new tribes were formed by a combination of schoolyard picking and random selection, resulting in two completely new tribes.

Starting in Survivor: Africa and continuing through to present seasons (except for Survivor: Thailand, Survivor: Pearl Islands, and Survivor: Palau) there has typically been a Tribal swap at some point before the merge, typically with between 9 or 10 players left in the game. In this, the members of each tribe are swapped around, typically not redistributing the tribal numbers. The mechanism for the swap has varied from a random shuffle to a schoolyard pick by two tribe 'captains'. There has also been a tribal swap accomplished by allowing players to 'mutiny' from their present tribe to join the other. This process typically defeats many early alliances and strategies, and has cost some players the game while saved other players from being eliminated early.

When there are at most 10 players left in the game (nine in All-Stars and Cook Islands, eight in Thailand), the separate tribes merge into a single tribe. From this point, Challenges are won on an individual basis. In general, after the merge has been announced, the tribes decide which of the two tribe camps they wish to use for the remainder of the game, though in some cases, the choice has not been up to the tribes, and in another case, production has forced the tribes to move completely to a new site. The merged tribe also has the opportunity to select a new tribe name and design a tribal flag with materials provided by production. There was no technical merge in Palau. The Koror tribe had "conquered" the Ulong tribe by winning every tribal immunity challenge, leaving Ulong with one member. This one member was then absorbed by Koror. Therefore, for all intents and purposes, Palau "merged" with nine members.

Hidden immunity idol

Starting in Survivor: Guatemala and continuing into Survivor: Exile Island, Survivor: Cook Islands, and Survivor: Fiji, a one-shot hidden immunity idol was made available. This idol, typically a small object that fits with the theme of the Survivor series, is hidden (near camp during Guatemala and Fiji, and on the Exile Island during Panama and Cook Islands), with cumulative clues given to a select player (in Guatemala) or to exiled players (otherwise) as to its location. Once found, the player that possesses the idol may keep it or transfer it to another player prior to the start of Tribal Council, and it may not be stolen from that player. The player is not required to show this idol to other players, though may use it as a bargaining chip for alliance and voting purposes. Other players may discover the ownership of the idol via any means within the rules of the game, including peeking into other player's personal possessions. Normally, only one idol is ever in play, but in Survivor: Fiji, two hidden immunity idols were made available to the players. The hidden immunity idol can only be used up until and including the Tribal Council of the final 4 players except in Fiji where it can be used up until and including the final 5 Tribal Council.

The use of the idol by a player to become immune has changed through the seasons:

In Guatemala, the player with the idol was required to show the idol prior to the vote in order to become immune. The other members of the tribe were then not allowed to vote for this player.
In both Exile Island and Cook Islands, the player with the idol was required to show the idol after the vote to become immune. If the idol holder had received the most number of votes, the player with the next largest number of votes was then immediately voted out. If the idol holder was tied with the most votes with another player, that player was also immediately voted out (based on the events during the final 4 Tribal Council of Cook Islands).
In Fiji, the player with the idol was required to show it after the votes are cast, but before they are revealed by the host. The idol could be given to another player at this time, allowing that player to use the idol if they so desired. The resolution remained the same as with Exile Island and Cook Islands. According to an interview with host Jeff Probst, this change achieved a "happy medium" of the previous idol/immunity mechanisms.

During Guatemala, the hidden immunity idol was not returned to the game after its use. While the idol was never played during the Exile Island or Cook Islands seasons, interviews revealed that after use the idol would have been put back on Exile Island. In Fiji, the idol was replaced after its use with a new series of clues to its location.

Exile Island

Exile Island is a concept that started in Survivor: Panama, and has been continued to be used in its successors Survivor: Cook Islands and Survivor: Fiji. A selected player is 'exiled' to a small island within boating distance of the main tribe camps, typically for at least a day following a reward challenge and returning immediately for the following immunity challenge. The player selected may be either the first loser of an immunity challenge (as was the case in Survivor: Palau), or may be a person selected by either the winning or the losing tribe or the reward winner (during individual challenges).

Once selected, the exiled contestant is immediately taken to the island by boat. On the island, there are few tools to survive on, typically a water canteen, a machete, and a limited amount of shelter. The two main disadvantages of being on Exile Island are the lack of food and water, which can weaken a player and make them less effective in challenges, and the isolation from other contestants, which can cause a player to become 'out of the loop' and weaken their position in their tribe. Contestants are often sent to Exile Island for one of these strategic reasons.

