If you think that network executives have no creativity, think again. It's just that their creativity isn't shown in new ideas, but in the blending of old ones.
Just imagine the pitch meeting: "It's game shows meets reality TV meets 'The Truman Show' meets 'Gilligan's Island.'" What is this monstrous creation? Why, CBS's "Survivor," of course.
Based on a show imported from Europe, "Survivor" will take 16 people, selected from thousands a la MTV's "The Real World" and place them on a deserted island off the coast of Borneo (referred to in the website as "mysterious Borneo").
They will have to survive in these environs and be constantly taped by a multitude of cameras and the production crew, also housed on the island.
The challenge is not just surviving the "hostile" environment of this deserted island, though; it's surviving the peer group. Each week all the survivors convened in an "Island Council" will vote one of the 16 "castaways" off the island. (I have to use a lot of quotes because all my information comes from CBS's hype-happy website.)
At the end of the season, two survivors will remain. One will then be chosen by all the survivors already off the island to receive one MILLION dollars. Exciting stuff, right? Personally, I'd rather spend the night in a New York hotel and take my chances with Reege.
"Survivor" is CBS's bid at capturing an audience unfamiliar with pacemaker and denture brands. Their demographic is older than Cadillac's, and in today's youth obsessed market, that won't cut it with advertisers. "Survivor" takes on MTV, ABC, Fox and even NBC, what with its preponderance of cute late 20-somethings.
Don't think CBS is forgetting where its bread gets buttered, though. For the first time ever, we'll be seeing old dudes attempt to steal the camera and chase the cute girls over the course of a reality-TV season. Three of the 16 survivors are over 60. Rudy, a 72-year-old ex-Navy SEAL said this:
"When I saw all the girls I thought: 'I should have brought Viagra instead of a toothbrush.'" That'll bring in those ratings!
Surprisingly, "Survivor" is overwhelmingly white. Two young African-Americans, a single female biochemist and a single male youth basketball coach, are included, but the remainder is as white as the Green in December. With the amount of flak that "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire" has received (the first black contestant appeared last Sunday), one would expect CBS' programming execs to try a little harder.
Still, the different age groups, from 22-year-old Jenna, the New Hampshire native college student, to Rudy, the Social Security-receiving lecher, should make the show a little more interesting than MTV's annual efforts.
There are also several married individuals among the survivors. Hopefully all the single people will kick them off first. Only four are married, including our friend Rudy, and CBS's bias toward the young and unattached is clearly an attempt to get some sex going off "mysterious Borneo." At least one survivor, Richard, a 38-year-old "corporate trainer," is openly gay.
"Survivor" is an interesting idea, interesting enough that people are bound to watch. The question is whether CBS can maintain interest. A lot will depend on this motley crew of people. The social dynamic between this group will be fascinating to be sure, constantly depending on each other not only to "survive," but also to remain in the running for the cash. Yet in the end it is a competition. No matter how silly CBS' hype is, it is undeniably intriguing.
However, "Survivor" could be an unbelievable backfire for the Eye. The show's production costs are quite expensive and the concept is by no means a guaranteed hit.
Still, the wide variety of ages, backgrounds and places of origin is bound to provoke conflict, the heart of any good drama. From a neurosurgeon to a truck driver, from Southerners to San Franciscans, the American gamut is run here. Silly as it might sound, "Survivor" could be serving up some seriously engrossing TV come this summer.
