| Survivor: Borneo | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Reality television |
| Winner | Richard Hatch (4–3) |
| No. of episodes | 13 |
| No. of days | 39 |
| No. of survivors | 16 |
| Tribes | Tagi Pagong Rattana |
| All-Stars | Richard Hatch, Rudy Boesch, Susan "Sue" Hawk, Jenna Lewis |
| Production | |
| Location(s) | Pulau Tiga, Sabah, Borneo, Malaysia |
| Filming dates | March 13, 2000[1] – April 20, 2000 |
| Broadcast | |
| Original run | May 31, 2000 – August 23, 2000 |
| Chronology | |
| Followed by | Survivor: The Australian Outback |
Survivor: Borneo is the first season of the United States reality show Survivor. It was originally broadcast under the name Survivor but its official title was changed to Survivor: Pulau Tiga to distinguish it from subsequent installments of the series, and then changed again to Survivor: Borneo to avoid confusion with Survivor: Palau. The show began filming on March 13, 2000 and ended on April 20, 2000. It aired later that year on CBS. It was set in the South China Sea on the remote Malaysian island of Pulau Tiga in the state of Sabah, about 6 miles (9.7 km) off the north coast of Borneo, Malaysia. The show was released on DVD on May 11, 2004.[1][2]
The sixteen contestants were initially separated into two tribes, named Tagi and Pagong, which represented the names of their beaches.[1] When ten players remained, the contestants merged into one tribe, named Rattana. While Tagi and Pagong's names and makeups were picked by the producers, Rattana was named by contestants Sean Kenniff and Jenna Lewis, because of the large amount of Rattan wood on the island. After 39 days of competition, corporate trainer Richard Hatch was named the Sole Survivor, defeating whitewater rafting guide Kelly Wiglesworth in a 4–3 jury vote. In 2006, it was revealed that Hatch failed to declare his winnings, among other earnings, in his tax return and was sentenced to 51 months imprisonment.[3]
On August 23, 2000, the Survivor: Borneo finale received the highest ratings of any Survivor episode to date with an average of 51.7 million viewers. Nielsen themselves reported that 125 million people watched at least some part of the finale.[4] Richard Hatch, Jenna Lewis, Rudy Boesch, Susan Hawk and Colleen Haskell were invited to participate again in the eighth season of Survivor, Survivor: All-Stars. Haskell was the only one to turn down the opportunity,[5] while Hatch, Lewis, Boesch and Hawk placed 14th, 3rd, 17th and 13th respectively.
The series premiere began with sixteen people split into two boats, divided into two tribes, Pagong and Tagi. During the first night, neither tribe had a completed shelter or a fire. On day two, after losing the combined reward and immunity challenge, Tagi was sent to Tribal Council, where Sonja Christopher, who cost her tribe the challenge, was the first contestant voted out of the game. The tribes then continued to build their shelters and search for food. At the Tagi camp, former Navy SEAL, Rudy Boesch and openly homosexual corporate trainer Richard Hatch formed a strong friendship while B.B. Anderson became an annoyance at the Pagong camp. At the second immunity challenge, contestants were forced to eat a typical Malaysian food called Butok, which is the live larva of a beetle. Both tribes were in a tie after every castaway ate the Butok without refusing. In the tiebreaker, Stacey Stillman ate two Butok before Gervase Peterson, winning immunity for Tagi and sending Pagong to Tribal Council. At Tribal Council on day six, B.B. was sent home from the Pagong tribe. Tagi won the next reward challenge on day seven, winning fishing and diving gear. Richard used the tools to catch many fish and feed the Tagi tribe. Pagong caught and ate a rat, after roasting it first. Pagong won the next immunity challenge on day nine and Stacey was the third person voted out. Gretchen became the motherly tribe member of Pagong, and Rudy became the cook at Tagi, cooking the fish that Richard would catch. Tagi would win both the reward challenge on day ten and the immunity challenge on day twelve, sending Pagong to Tribal Council, where Ramona Gray was the next person voted out.
Their walk through the jungle at night to the Tribal Council will be an hour trek punctuated by stops to wait for six-foot-long snakes to writhe off the trail. Their bodies will be covered with bug bites as they sleep on the sand or in the jungle. They will catch rats to supplement the diet of rice and water provided.
