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Survivor (franchise)

Survivor is a reality-competition television franchise produced in many countries around the world. The show features a group of contestants deliberately marooned in an isolated location, where they must provide basic survival necessities 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 to be awarded the grand prize and named the "Sole Survivor".

This article is about the international reality TV series. For other uses, see Survivor (disambiguation).

Survivor

Charlie Parsons, Waheed Alli, Baron Alli and Planet 24

Expedition Robinson (Sweden)

Banijay[1]

1997–present

The British television producer Charlie Parsons developed the format for Survivor in 1992 for Planet 24, a United Kingdom television production company; the Swedish version, which debuted in September 1997 as Expedition Robinson, became the first Survivor series to be broadcast on television. As of January 2024, the flagship American version of Survivor has aired 45 seasons of the show since its launch in 2000; the 46th season premiering in February 2024.

A food eating challenge, involving food items that may be local delicacies but are considered gross or revolting by the castaways. These were more often seen in earlier seasons but in recent years have become much less frequent.

A trivia or "know your tribe" quiz, where castaways who provide correct answers are allowed to knock other castaways out of the challenge and prevent them from winning.

A "Survivor Auction", used in place of a reward challenge, in which the players are given a sum of money to use to bid on food items (both known and unknown at the time of bidding), other momentary luxuries like a bath, or advantages in the game, such as a clue to a hidden immunity idol or an advantage in the upcoming immunity challenge.

A "loved ones" challenge, where a spouse, parent, sibling, adult child or friend of each castaway has been flown out to the location to participate in the challenge with or for their castaway. The winner typically gets to spend more time with their loved one, either on a brief trip or back at camp.

A "second chance" challenge, where elements of previous challenges are reused in a single course.

The final immunity challenge is often a long-lasting endurance challenge, giving the remaining castaways time to make bargains and last-minute deals to get into the final Tribal Council.

During the and 1999 seasons, during the pre-merge portion of the competition when a tribe lost an immunity challenge the opposing tribe would vote to eliminate one of their members.

1998

In the season a "Joker" joined the game midway through. Since then this twist has become very common among Survivor versions around the world, either as a twist or as a contingency plan.

1998

During the season the contestants were initially divided into four tribes. This twist would later be used in the American version of Survivor during Survivor: Exile Island and Survivor: Cook Islands.

1999

During the season the twist of "The Black Vote" was introduced. During the merge portion of the competition whenever someone was voted out before they left tribal council they would cast one more vote. This vote would then be carried over to the next tribal council and whoever received the vote, assuming they didn't have immunity, would have an extra vote against them.

1999

During the season when a contestant was voted out they were sent to a secret island where they would take part in a duel with another eliminated contestant. The contestant who lost said duel would be eliminated for good while the winner remained on the island. The person still inhabiting the island when there were only three contestants left in the game would re-enter the competition. This twist would later be used in several different versions of the show and has recently been used on Survivor: Redemption Island and Survivor: South Pacific.

2002

During the version of Expedition Robinson the tribes were initially divided into two tribes, one composed of "Veterans" and the other of "Fans". This type of twist was also used in the American version of Survivor during Survivor: Micronesia.

All-Stars

During the season the twist known as "Team X" was introduced. Shortly after the competition began a new group of contestants entered the game and lived separately and secretly away from the other contestants until a certain point in the game. This twist has since also been used in Norway's 2009 season.

2004

During the and 2005 seasons a former contestant entered the game. This twist has since been used in many different Survivor versions around the world.

2004

During the 2005 season the tribes were initially divided up into a "Rich" tribe and a "Poor" tribe. This twist has since been used in the , Norwegian, and American versions, most notably in Survivor: Fiji.

Danish

Aside from the U. S. version, other franchises introduced variations and twists for the game. Most of these twists and variations are used in other franchises as well:

Other media[edit]

Thrill ride[edit]

One of the more novel merchandising items has been the interactive Survivor: The Ride thrill ride at California's Great America in Santa Clara, California. The ride includes a rotating platform on which riders are divided into one of four "tribes." As the ride moves along an undulating track, riders can be sprayed by water guns hidden in oversized tribal masks while drums and other familiar Survivor musical accents play in the background. Other theming includes Survivor memorabilia throughout the queue line and other merchandise for sale in nearby gift shops.[32] The ride has since been rethemed as Tiki Twirl.

Online games[edit]

During the first Survivor seasons many online games based on forums were created. More specific Survivor online games appeared later.


In late 2013, a former contestant of the American version of the show, Erik Reichenbach, launched a Kickstarter campaign for a Survivor-styled online mobile app called "Islands of Chaos". The app pits players from all over the world in a battle of challenges and strategy to be the last one standing. If the campaign is successful, the plan is to release the game free of charge on a range of platforms including on Apple and Android devices.[33]


Survivor: Castaway Island, a video game in partnership with Microids is slated for release on 3 October 2023.[34]

Parody[edit]

Beginning on July 8, 2007, a parody of Survivor called Total Drama Island appeared on the Canadian television network Teletoon. This animated show included 22 summer campers who signed up to stay at a five-star resort, which actually turned out to be a cruddy summer camp on an island somewhere in Muskoka, Ontario. The host, Chris McLean, is modeled after Survivor host Jeff Probst. The campers are taken to the island on boats to meet their fellow competitors, being heartbroken at the sight of their wasted summer. The campers were separated into two teams: The "Screaming Gophers" and the "Killer Bass". Every three days there would be a challenge for the campers to face, from jumping off a 1,000-foot (300 m) high cliff into a lake to survival skills. The losing team of each challenge would go to the Bonfire Ceremony the night of the challenge, and vote someone off the team, like Survivor. Each team member still in the game would receive a marshmallow, leaving one team member without one. The member who does not receive a marshmallow (the symbol of life on the island) would have to walk the Dock of Shame and board the Boat of Losers to leave the island, and "Never ever ever ever ever" return (which turned out to be a lie in the episode "No Pain, No Game"). After 12 members of the island were voted off, the teams were merged. The winner receives a check for the C$100,000 and the final marshmallow. The show then ends with Chris thrown off the Dock of Shame. The show aired in 188 countries and also appeared on the channels of Cartoon Network and Jetix. The show became a critical and commercial success and it spun off into a series.

List of television show franchises

Total Drama

Get Out Alive with Bear Grylls

Takeshi's Castle

The Hunger Games

Waddell, Dan. Survivor: Trust No One: The Official Inside Story of TV's Toughest Challenge. London: Carlton, [December, ] 2001.

United Kingdom Season #1 (2001)


United Kingdom Season #2: Survivor: Panama (2002)


United States Season #1: Survivor: Pulau Tiga, Borneo (2000)


United States Season #2: Survivor: The Australian Outback (2001)


United States Season #6: Survivor: Amazon (2003)


United States Season #9: Survivor: Vanuatu -Islands of Fire (2004)


Various Seasons, esp. United States 1–6