In both Survivor: Panama and Survivor: Cook Islands, the person on Exile Island was given one or more clues to the location of a hidden immunity idol on the island. These clues were given to the players whether the idol had already been found or not, and thus a player could search in vain for an idol that had already been removed from the island. In Survivor: Fiji, clues to the location of the idol are given to contestants on Exile Island, but the two idols are hidden near the main camps.

Each season has had some sort of building on Exile Island to serve as shelter and decor. In Survivor: Panama the shelter was a voodoo skull. On Survivor: Cook Islands, it was a shipwrecked boat, and on Survivor: Fiji, it was a watch tower.

In 2007, it was announced that there would be no Exile Island in the forthcoming Survivor: China instead the Idol will be in plain sight of everyone and a series of clues will reveal what item it is.

Tribal Council

Tribal Council is held at the end of each episode. Here, the tribemates vote one person out of their tribe. The first time any player visits Tribal Council, they are asked to take a torch and light it from the fire pit omnipresent at every Council, with host Jeff Probst stating that "fire represents life", a metaphor used commonly within the show's theme. If the formation of the Jury has started, Probst will ask them to silently enter and watch the proceedings. Probst then questions the players, often provoking revealing details from them of events and interactions since the tribe's previous tribal council. Immediately prior to the vote, if a player has been awarded individual immunity through an immunity challenge, he is then asked if he wants to transfer that to another player. Whoever has the immunity after this possible exchange cannot be voted out.

The players then vote for another player in secret and explain their vote at the voting confessional, and the player who receives the most votes must leave the game. Players cannot vote for themselves. Players are also required to write legibly, and to avoid the use of uncommon nicknames not known to the majority of the players or to Probst. During the Tribal Council portion of the episode as aired, these votes and confessionals are usually not shown except in select cases; this is done to maximize the suspense of the pending vote tally. However, the vote of each tribemember is revealed during the credits and the ousted player's confessional. When Probst reads the votes, the order that the votes are pulled has also usually been manipulated by production to extract the most suspense from the players during the tally; that is, if the ultimate vote for two players, John and Jane, is five to two respectively, Probst will likely read two votes for John then two for Jane, before revealing the remaining votes for John. The producers will also arrange them such that the votes cast by John and Jane are revealed first, since they will most likely air these votes being cast during the original run. Conversely, players who are swing votes are rarely shown, though there are exceptions (one case being Brandon from Survivor: Africa, who flipped from voting for Lex to voting for Kelly). Once the vote tally has exceeded the majority needed, Probst will stop the vote tally, pronouncing that player is eliminated from the game, keeping the remaining votes in secret to the players themselves; again, in the above example, once John has received 4 votes, that is sufficient to eliminate him from the game, and any votes yet unread will remain secret.

As described previously, the player(s) with the Hidden Immunity Idol(s) are offered the chance to play the idol at specific points during this process.

The eliminated player takes his or her torch to Probst, who extinguishes it (also dubbed as snuffing), and declares "The tribe has spoken." The player then exits the Tribal Council area and delivers some final words that air at the end of the episode. The remaining tribe members are then told to return to camp with their torches; in some seasons, this has allowed a tribe access to a source of fire, while in other seasons, the tribe is not allowed to return to camp with their torches lit if they do not yet have their own source of fire or method of starting one.

In the event of a tie, a predetermined tie breaker is held and continues until there is a clear winner. First, there is usually a second vote, with the restriction that only the players involved in the tie can receive votes; these players are given a chance to plead their case to their fellow tribe members before they vote. If this vote does not resolve the tie, the tiebreaker method is then employed. There have been 3 methods for breaking a tie employed on the show to date.

The use of the previous number of votes (prior to that Tribal Council), with the person having the most number of votes being the one to leave the game. This appeared to only be in place through Survivor: The Australian Outback and Survivor: Africa, and is no longer used as the tiebreaker method.
The use of a bag of colored rocks to select the member to be voted off. In this situation, if the tribe cannot come to a majority for one player to vote off, then all players (except the one with immunity) must draw colored rocks from a bag. All but one rock are colored yellow, the other rock is purple. The player (who may have not been voted for at all) who draws the purple rock is then eliminated from the game. Because this selection can target a player that was not necessarily at risk of leaving the game due to voting, this is known by fans as The Purple Rock of Death. While it has been used only once during Survivor: Marquesas (Paschal English was eliminated), it was later determined that its use there was improper due to having only four players at the time. However, this is the rule that still appears to be in place for all tiebreakers that involve more than four players.
If there are only four players in the vote and there is a tie, instead of the rock selection, a head-to-head challenge is performed between the two players who received votes. To date, this has always been a fire-starting challenge. The person who completes the challenge first survives, while the other player must leave the game.