At the following reward challenge on day 13, Pagong won fresh fruit and three egg-laying chickens. Pagong also won the immunity challenge on day 15, as Dirk Been was voted off of the Tagi tribe. After winning the reward challenge on day 16, yet losing the immunity challenge on day 18, Joel Klug was voted off of the Pagong tribe. As the merge approached, Sean Kenniff and Jenna Lewis spent time creating guidelines for the new tribe. The merged tribe was named Rattana, and continued to live at the former Tagi beach. After the first individual immunity challenge on day 21, Greg Buis won immunity for Tribal Council. Gretchen Cordy was then voted out, being tagged as the "biggest overall threat." During the following episode on day 22, each castaway except Jenna was shown a one-minute video clip, that either a family member or friend recorded of themselves talking to the contestant. Jenna's video was never received, so she was unable to view it. The winner of the reward challenge would get to watch the remainder of their five-minute video. Greg won, and was able to watch the rest of his video. Gervase Peterson won the immunity challenge on day 24, and Greg was voted off. During this episode, Sean developed his "alphabet strategy," where his vote would go in alphabetical order for the duration of his time in the game.
Colleen Haskell would win the next reward challenge on day 25, which was a barbecue dinner for two contestants, and would receive their letters sent by family members or friends at home. Colleen chose Jenna to come to the dinner with her, allowing Jenna to read her letter as well. At the dinner, Colleen and Jenna formed an alliance, and discussed getting Gervase to join them. Gervase agreed, but the three did not have enough votes on their side, as Jenna was the next to be voted off on day 27, with Rudy holding immunity. During the following episode, Gervase was informed that his first son, Gunnar was born. Coincidentally, Gervase won the following reward challenge on day 28, allowing him a phone call home. Richard, however, won immunity on day 30, and Gervase was voted out. Following this, Kelly Wiglesworth decided against working with her alliance of Sue Hawk, Richard, and Rudy anymore. The next reward challenge was won by Sean on day 31, who won a night on a luxury yacht. Little did Sean know until long after getting on the boat that the Captain was his father (Jim Kenniff) who would travel on the yacht with him. Richard joined Sean for breakfast on the yacht the next morning, as Richard was chosen by Sean after the reward challenge. After deciding that if Kelly failed to win immunity, she would be sent home by her former alliance. Kelly won the immunity challenge, and Colleen was voted off on day 33. Kelly continued to win the following reward challenge on day 34. Joined by the show's host, Jeff Probst, Kelly won a night at a bar with a hot meal, a cold beer, and a 5-minute screening of the first episode of Survivor. Kelly also won the immunity challenge on day 36, holding off her elimination again, as the tension between herself and Sue grew stronger. Kelly voted with her former alliance to vote Sean out of the game.
The victory was an extraordinary feeling-I think mostly of relief but certainly of exultation as well. Its surrealness was increased by how utterly depleted I felt. I was exhausted, mentally and physically, and starving. I remember walking around the wrap party thinking that it was done. I'd done what I'd come to do and I could relax. I couldn't wait to go to bed. It felt great and I slept like a baby.
As the final three days at the island came, Kelly won immunity again on day 37. The immunity challenge involved the final four contestants being quizzed on how much they knew about their former tribe mates. At Tribal Council, Richard and Sue tied with two votes each. As Kelly and Rudy voted again, Kelly switched her vote to Sue, as Sue was the next voted out. At the final immunity challenge on day 38, Kelly, Richard, and Rudy had to place one hand on the immunity idol held on a pole in the middle of a small well, while the three stood on small stands surrounding the pole. Richard voluntarily stepped out of the challenge on the assumption that the other contestants would "be crazy not to take [him]" to the final Tribal Council. After four hours and eleven minutes, Rudy accidentally removed his hand when changing his position, giving Kelly another victory. Kelly chose Richard to take to the final two, as she voted Rudy off. After Kelly and Richard pleaded their cases with the jury, each jury member cast a vote for one of the final two contestants. The votes were read during the final Tribal Council on day 39, unlike in every season thereafter, when votes were read months later during a live finale. Richard won the first $1 million prize with 4 votes to Kelly's 3.
