Pop Culture

Survivor Rigged? Of Course it Was!

The Canberra Times, June 2001

Some were shocked last week when Dirk Been, the most God-fearing contestant on the original "Survivor" series, swore on his cherished Bible that the show was rigged.

For those who have somehow missed "Survivor", every episode ends with one player being voted off the show by their fellow players. According to Been, however, votes were ratings-driven by the producers. The allegation was denied by other players, including the final four - but then, would you buy a used car from any of those people?

The case is drawing comparisons to the 1950s "Twenty-One" scandal, in which quiz questions were rigged so that popular Charles Van Doren (played by Ralph Fiennes in the film "Quiz Show") could keep winning. The surprise, however, is not that "Survivor" was rigged, but that anyone ever thought otherwise. Both "Survivor" series were almost certainly rigged. And you know what? Unlike "Twenty-One", it doesn't even matter!

Look at the most recent series, "Survivor: The Australian Outback" - and the final showdown between matronly Tina Wesson and "cowboy" Colby Donaldson. Already, fans are noticing the moments that didn't make sense. When casting her final vote, for example, it was clear that cute little Elisabeth Filarski (every mother's favourite contestant) was writing "Colby" (unless she writes a very circular T). However, in the final tally, she said that she had voted for Wesson, who had won by a single vote. (Incidentally, the studio "reconstruction" of the outback cave, where they had done all their voting, was suspiciously accurate. Did they really go to Australia, or was the whole thing filmed in a Hollywood studio, with some stock footage of kangaroos for good measure?)

So perhaps it was staged, which is terrible for a so-called "reality program". But then, despite the hype, "Survivor II" wasn't reality. Reality programs are fly-on-the-wall shows like "7-Up", "Sylvania Waters" and "Airport". In reality, a bunch of complete strangers don't get thrown in the middle of the outback to play games. This is a game show. Like "Twenty-One".

But not really. These people are characters, not just contestants. This is drama, like "SeaChange" or "The Sopranos", except less realistic. In drama, characters are removed from the show if they don't rate - and this is usually the producer's job. At least on "Survivor", nobody was killed off.

Some of the survivors are now planning acting careers, which upsets struggling actors in the US. The thing is, the Survivors were chosen from 49,000 people - an audition that makes the famous search for Scarlett O'Hara look like nothing. And for what? A lousy $US1 million prize for 42 days' work with bad facilities. The "Friends" cast don't rate nearly as well, but they each get paid more than that for two episodes (with nice dressing rooms).

Actors are particularly incensed that Gerri Manthey, a 30-year-old who's been an aspiring actor for years, is now getting roles after being "Survivor"'s resident superbitch. So what? This is a profession that attracted Errol Flynn, Robert Downey Jr and even John Wilkes Booth. If only wholesome people were allowed to be stars, we'd be awfully tired of seeing Tom Hanks. (Actually, now that you mention it...) Besides, the Survivors threw themselves off cliffs, survived on rice for weeks on end, and ate disgusting bits of bush food. I'll bet Julia Roberts never tried that.

Is "Survivor" the only rigged show? Probably not. "Treasure Island" and "The Mole" were always highly suss. "Big Brother", meanwhile, is almost certainly NOT rigged. Nobody could deliberately plan a show to be that boring. (Sorry, I forgot about "Neighbours".)

Fortunately, whereas the first "Survivor" series was a den of depravity (where the winner was Richard Hatch, the biggest crook), "Survivor II" returned prime-time television to its family values. There was no sex, but plenty of chivalry (Rodger and Colby's noble ballot sacrifices will go down in TV history); the bad guys got their just desserts ("You got me, guys," smiled a defeated Jerri) and the winner was a sweet-but-tough nurse who could easily be a sitcom mom. In fact, I have a great idea for a spin-off series...