In the very rare case that a tribe prior to the merge is down to two players, as in Survivor: Palau, those two will also perform the fire-starting challenge to determine who is to leave the game. This has only happened once to date.

Very rarely, a player may decide to quit the game. This first occurred in Survivor's seventh season, Survivor: Pearl Islands, when Osten Taylor expressed the desire to leave. After Probst verbally asked the other members of his tribe if they agreed to his quitting, Osten's torch was snuffed, and he was asked to leave. Osten was not given the opportunity for parting words, and his torch was laid down next to the fire as a sign of disgrace for him. While it was long speculated that quitters of the game would not be permitted to participate on the jury, this was disproved when Survivor: Palau contestant Janu Tornell chose to step down from the game. She not only became the second member of the jury but also became the first quitting contestant to be given the opportunity to say parting words. During the All-Stars season, Jenna Morasca chose to leave in order to be with her extremely ill mother, and her torch, while snuffed, was kept next to the fire at Tribal Council as a sign of respect for her. Also during the All-Stars season, Sue Hawk chose to leave because she felt she was sexually violated by Richard Hatch.

In very rare cases when players are forced out of the game due to injury, or completely leave the game on their own terms outside of Tribal Council, Tribal Council is usually not held, with the other tribe(s) being informed of the player's departure if still before the merge. However, in the case of Survivor: Fiji, there was still an immunity challenge and subsequent elimination of a player after another player's injuries required him to leave the game just prior to that challenge.

The Jury

All eliminated players except the final nine (final twelve in Survivor: Cook Islands and Survivor: Fiji), leave the game altogether (The only exception was during Survivor: Pearl Islands where the first six eliminated players returned as part of an "Outcast" tribe for a one-shot chance to return to the game). The players who leave the game, excluding the final two (three for Survivor: Cook Islands and Survivor: Fiji), form the "jury," a group of people who vote to determine the winner of the game. Once the Jury starts to form, the members are present at every Tribal Council, but are not allowed (except in very specific cases, i.e., Survivor: Cook Islands) to speak or interact with the players still in the game; they are only there to observe the questioning and voting that occurs. Jury members are sequestered until the end of the final Tribal Council, and are not allowed to discuss their voting or issues with the remaining contestants, with other jury members, or the final players in order to prevent any possible cooperation or collusion from subgroups within the jury. This restriction continues through the game and up until the reveal of the winner of the game. Only one instance that has been broken was during Survivor: Cook Islands, after Jonathan was voted out, he requested to have his hat back. The next tribal council, Yul placed the hat at the jury's area and when Jonathan picked up his hat, he said thank you to Yul.

End of the game

The last two challenges (starting on the 3rd to last day of the competition) before the Final Tribal Council have always followed a similar pattern:

Prior to the second-to-last challenge, the players are usually treated to a small food reward (a hearty breakfast or similar meal) for making it this far. The second-to-last challenge tends to be an extremely grueling, multi-part challenge, and usually is the most elaborate challenge of the entire season. Typically this has been a race through a maze, but other forms have been used. Earlier seasons used a quiz that tested the players' knowledge of the players who had already been voted off. A Tribal Council is held to vote off one player at this point.

Prior to the last challenge (though in Survivor: The Amazon, it took place after the final challenge), the remaining players partake in "Fallen Comrades," a memorial activity appropriate for the theme of the show, where they pay respect to the players who had been eliminated previously. This usually leads directly into the last challenge, which tends to focus on balance and endurance and which can last from minutes to almost half a day. The one exception was Survivor: Australian Outback, where the final challenge was a trivia contest concerning information about other contestants. In most seasons, with three players participating, winning immunity on this challenge allows that player to select whom he or she wants to go with to the Final Tribal Council, significantly improving their chance at winning the competition. Because of this, the challenges tend to allow players to talk and try to make last-minute deals, giving up immunity for assurance of being taken to the Final Two. A Tribal Council is then held to vote off the last eliminated player. (Only the person with Immunity may vote since the other two votes cancel each other out.) At this point, the game is no longer in the remaining players' control, as the next day they face the Final Tribal Council where their fate will be decided.