There were sixteen contestants overall, divided into two tribes, Pagong and Tagi. After six contestants were eliminated, the tribes were combined, or merged, to form one tribe, Rattana. Seven contestants made up the jury, who ultimately decided who would win the game, and the $1 million grand prize.
| Contestant | Original Tribe | Merged Tribe | Finish | Total Votes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sonja Christopher 63, Walnut Creek, CA |
Tagi | 1st Voted Out Day 3 |
4 | |
| B.B. Anderson 64, Mission Hills, KS |
Pagong | 2nd Voted Out Day 6 |
6 | |
| Stacey Stillman 27, San Francisco, CA |
Tagi | 3rd Voted Out Day 9 |
6 | |
| Ramona Gray 29, Edison, NJ |
Pagong | 4th Voted Out Day 12 |
6 | |
| Dirk Been 23, Spring Green, WI |
Tagi | 5th Voted Out Day 15 |
4 | |
| Joel Klug 27, Sherwood, AR |
Pagong | 6th Voted Out Day 18 |
4 | |
| Gretchen Cordy 38, Clarksville, TN |
Pagong | Rattana | 7th Voted Out Day 21 |
4 |
| Greg Buis 24, Gold Hill, CO |
Pagong | 8th Voted Out 1st Jury Member Day 24 |
6 | |
| Jenna Lewis 22, Franklin, NH |
Pagong | 9th Voted Out 2nd Jury Member Day 27 |
11 | |
| Gervase Peterson 30, Willingboro, NJ |
Pagong | 10th Voted Out 3rd Jury Member Day 30 |
6 | |
| Colleen Haskell 23, Miami, FL |
Pagong | 11th Voted Out 4th Jury Member Day 33 |
7 | |
| Sean Kenniff 30, Brooklyn, NY |
Tagi | 12th Voted Out 5th Jury Member Day 36 |
9 | |
| Susan Hawk 38, Palmyra, WI |
Tagi | 13th Voted Out 6th Jury Member Day 37 |
7 | |
| Rudy Boesch 72, Richmond, VA |
Tagi | 14th Voted Out 7th Jury Member Day 38 |
8 | |
| Kelly Wiglesworth 22, Las Vegas, NV |
Tagi | Runner-Up | 0 | |
| Richard Hatch 39, Middletown, RI |
Tagi | Sole Survivor | 6 |
| Episode title[6] | Air date[6] | Challenges | Eliminated | Vote | Finish | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reward | Immunity | |||||
| "The Marooning" | May 31, 2000 | Pagong1 | Sonja | 4–3–1 | 1st Voted Out Day 3 |
|
| "The Generation Gap" | June 7, 2000 | Pagong2 | Tagi | B.B. | 6–2 | 2nd Voted Out Day 6 |
| "Quest for Food" | June 14, 2000 | Tagi | Pagong | Stacey | 5–2 | 3rd Voted Out Day 9 |
| "Too Little, Too Late?" | June 21, 2000 | Tagi | Tagi | Ramona | 4–2–1 | 4th Voted Out Day 12 |
| "Pulling Your Own Weight" | June 28, 2000 | Pagong | Pagong | Dirk | 4–1–1 | 5th Voted Out Day 15 |
| "Udder Revenge" | July 5, 2000 | Pagong | Tagi | Joel | 4–2 | 6th Voted Out Day 18 |
| "The Merger" | July 12, 2000 | None3 | Greg | Gretchen | 4–1–1–1–1–1–1 | 7th Voted Out Day 21 |
| "Thy Name Is Duplicity" | July 19, 2000 | Greg | Gervase | Greg | 6–3 | 8th Voted Out 1st Jury Member Day 24 |
| "Old and New Bonds" | July 26, 2000 | Colleen, [Jenna] | Rudy | Jenna | 4–3–1 | 9th Voted Out 2nd Jury Member Day 27 |
| "Crack In the Alliance" | August 2, 2000 | Gervase | Richard | Gervase | 5–2 | 10th Voted Out 3rd Jury Member Day 30 |
| "Long Hard Days" | August 9, 2000 | Sean, [Richard] | Kelly | Colleen | 4–2 | 11th Voted Out 4th Jury Member Day 33 |
| "Death of an Alliance" | August 16, 2000 | Kelly | Kelly | Sean | 4–1 | 12th Voted Out 5th Jury Member Day 36 |
| "Season Finale" | August 23, 2000 | None | Kelly | Susan | 2–2 2-04 |
13th Voted Out 6th Jury Member Day 37 |
| Kelly | Rudy | 1-0 | 14th Voted Out 7th Jury Member Day 38 |
|||
| "The Reunion" | August 23, 2000 | Jury Vote | Kelly | 4–3 | Runner-Up | |
| Richard | Sole Survivor | |||||
^1 The first challenge was a combined reward/immunity challenge. The winning team received immunity and waterproof matches.
