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American Morning
"Survivor" Mania
Aired May 04, 2001 - 09:13 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: It is all the talk this morning: "Survivor." The hugely successful reality television show has a new winner. Let's take a look now at some final moments and some frenzied fans.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "SURVIVOR")
JEFF PROBST, HOST: It doesn't get better than this. Three votes Tina, three votes Colby. In true "Survivor" tradition, it comes down to one vote.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CROWD: Tina! Tina! Tina!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: On "Survivor," it's like a big event. It's like the Super Bowl. The last week, contestants try to compete for $1 million prize. And it's the biggest event in the world.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "SURVIVOR")
PROBST: The winner of "Survivor: The Australia Outback."
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
CROWD: Colby! Tina!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tina won! I knew Tina would do it. Whoo! Way to go, Tina! Whoo! You go, girl!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I am woman, hear me roar!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Tina!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The best person won. She was honest and fair to everybody. And she deserves it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I really thought it was going to be Colby. I was rooting for Colby. I thought Colby had a heart. I thought he was going to share the money with everybody.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's great to see a woman take the big prize.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Based on everything that I heard tonight, she really deserved it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was rooting for Colby, but I liked Tina, too. So I'm OK with her winning.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I mean, it was great. We were here last year at the same time. It was awesome. I can't wait until next year.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAGAN: The next episode of "Survivor" is set to take place in Africa. To talk with us more about "Survivor" and what's coming this way, we have with us Marc Peyser, television critic for "Newsweek" magazine.
Marc, good morning.
MARC PEYSER, TV CRITIC, "NEWSWEEK": Good morning, Daryn.
KAGAN: It was Tina! Talk about, like, the anti-Richard...
PEYSER: Yes.
KAGAN: The winner from the first "Survivor."
PEYSER: Big surprise. I mean, both of those two...
KAGAN: Were you surprised?
PEYSER: I was very surprised. Colby certainly had it in pocket. He could have won. He just sort of decided to ignore the outwit part and sort of be a nitwit, in a way. He gave away $1 million. But he comes off...
KAGAN: You're talking about the moment when he won the last immunity challenge.
PEYSER: Right.
KAGAN: And he got to choose who he was going to go up against. And he said, "Keith, see you," when he really probably would have had a much better chance against Keith.
PEYSER: Yes, I think everybody agrees that Colby would have won if he had picked Keith. But it made for a nice ending. It was completely different from the first "Survivor," where everybody was mean and you were sort of rooting against people. Here you were rooting for people, in a sense.
So it's nice that it had a little variety from year to year. KAGAN: Well, that was the thing. It was so different. I mean, don't you think it was a little bit more entertaining when people on the last show were so mean and nasty and were saying things like, "I wouldn't save you if you were dead by the side of the road"? This was like a big kumbaya lovefest.
PEYSER: I agree. I do think the first one was more entertaining. I mean, just the whole rat-snake speech by Sue at the end is going to go down in television history. It was nothing like that this time. The show really went downhill a little bit after Jerri, the evil queen, got kicked off. And maybe next time, they will pick a few more mean people.
But I think it was nice for viewers who were looking to see how it would change to see that the show can sort of morph into different forms.
KAGAN: But it was a good bit to do this live, I thought.
PEYSER: Oh, it was great. That whole helicopter scene was spectacular. I mean, the music went on way too long. I never want to hear that song again. But the rest of it was fun. And they were clearly surprised. And it was fun to see the cheesiness of the show. It's always cheesy. But they pull it off very well.
KAGAN: And this was the second time around. "Survivor 3" will be in Africa, as we mentioned. How many go-rounds do you think this show has in it?
PEYSER: Oh, it's reality impossible to say right now: infinite at the moment. I mean, reality TV is really on the upswing. Every one of these shows -- even the bad ones like "Big Brother" -- are coming back. They're surviving, you know, as one might say. They're doing very well.
And so "Survivor," which is the granddaddy of them all and the most successful, is there for the long run, absolutely.
KAGAN: And let's talk about economics of this. When you compare it to some of the other entertainment programming, it's a cash cow for the networks. Also, with the writer situation, then maybe the actors coming along with their possible strike, the networks have to love this kind of reality programming.
PEYSER: Oh, yes. I mean, the stuff would be there anyway if the strike wasn't imminent. But these shows are really cheap. You don't have to pay those multimillion "Friends" salaries. There aren't really any writers to go on strike. All they pay, basically, is the prize money, whatever that is, and Jeff Probst, and whatever the producer puts in his pocket. So these are absolutely a gold mine for the networks.
KAGAN: What about as a TV guy for a living? Do you get sick of watching all these shows? Or do they still intrigue you?
PEYSER: You know, each one that has come along so far has been different. "Temptation Island" was different. "Boot Camp" was different. "Survivor," you know, the second time was even different. So, you know, it's too early to get tired of them. I guess after 16 episodes of each one, I'm a little weary. But the new ones are fun to see what is going to happen. So I'm sort of with them for a little while longer.
KAGAN: And be ready, because, I understand it, the fall schedule is packed with these kind of shows.
PEYSER: Yes, if there's going to be a strike, you are going to see nothing but this stuff.
KAGAN: Absolutely. Well, Marc Peyser from "Newsweek," thanks for stopping by. Thanks for surviving CNN LIVE THIS MORNING. Good to see you.
PEYSER: Thank you.
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