Will Evolving Social Mores Change The Way People Watch Survivor?
A lot has changed since 2000. Back then, there were no streaming services, and reality television was a niche cable phenomenon. So when Survivor premiered on CBS, no one could have predicted that it would be one of the most successful franchises in television history, nor that it would spawn an entire genre of unscripted competition shows. Now in its forty-second season, Survivor has also changed, mixing up contestant pools along various themes and continually tweaking game mechanics to keep the concept fresh. Yet, its most drastic changes have been mostly driven by contestants themselves. The show has long acknowledged contestants’ influence on gameplay, but now it seems to be embracing these changes in a way that is more explicit. As Survivor enters a new era, it is worth reflecting on the series’ past to understand where it might be headed in the future.
«Outwit. Outplay. Outlast.» This slogan sums up the three basic elements of Survivor gameplay: strategy, social acumen, and survival. While the survival aspect (and, to a lesser extent, strategy) was built into the game from the beginning, players’ social game has always been unpredictable, varying based on the contestant pool. Players are as vulnerable to their own perspectives and preferences as they are to the peccadillos of their fellow contestants, and strategic calculations must be balanced against compatibility and trust. The survival aspect of the game also affects contestants’ social game: as the privations of life in a Survivor camp (limited food, unreliable shelter, rare privacy) wear on nerves and reduce emotional containment, outbursts become inevitable.
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The social game has unwritten rules, which
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