^2 Sometime between day four and six, a reward challenge took place that was not aired. The challenge involved holding weight on poles. Richard held the weight for Tagi, as Joel for Pagong. The reward was a map to a closer water hole.
^3 There was no reward challenge due to the tribal merge.
^4 The final four vote was tied with Richard and Sue each receiving two votes. In the tie-breaker vote, Rudy continued to vote against Sue while Kelly changed her vote from Richard to Sue.
16 castaways began an adventure of a lifetime. There were already separated into two tribes. Both tribes made it to their beaches: Tagi in 2 hours, Pagong in 3. At the Tagi tribe, Rudy got on everybody's nerves by taking command. No one at Tagi knew what to start doing until Richard spoke up. Richard was able to get everybody to get started on their camp. At the Pagong tribe, B.B. took leadership at camp. Colleen and Greg were wondering off alone. Back at Tagi, Sonja cut her leg but Sean was able to fix it up, and Stacey got annoyed with Rudy and wanted to get rid of him. At the immunity challenge, Pagong won after Sonja stumbled in the water. They voted out Sonja for being the weakest link 4–3–1.
At Pagong, people began to realize how they liked B.B., and everyone began to realize that Colleen and Greg were together. At Tagi, Richard told stories of him being gay. Richard didn't tell Rudy because he thought if he found out that he was gay Rudy wouldn't want to be near him. Greg kept everyone entertained with the All New Newly Stranded Survivor Game. The next day, B.B. got frustrated with his tribe because most of them were lazy and Ramona was sick. At the immunity challenge, each tribe member ate their grub, so Pagong picked Stacey and Tagi picked Gervase to represent the other team in a race to eat 2 grubs. Tagi won thanks to Stacey. Pagong went to their first tribal council where B.B. was voted out 6–2.
At the Tagi tribe, Stacey still wanted to get rid of Rudy and tried to create a girl alliance to do so, but Susan didn't want to be a part of the plan. At Pagong, Greg and Colleen found a big mud pit that the entire tribe was able to enjoy. At the reward challenge, Tagi won. Back at Pagong, everyone ate rats, including a hesitant Gervase and Ramona. At Tagi, Dirk annoyed everyone with his bible reading. Pagong won the immunity challenge. At tribal council, Tagi voted out Stacey 5–2. A surprised Stacey mentioned that people had changed their votes.
At Pagong, Ramona started to feel better after having been sick and tried to put her work ethic to place, but Jenna said it might be too late for her. At Tagi, Sean and Dirk were busy fishing, but had no luck; Sean also tried to build a bowling alley. Kelly, Richard, Rudy and Susan created an alliance. At the immunity challenge, Gervase had problems on the sprint into the jungle and Pagong lost. They voted out Ramona 4–2–1.
At Tagi, Dirk and Sean were still trying to fish (with no success) instead of helping around camp. Susan told them that it was a waste of time if they weren't catching anything. At Pagong, everyone felt vulnerable because their tribe was getting smaller. At the reward challenge, Joel helped Pagong win reward with his spear throwing after the first two rounds were tied. Dirk and Sean began to help around the camp but that didn't change their tribe members' minds. At Pagong they decided to let their chickens lay eggs. At the immunity challenge, Gervase help Pagong to victory and Kelly, the white water rafting guide, was upset that "she got beat by a guy who couldn't even swim". At Tagi's tribal council, Dirk was voted out 4–1–1.
Each tribes were wondering what the merge was going to be like. At Tagi they were afraid that they might get outnumbered after the merge. At Pagong, Joel felt confident because they had the numbers. Colleen thought Joel was an idiot because they weren't merging yet and still had a chance of going in even. Gervase offended the girls by telling them that they were dumber than a cow. At Tagi, Richard began walking around camp naked. At the reward challenge, Richard brought back a duplicate knife instead of a can opener and Pagong won by default. At Pagong, Gervase tried to create an alliance with Joel to get rid of the girls, and Joel started to get a little bossy, which annoyed the girls. Tagi won the immunity challenge in a very close race. With help from Greg, the women of Pagong voted out Joel 4–2.