Survivor: Cook Islands and Survivor: Fiji used a similar pattern to previous seasons for the end game, but the endurance challenge was held with the final four players left in the game, and had three players facing a final Tribal Council made up of the previous nine players that had been voted off.

Final Tribal Council

On the last day of the competition, the final two (or three) players generally either clean up, tear down, or burn down their camp as a tribute to surviving to the end of the game. They then make their way to the final Tribal Council.

During the final Tribal Council, the following events generally occur, though parts may be edited to fit within the time limitation for the show:

Each of the final players makes an introductory statement to the jury about why they are deserving of the jury's vote.
Each jury member, in turn, can ask each of the final players a question, which that player must respond to. In some cases, the juror may only be making a short speech which requires no answer but is meant to throw the player off guard. (The order for the questions is supposed to be in the order of each jury member making the jury, but this is usually edited to create the most tension with the last few questions)
Each final player makes a closing statement, allowing them to respond generally to the jury's question and again explain why they would be the most deserving winner. There was no closing statement in Cook Islands or Fiji.
Each jury member then votes for one of the final players, indicating which player he or she wants to win the game.

After this vote, Jeff Probst takes the container with the votes. In Survivor: Borneo, the jury votes were revealed immediately after they were cast, just like any other Tribal Council. From Survivor: Australia onward, Probst tells the final players that the vote will be revealed during the live finale, and secures them until the live finale of the show when the votes are revealed and the winner is announced.

Prior to Cook Islands, only two players vied for 7 jury votes, guaranteeing no tie would be possible. In Cook Islands and Fiji, 3 players vied for 9 jury votes, which allows the occurrence of ties. The first, second, and third places are determined by the number of votes received. It is unknown yet how a tie for the most votes would be handled. In Fiji, when one player received the most votes and the other two players were tied with the same number of votes, these two players were considered co-runners-up and both received the normal second place prize.

Prizes

There has generally been a reward challenge with the last 5 or 6 players that has included a car as a reward prize. The winner of this reward has yet to win the game, which has created the Survivor Car Curse. In fact, the show acknowledges that this pattern existed in Survivor: Guatemala - the winner of the car (Cindy Hall) was given the opportunity to give up her prize in exchange for giving a car to each other player, possibly as a way to avoid the fate of the Car Curse. Ultimately, Cindy kept the car she won, and was promptly voted off at the next Tribal Council. In Survivor: Fiji, Yau-Man traded his car prize away to Dreamz in exchange for future immunity, and both ended up losing the game, finishing in fourth and equal second place respectively.

The player chosen as Sole Survivor receives a cash prize of $1,000,000 (prior to taxes). The Sole Survivor also receives a car provided by the show's sponsor, except in Survivor: Cook Islands. In a few seasons, the final players have also agreed to play for the tribe flag or other representative object from camp.

Every player receives a stipend for participating on Survivor depending on how long he or she lasts in the game. In most seasons, the runner-up receives $100,000, and third place wins $85,000. Sonja Christopher, the first player voted off in Survivor: Borneo, received $2,500. The stipend was increased for Survivor: All-Stars. The known prizes for Survivor: All-Stars were as follows: 2nd = $250,000; 3rd = $125,000; 4th = $100,000. Tina Wesson, the first player voted off in Survivor: All-Stars, received $25,000. In Survivor: Fiji, the two runners-up received US$100,000 each, and Yau-Man received US$60,000 for his 4th place finish. The prizes for other seasons with more than sixteen contestants are unknown.

All players also receive an additional $10,000 for their appearance on the reunion show.

There have also been five additional prizes given out, outside of the usual mechanics of the show:

In Survivor: All-Stars:
- Rob Mariano won the in-game car reward as part of a challenge. Given the option to select a player to join him in a makeshift drive-in movie theater, he selected Amber Brkich to join him. Jeff Probst later revealed to the two at their reward that because Rob had selected Amber, Amber also received a car (though one of lesser value). (While Amber later went on to win the show, this is not considered part of the 'car curse' since she, technically, did not win the car). It was considered their first date, and Rob proposed to Amber on live national television before the votes were read at the final tribal council (since Rob was the other finalist, Probst mentioned that no matter how the vote came out, they were both going to be millionaires).
- At the reunion, Amber, as the Sole Survivor, was then asked to select one of the other All-Stars to receive a car, and she selected Shii Ann Huang.
In Survivor: America's Tribal Council, Rupert Boneham was selected by a popularity poll of Survivor viewers to win $1,000,000.
In Survivor: Exile Island, Cirie Fields was selected by a popularity poll of Survivor viewers to win a car.
In Survivor: Cook Islands, Ozzy Lusth was selected by a popularity poll of Survivor viewers to win a car.

