Survivor 0.5: The Missing Series

Many Survivor fans know that the popular television series actually originated in Sweden. It’s been well publicized that the producers worked out the show’s kinks there before launching it to the more – um – discerning U.S. market.

What most people don’t realize is that a U.S. version was produced before the phenomenally successful Survivor I appeared in the summer of 2000. CBS executives still weren’t convinced that the U.S. market was ready for a show like this, so it was only aired following the 1:30 a.m. Golden Girls reruns, when most of CBS’s viewing audience was either asleep or heavily medicated.

Naturally, there were a few differences from the Survivor we all know and love today:

--The show was hosted by former Wheel of Fortune master Chuck Woolery.

--In those days, no one knew how fascinated the American public would become with the lives of ordinary people, so the show’s “contestants” were actually celebrities.

--Of course the show was just a pilot, so the celebrities weren’t exactly the top stars. The cast included Susan Dey, Judd Hirsch, Mary Lou Retton, Billy Dee Williams, Babe the pig, and the guy who played Captain Stubing on The Love Boat.

--Instead of Survivor the show was titled South Pacific Celebrity Showdown.

--American TV execs were concerned that the Swedish version was too cutthroat for American audiences, so they tried to downplay the backstabbing and alliance-forming. Instead, at the end of each week, all the contestants were marched to the “Tribal weigh-station,” and the contestant who had lost the most weight was forced to leave.

--The “winner” of the show was Mary Lou Retton, who had bulked out to a plump 358 pounds by the show’s end.

--Babe the pig disappeared following the third episode. The cause of his disappearance remains unknown, but some contestants later revealed in interviews that Mary Lou’s breath “often smelled like bacon.”

Because of the show’s somnambulant time slot, CBS executives were unaware at first that they might have a hit on their hands. But the morning after episode 4 (“Billy Dee’s lean-to of Love”) aired, one viewer phoned the CBS switchboard to tell them what he thought of the show. The caller, Homer T. Finkbottom of Medford, Oregon, was passionate about South Pacific Celebrity Showdown: “I haven’t seen such terrific TV since they cancelled Hee Haw,” Finkbottom raved. “But you should get rid of that Chuck Woolery – I think he’s trying to hit on Susan Dey.”

Finkbottom had been watching the show since episode 2 (“Stubing’s revenge”). He had dozed off as usual during The Golden Girls but awoke to the sound of Judd Hirsch choking down a kelp and banana sandwich. It turned out that CBS executives had been dead wrong about how to market the show – the backstabbing was what Finkbottom liked best. “My favorite part of episode 2 was when Billy Dee Williams slipped the Ex-Lax into Captain Stubing’s coconut juice – I could hardly stop laughing after watching him run to the latrine!”

CBS executives were surprised again when Finkbottom told them about his favorite character: Susan Dey. “She just had that wholesome, girl next door appeal,” Finkbottom recalled.

“Were you a fan of hers from her appearances in The Partridge Family and L.A. Law?” the executives asked Finkbottom.

“She was a TV star?” the stunned Finkbottom replied, “I had no idea – I thought she was just a regular person. She was much more interesting than those boring has-beens that made up the rest of the cast.”

This turned out to be the pivotal moment in the genesis of Survivor. CBS bean-counters now realized that they didn’t have to pay big celebrity bucks to make the show a hit. Instead, they could cast an entire season’s worth of episodes for a mere million dollars: using this chump change as a lure, they could entice “normal people” into throwing away their lives and exposing their most intimate foibles to an enraptured nation.

This early feedback from an ordinary viewer shaped Survivor into the phenomenal success it is today. With Finkbottom’s input, such Survivor staples as inter-contestant romance, eating live bugs, and advertiser product placements came into being. When Survivor I debuted in the summer of 2000, it went straight to the top of the ratings charts. Now Survivor II looks like it’s going to break the records set in the first episodes. With writers and actors threatening to strike, the success of these reality shows couldn’t come at a better time for the networks.

Ever wonder about what happened to Finkbottom? Don’t worry about him; he’s pulling in a cool two million a year as senior executive consultant to Survivor III. That’s show biz!