The day after Pagong voted Joel out, one person from each tribe went to the opposite tribe's camp and would then convene to decide which camp to live on. Jenna went to Tagi and Sean went to Pagong. After a bit of time at camp, Jenna and Sean met with each other at a neutral site (the sandbar) to decide which camp they wanted to live on and what to name the new merge tribe. They were welcomed by a feast, including lobster and wine, and got to stay the night under a canopy shelter and on beds. The next day, Jenna and Sean decided to live at the Tagi beach and named their merged tribe Rattana. All ten castaways are now together and everyone celebrated, except Rudy, who got annoyed because the population doubled. Greg won immunity after a close battle with Sean. At tribal council, the Pagong 5 (as well as Sean) were completely split and voted individually, while the Tagi 4 of Kelly, Richard, Rudy and Susan stayed together and voted out Gretchen 4–1–1–1–1–1–1. everyone got a vote except Greg ; who had immunity , Sean and Kelly.
At camp, the remaining members of the former Pagong tribe felt vulnerable because the Tagi tribe voted out their leader Gretchen. Susan thought Jenna was going to be really annoying, but after a while realized she wasn't that annoying. Richard started to worry about who voted for him at tribal council. At the reward challenge, Jeff showed everyone a sneak peek at the reward challenge except for Jenna because they never received a video for Jenna. Greg went first and no one hit the mark closer, so he won reward and saw his home video from his sister and sent one back to her. Rudy thought there might be some incest behavior between Greg and his sister. Jenna was frustrated about losing the reward challenge and instead of watching Greg's video, continued to practice with the bow and arrow, continually hitting the target closer than Greg's mark. People began to realize that Richard liked Greg because of the way he was playing the game. Greg realized that Richard was a powerful player in this game. Gervase won immunity. At tribal council, the Tagi 4 and Jenna (who was still cross for not winning,) piggy-backed off Sean's alphabet strategy and voted out Greg 6–3.
While Richard was catching fish, people began to realize that nobody voted him out because of it. Rudy didn't made the fire hot enough so the fish wasn't done when it got off the fire, and the attempt to recook it simply burnt it. At the reward challenge, Jenna wanted to win because she didn't hear anything from her family at the last challenge. It was a race between Colleen and Kelly, which Colleen narrowly won. When Colleen won, Jeff told her she could pick one other person and she instantly chose Jenna. After the reward challenge, it was Richard's 39th birthday and he celebrated in his "birthday suit". Richard spent his entire birthday naked which disturbed some of his tribe mates, especially Colleen and Jenna. Rudy won immunity over Sean. Sean was convinced that his alphabet strategy of voting for people was the fairest way and that there was no alliance because he wasn't asked to be a part of it. He continued to vote that way and even told Jenna beforehand that he was voting for her but that he didn't think it would make a difference. At tribal council he was once again proven wrong, as Richard, Rudy, and Sue again piggy-backed off his vote and Jenna was voted out 4–3–1.
Some people were happy that Jenna was voted out because she was getting on everyone nerves. Everyone knew that Sean voted for Jenna and that Kelly didn't, so the remainder of the Tagi alliance felt betrayed by Kelly. The alliance thought about replacing Kelly with Sean because he might have been more valuable. Richard's plan was to catch more fish once Colleen and Gervase were gone. At tree mail, the castaways were surprised by cigars and a note saying that Gervase's son Gunner was born yesterday, which they celebrated. Gervase narrowly beat Richard at the reward challenge and had a chance to call his girlfriend and daughter to see how his baby was doing. He shared his slice of pizza with everyone. While he was making his phone call, Rudy questioned Gervase's life choices (having 4 children without being married) and said that having babies out of wedlock would have never happened when he was his age and that the girl would be "taken out of town" and dealt with. At the immunity challenge Richard easily won and at tribal council Gervase was seen as the biggest threat left from Pagong and was voted out 5–2.
The Tagi alliance began to crumble because Kelly was always talking to the remaining enemy of the alliance, Colleen. Camp life started to take a toll on everyone. Sean won a reward and was surprised to see his dad on the yacht. Sean told Kelly he was going to take her for the feast, but chose Richard instead, which infuriated the women. Sean brought his dad back to camp to meet everyone, who attempted to update them on current events and the stock market (although Sue thought he didn't know anything), and before he left, he gave each person a care package from their loved ones, which rejuvenated their spirits. At the immunity challenge, Rudy fell off first. Rich attempted to annoy people off the planks by singing "99 bottles of beer on the wall"...until he fell off at 64 bottles of beer. On the beach, Rich thought it was funny that Colleen was really trying to win immunity when she had no chance of going home tonight because they were going to blindside Kelly. Sean was third to go, followed almost immediately by Sue. Colleen fell off after 2 hours and 54 minutes, giving immunity to Kelly and foiling the Tagi alliance plans. At tribal council, Sean was grilled for taking Rich on the reward instead of Kelly. Colleen, the last remaining member of Pagong, was voted out 4–2.