Game rules

(rules may vary in versions outside of the United States)

Conspiring to split winnings will result in immediate expulsion from the game.
Except for the occasional challenges which involve wrestling or limited combat, any physical violence between players will result in immediate expulsion from the game.
At Tribal Council, players are not permitted to vote for themselves, nor can they spoil their ballots or decline to cast a vote. Players must also show who they voted for to the camera inside the voting booth.
Contestants must abide by U.S. law as well as local law.
Contestants may not skip any tribal councils, nor can they refuse to participate in an immunity or reward challenge, unless the game itself offers them to do so, as in the cases of Survivor: Guatemala and Survivor: Panama.
Tribe members may not raid or visit the campsite of another tribe unless they are doing so as part of an immunity challenge, reward challenge or tribal merger activity with the other tribe. They also cannot visit the TV crew compound. There have been seven exceptions to this rule:
- In Survivor: Borneo, when Kelly Wiglesworth won a Reward Challenge and went to the production camp, even though it was disguised as a local bar, as part of a reward.
- In Survivor: The Australian Outback, when Michael Skupin was injured he was taken to a production tent to await the arrival of a medevac helicopter.
- A reward challenge win in the fifth episode of Survivor: Marquesas gave the Maraamu tribe a two-minute raid of Rotu's camp.
- During Survivor: All Stars, one tribe accidentally stumbled upon the other's camp (probably because they weren't on separate islands). It wasn't aired on the TV show but in an episode of the internet talk show Survivor Live Jenna Morasca tells about the event.
- In Survivor: Pearl Islands, the privilege to 'loot' things from the opposing tribe's camp was often included as part of the reward.
- In Survivor: Guatemala, members of the Yaxha tribe visited the Nakum tribe and invited them back to their camp for Danni's birthday party. There is no indication as to whether the rule has changed or if this was a one-time event. It's also possible that because neither Yaxha nor Nakum technically entered the opposing tribes camp that this was not a technical violation of this rule.
- During the fifth episode of Survivor: Cook Islands, three members of the Aitutaki tribe happened upon the Rarotonga tribe's camp. The Aitutaki tribe members had attempted to reach the abandoned Manihiki tribe's island to forage.
Depending on which country the show takes place in, contestants may be barred from killing certain forms of plant or animal life.
If a contestant becomes seriously injured or sick, the player, fellow contestants, or even the crew filming the players may call in a medical team for help. In some cases, the player can be treated at their camp, but the player may also be deemed unable to participate further by the medical team and is then removed from camp and taken to a medical facility, and thus removed from the game.

U.S. Survivor seasons

The United States version is produced by Mark Burnett and hosted by Jeff Probst. It airs Thursdays on CBS.

