Castaway with sunshine?
Nearly. American broadcaster CBS's Survivor is similar to theBeeb's Castaway, though the American version is set on a desertisland in the South China Sea.
Taransay it ain't.
Indeed it isn't. On Palau Tiga, the sun-drenched isle nearBorneo, 16 people are stranded and forced to endure the elements,the wildlife and each other. They are not there for the"experience", as the Castaways are, but for $1 million. Whoevermakes it through this Swiss Family Robinson meets The Real Worldwithout doing a Gilligan or flipping out at the lack of creaturecomforts or the abundance of creatures (including poisonous seasnakes, scorpions and rats, which they also have to eat), wins amillion.
Wow. With my Venture Scout training I would be so good at that.
No you wouldn't. The final winner is determined by vote. Aftereach instalment, all the contestants vote by secret ballot to ejectone person. By the end of the series, only two contestants willremain and then the seven previous surviving players will vote for avictor. Essentially, it's a popularity contest, and there's nodanger of you ever winning one of them.
Charming.
They're a tough lot. Sonja, a 63-year-old musician, has alreadybeen ditched by the rest of the Robinson Crusoes.
Blimey. After a week? How did she take it?
All right. She herself admitted she couldn't keep up with theyoung castaways and seemed pragmatic about the whole thing. And shedefinitely took it better than the first contestant to be voted offthe island in the Swedish version of the show. He committed suicidea month after returning to his life of quiet anonymity. The strainof going from obscurity to having his life broadcast 24 hours a day,seven days a week, and back again, must have taken its toll.
Sorry? 24/7?
Oh yes. In Survivor, there are ten camera crews and a couple ofsurveillance cameras situated across the island, their exactlocations unbeknownst to the island's wildly different dwellers.This is Spy TV extraordinaire. The first in the 13-week seriespulled in an audience of 15.5 million, beating Who Wants to be aMillionaire in the battle for younger viewers. It was even a hit onthe internet. CBS's website crashed as the show was being broadcast.
Impressive. What have been the high points for viewers/low pointsfor castaways?
Jenna, the youngest castaway, wasn't too keen on eating rats, butthe disintegration of the "nice" personalities and the inevitableconflicts and back-stabbing obviously make compulsive viewing. Inthe beginning, BB, a jolly grand-dad, cheekily suggested he andRamona, a 28-year-old chemist, hide the map so no-one could votethem off the island. He showed his true curmudgeonly colours whileconstructing a hut with his tribe. "We've got a lot of lazy people,"he harrumphed. Another oldster, retired Navy SEAL Rudy, mused: "Ifthey listened to me, they'd all have haircuts."
How totally great and voyeuristic. And who's the one everyonehates?
Richard, a "corporate communications consultant" who harasses histribe with team-building, can-do speak. Happily though, he is put inhis place by a truck driver called Susan who combs her hair with aknife.
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