With only Tagi tribe members left, the two people that felt vulnerable were Kelly and Sean. Kelly mentioned that she didn't trust Rich, while Rich conspired to get Kelly off next. Sean thought he was stuck with the most conniving people ever. Tempers flared at camp as Kelly and Susan had a fight about their alliance since Kelly didn't vote with them again, and Sue said that Kelly made them all look like idiots. Richard attempted to smooth things over, although he said that the fight played to his advantage. Sue got stung by a ray and her hand swelled up. On day 34, all of the castaways talked about how they missed home. Kelly collected 15.9 lbs at the reward challenge, followed by Sean (15.4), Susan (15), Rich (12.4), and Rudy (10). After the reward challenge, Susan and Kelly rekindled their friendship. Kelly went with Jeff to watch the first 5 minutes of episode 1 and talked to Jeff about how the game was going for her. On day 36, Kelly and Susan agreed to keep civil with each other, although Susan told Kelly she didn't want her in the final 3 because she was such a threat. Sean knew he needed to win immunity and attempted to exploit the Kelly-Susan friendship. Kelly won her third challenge in a row. Sean said he was definitely winning this thing even though it would be an uphill battle. Rich tried to decide whether he would be voting for Sean or Rudy, although Rudy was confident that it would be him and Rich in the final 2. While everyone spoke of voting for different people, in the end the original Tagi 4 stuck together and Sean was voted out 4–1.
The remaining 4 reflected on how much their bodies have changed, and how the game was played by them and by others. Kelly said she felt like the odd man out and was stressed because she didn't feel safe. She said that she was now playing for herself. Richard, Rudy, and Sue were planning to vote out Kelly if she didn't win immunity. At the challenge, Kelly and Sue were tied after 10 questions, but Kelly got the tiebreaker question correct, giving Kelly won her fourth challenge and third immunity in a row. Directly after at tribal council, there was a 2–2 tie between Richard and Susan. During the revote in which only Rudy and Kelly voted, Kelly changed her vote and Susan was voted out 2–0.
At 4:00 am on day 38, the remaining 3 were awoken by Jeff, told to put on something comfortable, and took a long boat ride to their rite of passage and final immunity challenge. For their rite of passage, they covered themselves with mud, walked through palm fronds held by locals, passed the torches of their fallen comrades, then passed through a bamboo curtain and walked barefoot through a fire pit. After two hours of holding on the idol, Jeff tempted the three with oranges. After 21⁄2 hours, Richard gave a speech, said he wouldn't be able to outlast Kelly, and stepped down voluntarily. He said that it was a game of odds and he didn't know what the winner would actually do. After three hours, the two left switched positions while keeping their hand on the idol and were to do so every half hour. While the two were still standing on the pole, Rich addressed the alliance to Jeff and how he wasn't surprised that Kelly changed her vote. After 4 hours, 11 minutes, Rudy took his hand off the idol while switching spots, and Kelly won immunity yet again. Rich and Rudy both said it was in Kelly's best interest to keep themselves. At tribal council Kelly voted out Rudy because she thought she might have a better chance of winning against Richard.
At the final tribal council, Gervase asked if there was one, two or three things they would change about their time on the island, if anything at all (Rich said trusting people so easily; Kelly said making an alliance). Jenna asked who they would put in the final 2 and why (Rich said Rudy and Greg; Kelly said Sonja and Gretchen). Sean had no questions, but congratulated the two and thanked Kelly for being capable and keeping camp afloat, and told Rich that he enjoyed his company although he played the game differently. Colleen asked what three character traits got them where they are and are essential to get future players to the finals (Kelly said faith, strong will, and likability; Rich said self-awareness, observation of relationships, and ethics). Rudy said he had nothing to say to those two, but felt dumb after the mistake he made yesterday. Greg had them choose a number between 1 and 10 (Rich said 7; Kelly 3). Sue gave her famous "rat and snake" speech. In the end, Rudy, Sue, Sean, and Greg voted for Rich and Jenna, Gervase, and Colleen voted for Kelly. With that, Richard Hatch became Survivor's first millionaire by a vote of 4–3.