Survivor: Borneo (also called Survivor: Pulau Tiga, Survivor 1, or simply Survivor) was set in the South China Sea on the remote Malaysian island of Pulau Tiga. Corporate trainer Richard Hatch was its winner in a 4-3 vote over river raft guide Kelly Wiglesworth. This is the only season to have aired on Wednesdays; subsequent seasons would lead off CBS' primetime schedule on Thursdays with the finale on a Sunday.
Survivor: The Australian Outback was set in the Australian Outback (though the location was by Australian standards not particularly remote, nor was it arid). Tina Wesson won 4-3 over Colby Donaldson. During this series, Michael Skupin suffered burns and became the first contestant evacuated due to injuries. This is the only season to last more or less than 39 days (to date), running 42 days total. Also this is the most watched season to date.
Survivor: Africa was set in Kenya's Shaba National Reserve, (previously home to the film Born Free). This was the first season to feature a tribal swap. Former USL player Ethan Zohn won, defeating retired teacher Kim Johnson by a vote of 5-2.
Survivor: Marquesas was set on Nuku Hiva, the largest of the Marquesas Islands in French Polynesia marking the series's first return to a beach location since Season 1. For the first time the final three were all women. Vecepia Towery won by a vote of 4-3 over Neleh Dennis. This season was the only time the infamous Purple Rock tie breaker was ever used.
Survivor: Thailand was set on the island of Ko Tarutao off the coast of Thailand. For the first time the tribes were not predetermined by producers, but were rather picked by the two oldest players, Jake and Jan. Also, this season was the first to feature a "fake merge" and a delayed merge. Also, two opposing tribes lived together on the same beach. For the first time the final two were both men. Used car salesman and former soft-core porn actor Brian Heidik beat restaurant owner Clay Jordan by a vote of 4-3.
Survivor: The Amazon was set in the jungles of the Amazon River region of Brazil. This was the first time the two tribes were divided up by males and females. Student and model Jenna Morasca won by a vote of 6-1 over Matthew Von Ertfelda.
Survivor: Pearl Islands was set in the Pearl Islands off the coast of Panama. This season was the first time players who had been voted out were allowed to return to the game as part of the Outcast Tribe. The winning tribe in the Reward Challenge was able to loot one item from the losing tribe. Sandra Diaz-Twine defeated Lillian Morris by a vote of 6-1.
Survivor: All-Stars was again set in the Pearl Islands, Panama. The game featured eighteen past Survivor contestants divided into three tribes (the first time to use more than 16). This is the first season that featured an early merge of the 3 tribes down to 2. Amber Brkich won by a vote of 4-3 over Rob Mariano. Just before the live vote was revealed, Rob proposed to Amber. Survivor: America's Tribal Council was held four days later, and a second million-dollar prize was awarded to Rupert Boneham for being voted by the viewers as their favorite contestant (making him the only player in the show's history to win a million dollars on the show without actually being the "sole survivor").
Survivor: Vanuatu - Islands of Fire was set on islands in the archipelago nation of Vanuatu, located in the South Pacific Ocean. The tribes were also divided by gender. This is the first time a double tribal council was featured in an episode. Chris Daugherty, the last male in the final seven, defeated Twila Tanner by a vote of 5-2.
Survivor: Palau was set in the island nation of Palau, located in the Philippine Sea. The season started with 20 contestants, but on day two the number was reduced to 18 in a tribal selection process. The season concluded with firefighter Tom Westman prevailing over Katie Gallagher by a vote of 6-1. This Season was the only one in which one of the tribes (The Koror Tribe) won all immunity challenges. Due to this streak and the lack of any tribal swap, there was no usual tribal merge, instead the last Ulong member simply became a member of Koror. This season was first to feature Exile Island, though only used once during the show.
Survivor: Guatemala - The Mayan Empire was set in the Yaxha National Park. 18 Survivors (16 new contestants plus Stephenie LaGrossa and Bobby Jon Drinkard from Survivor: Palau) were stranded amongst the ruins of the Maya civilization. This season was first to include a hidden immunity idol, hidden near camp, though was only available post-merge, and was not rehidden after its use. The hidden immunity idol was found by Gary Hogeboom, a retired NFL quarterback who sought to conceal his past profession from fellow contestants, believing it would increase his chances of being voted off. The season concluded with Danni Boatwright defeating Stephenie LaGrossa by a 6-1 vote.
Survivor: Panama - Exile Island was set again, in the Pearl Islands of Panama, marking the third time this location has been used for Survivor. This is the first time the contestants were divided into four tribes: Younger Men, Younger Women, Older Men, and Older Women. This was also the first season to include Exile Island throughout the show, and to offer the hidden Individual Immunity Idol throughout. The idol could only be found by being exiled to Exile Island. Bruce Kanegai became the second person in the history of the show to leave due to a medical emergency. The season concluded with Aras Baskauskas defeating Danielle DiLorenzo by a vote of 5-2.
Survivor: Cook Islands took place on the Cook Islands in the South Pacific Ocean. Tribes were initially grouped into four tribes by race: African Americans, Caucasians, Hispanics, and Asians. Both Exile Island and the Hidden Immunity Idol were used throughout the season. This is the first time three castaways were involved in the final vote, and with a jury composed of nine members (with some entering the jury before the merge). The season was won by Yul Kwon, who edged out Ozzy Lusth and Becky Lee by a vote of 5-4, with Becky receiving no votes.
Survivor: Fiji, the fourteenth season, took place on the island of Fiji in the South Pacific Ocean. For the first time, the total number of castaways starts with an odd number (19 total) due to the last minute withdrawal of one contestant. As part of the twist to this season, one tribe enjoyed much better living conditions (such as ready-to-assembly structures, furniture, dishware, and a working shower) than the other tribe prior to the merge. Both Exile Island and the Hidden Immunity Idol returned, with 2 Idols in play, initially one on each beach. The same final three with a jury of nine format from Cook Islands was also used in Fiji. The season concluded with Earl Cole defeating Cassandra Franklin and Dre "Dreamz" Herd by a 9-0-0 vote, the first unanimous vote in the show's history.
Survivor: China is the fifteenth season of the show, set to debut on September 20, 2007.