| Original Tribes | Merged Tribe | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Episode #: | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Finale | ||
| Eliminated: | Sonja 4/8 votes |
B.B. 6/8 votes |
Stacey 5/7 votes |
Ramona 4/7 votes |
Dirk 4/6 votes |
Joel 4/6 votes |
Gretchen 4/10 votes |
Greg 6/9 votes |
Jenna 4/8 votes |
Gervase 5/7 votes |
Colleen 4/6 votes |
Sean 4/5 votes |
Tie | Susan 2/2 votes |
Rudy 1 vote |
| Voter | Vote | ||||||||||||||
| Richard | Stacey | Stacey | Dirk | Gretchen | Greg | Jenna | Gervase | Colleen | Sean | Susan | None5 | ||||
| Kelly | Rudy | Rudy | Dirk | Gretchen | Greg | Sean | Gervase | Sean | Sean | Richard | Susan | Rudy | |||
| Rudy | Sonja | Stacey | Dirk | Gretchen | Greg | Jenna | Gervase | Colleen | Sean | Susan | Susan | ||||
| Susan | Sonja | Stacey | Dirk | Gretchen | Greg | Jenna | Gervase | Colleen | Sean | Richard | None5 | ||||
| Sean | Sonja | Stacey | Rudy | Colleen | Greg | Jenna | Gervase | Colleen | Susan | ||||||
| Colleen | B.B. | Ramona | Joel | Richard | Jenna | Richard | Sean | Sean | |||||||
| Gervase | B.B. | Colleen | Jenna | Susan | Jenna | Richard | Sean | ||||||||
| Jenna | B.B. | Ramona | Joel | Gervase | Greg | Richard | |||||||||
| Greg | Ramona | Jenna | Joel | Jenna | Jenna | ||||||||||
| Gretchen | B.B. | Ramona | Joel | Rudy | |||||||||||
| Joel | B.B. | Ramona | Jenna | ||||||||||||
| Dirk | Sonja | Stacey | Susan | ||||||||||||
| Ramona | B.B. | Colleen | |||||||||||||
| Stacey | Rudy | Rudy | |||||||||||||
| B.B. | Ramona | ||||||||||||||
| Sonja | Rudy | ||||||||||||||
| Jury vote | ||
|---|---|---|
| Finalist: | Kelly 3/7 votes |
Richard 4/7 votes |
| Juror | Vote | |
| Rudy | Richard | |
| Susan | Richard | |
| Sean | Richard | |
| Colleen | Kelly | |
| Gervase | Kelly | |
| Jenna | Kelly | |
| Greg | Richard | |
^5 Richard and Susan were not eligible to vote in the second Tribal Council vote.
The abandoned institute is on the island of the boomerang's open "V." This is the leeward side of the island. It faces west, and the South China Sea sunsets turn the sand orange-purple each evening at 6:30. One these shores we built a dock for offloading equipment, then living quarters with cold-water showers for sixty-five personnel-the camera crews, the production staff, and the assorted other individuals vital to producing thirteen hours of prime-time television.
In 1998, CBS offered Mark Burnett the chance to present his idea of this reality show to producers. In October 1999, CBS held a casting call for a new reality show concept. The idea was Survivor, in which sixteen people would be stuck on an island 20 miles (32 km) away from the mainland of Borneo. Ten main cameras were set on the island that would film the castaways every day. Every three days, a Tribal Council would be held in which one castaway would be voted off the island. The last castaway to be on the island would win $1 million.
Over 6,000 people applied for the show; 800 were then interviewed in sixteen cities. 48 people were then chosen, and after background checks and psychological evaluations done by the producers, the final sixteen contestants and two alternates were picked.[1]
As the survivors awaited the game's start, Survivor crews prepared the island for reward and immunity challenges, removing any harmful items, checking for any harmful animals in specific locations, and building a Tribal Council set. Camera and other crews were sent to the island three weeks in advance for testing. On the opposite side of the island from the tribes, headquarters were set up for the producers, and crew to live in on the island. This facility included many traditional trailers with running water, televisions, and one phone line. The Tribal Council set was built two hundred yards from the crew's facility. The Tribal Council set was 30 by 30 feet (9.1 by 9.1 m) with no walls and only a platform. In the middle of the set was a fire lava pit providing fire for the torches, which represented the castaways' life in the game.[1][7]
On March 7, 2000, the contestants were flown to Los Angeles, then to the city of Kota Kinabalu in Malaysian Borneo. From there, they were taken by boat to their island. Contestants were not allowed to speak to one another until they got on the boat headed towards their beaches.[1] The two tribes shared the island of Pulau Tiga, which was divided by over 20 miles (32 km) of forest. The castaways were surrounded by wildlife such as pythons, kraits, adders, monkeys, monitor lizards, and white-bellied sea eagles.[1][7] The show was set to air in the summer of 2000.[1][7]
I always believed it was going to generate strong water cooler conversation. Nobody could have predicted the ratings success. But I knew that the premise — a group of people marooned on an island, where they had to survive by working together, and they had to work against each other to win a million-dollar prize-I knew that premise was superior.
Survivor: Borneo received mixed reactions in the media. Bill Carter, a writer for The New York Times stated that Survivor has "clearly begun to emerge as part of the wider culture, with news and discussion about the show widespread on television and radio talk shows and coverage increasing in newspapers."[8] On the Late Show with David Letterman, David Letterman began a segment titled, "Top 10 Things That'll Get You Thrown Off the Survivor Island." During the first season, USA Today held coverage of the show as if it were a sporting event, listing which participant was voted off. USA Today also held a poll to see who viewers would have voted off. With 26 percent, Susan Hawk won the poll, although it had no effect on the game, as Sue made it to 4th place. CBS's The Early Show held an interview with each contestant the day after the episode in which they were voted off aired. By the second week, the show had already gained over 18 million viewers, beating out ABC's show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? in ratings.[9] After the season finale, Carter said that Survivor "built over a 13-week run to what was expected last night to be the biggest single television audience ever assembled for a summer television series, far eclipsed every expectation the network had when it acquired the rights to the show last year." Leslie Moonves, the president of CBS Television said that "it has beaten our expectations by about double."[8] The finale of Survivor was watched by 51.7 million viewers, the second-highest viewership of any American television episode during the first decade of the 21st century, exceeded only by the finale of Friends.[10] The finale had higher ratings than the World Series, NBA finals, N.C.A.A. men's basketball finals, and Grammy Awards of that year. CBS was able to make the cost of commercial advertisers up to $600,000 during the season finale.[8]
Survivor: Borneo was criticized by the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) in response to footage showing the contestants trapping rats on the island, initially for fish bait but later for human consumption.[11]
I plead to the jury tonight to think a little bit of the island we have been on. This island is full of, pretty much, only two things - snakes and rats. And in the end of Mother Nature, we have Richard The Snake, who knowingly went after prey; and Kelly, who turned into the rat that ran around like rats do on this island, trying to run from the snake. I believe we owe it to the island spirits we have come to know to let it end in the way that Mother Nature intended: For the snake to eat the rat.
Susan Hawk's "snakes and rats" speech given during the final Tribal Council has been considered one of the greatest and more memorable speeches in the show's history,[13][14]
| Episode | Viewers (millions) |
|---|---|
| "The Marooning" | 105.5[15] |
| "The Generation Gap" | 18.1[15] |
| "Quest For Food" | 23.3[15] |
| "Too Little Too Late?" | 24.2[15] |
| "Pulling Your Own Weight" | 24.0[15] |
| "Udder Revenge" | 24.5[15] |
| "The Merger" | 24.5[16] |
| "Thy Name is Duplicity" | 26.2[15] |
| "Old and New Bonds" | 27.2[15] |
| "Crack in the Alliance" | 27.4[15] |
| "Long Hard Days" | 28.0[15] |
| "Death of the Alliance" | 28.7[15] |
| "The Final Four" | 51.7[15] |
The DVD release of season one was released by CBS Home Entertainment in the U.S. on May 11, 2004, after it had completed broadcast on television. As well as every episode from the season, the DVD release features bonus material including commentary, interviews and behind-the-scenes featurettes.[7][17]
| The Complete First Season | ||||
| Set details[17] | Special features[7] | |||
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| Release dates[2] | ||||
| Canada | United States | |||
| May 11, 2004 | May 11, 2004 | |||