CBS has signed on for at least one more season of Survivor (S16), carrying into spring 2008. Jeff Probst is currently contracted to host until at least the sixteenth edition.
Survivor: Marquesas was not shown in Australia as the network was showing a series of Australian Survivor instead. The latter was not a ratings success, and afterwards the American edition of Survivor resumed airing.
Beginning with Survivor: Vanuatu - Islands of Fire, an internet talk show called Survivor Live has aired the day after a show on CBS.com.
Survivor: Cook Islands premiered in Singapore on 27 October 2006 despite concerns that it would raise racial tensions among the people of Singapore.
In 2005, the U.S. cable Network OLN (formerly known as Outdoor Life Network, now called Versus) began showing reruns of the first eleven seasons.
In 2006, Canadian cable network TVTropolis began airing reruns of the series, starting with a marathon of Survivor: Borneo, and airing weekly episodes starting with Survivor: The Australian Outback. X-treme Sports has also begun airing reruns, starting with Survivor: Marquesas.
Since late 2000/early 2001 the Irish TV station, TG4 has broadcast Survivor. The show is in the Irish Language, but all of the contestants' voices, including Jeff and any other person shown, are broadcast in English. The show has developed a significant fan base in Ireland. Since then, TG4 has broadcast every series of Survivor, and at one stage, during the Marquesas season, there was only a 14-day gap between the U.S. and Irish broadcasts, which was the closest for any series of Survivor until New Zealand broadcaster TV3 showed Survivor: Fiji six days after each episode's American Premiere.

U.S. television ratings

Seasonal rankings (based on average total viewers per episode) of the United States version of Survivor on CBS.

Note: Each U.S. network television season starts in late September and ends in late May, which coincides with the completion of May sweeps.

Survivor: Borneo doesn't have a ranking because it aired in the summer of 2000. It would have ranked #2 in the 1999-2000 U.S. television season, assuming it would have attained the exact same viewership numbers as it did in the summer of 2000.

Program	Timeslot (ET/PT)	Premiered		Ended			TV Season	Rank	Viewers (in millions)
Program	Timeslot (ET/PT)	Date	Premiere Viewers (in millions)	Date	Finale Viewers (in millions)	Reunion Viewers (in millions)	TV Season	Rank	Viewers (in millions)
Survivor: Borneo	Wednesday 8:00PM	May 31, 2000	15.51	August 23, 2000	51.69	36.70	1999-2000	n/a	28.30
Survivor: The Australian Outback	Thursday 8:00PM	January 28, 2001	45.37^sb	May 3, 2001	36.35	28.01	2000-2001	#1	29.80
Survivor: Africa		October 11, 2001	23.84	January 10, 2002	27.26	19.05	2001-2002	#5	20.69
Survivor: Marquesas		February 28, 2002	23.19	May 19, 2002	25.87	17.89	2001-2002	#4	20.77
Survivor: Thailand		September 19, 2002	23.05	December 19, 2002	24.08	20.43	2002-2003	#6	21.21
Survivor: The Amazon		February 13, 2003	23.26	May 11, 2003	22.29	17.65	2002-2003	#8	19.97
Survivor: Pearl Islands		September 18, 2003	21.50	December 14, 2003	25.23	21.87	2003-2004	#6	20.72
Survivor: All-Stars		February 1, 2004	33.54^sb	May 9, 2004	24.76	23.92	2003-2004	#4	21.49
Survivor: Vanuatu		September 16, 2004	20.06	December 12, 2004	19.72	15.23	2004-2005	#6	19.64
Survivor: Palau		February 17, 2005	23.66	May 15, 2005	20.80	15.48	2004-2005
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