'Survivor' stars to open 8th edition after Super Bowl
By Ed Bark
Knight Ridder News Service
The stars are aligned, with CBS ready to experience the thrill of sky-high ratings for its twin telecasts of Super Bowl XXXVIII and an eighth edition of "Survivor" packed with competitors from the first seven.
It's the second time around for a Super Bowl/"Survivor" combo — and the first time was a charm. CBS' 2001 post-game premiere of "Survivor: The Australian Outback" had 45.4 million viewers, the second-largest haul for a Super Bowl tag-along. Only NBC's 1996 presentation of a guest star-studded "Friends" fared better, with 52.9 million viewers.
Last year's Super Bowl followup, ABC's "Alias," had just 17.4 million viewers. CBS chairman and CEO Leslie Moonves says ABC made a "huge mistake" by letting almost 45 minutes lapse between the end of the game and the start of "Alias."
"We'll be on with 'Survivor' less than a half-hour after the game," he pledges. The show then will move to its regular 7 p.m. Thursday slot, opposite "Friends."
"Survivor: All-Stars," which has the same Pearl Islands habitat as its recently concluded predecessor, is heavy on luminaries from the first two editions. Half of the 18 competitors dueled in the Pulau Tiga and Outback shows, including Richard Hatch and Tina Wesson and Colby Donaldson.
Mark Burnett, Survivor's creator and executive producer, says the "All-Stars" outing is the equivalent of a feature film stocked with box office draws.
"In American terminology, that's known as a blockbuster," he says. "And 'Survivor: All-Stars' is our blockbuster."
Only two would-be all-stars declined to participate, according to Burnett. Elisabeth Filarski of "Australian Outback" has a new job with ABC's "The View" and Colleen Haskell of the inaugural "Survivor" "just genuinely didn't want to go through that again," he says.
Other "Survivor" mainstays weren't asked. Vecepia Towery, who won the "Marquesas" competition, "didn't deliver the drama that I was looking for," Burnett says. Kelly Wiglesworth, runner-up on the first "Survivor" and target of a climactic diatribe from Susan Hawk, didn't merit a return visit, either.
"She's a good friend of mine, and I want to go river rafting with her again soon," Burnett says. "But no, I did not invite her back."
Contestants are divided into three teams: Chapera, Saboga and Mogo Mogo. Other than that, the game will be played without any jarring twists or turns, says host Jeff Probst.
"We were sitting in the creative meeting saying, 'How are we going to out-think 18 people who have done nothing but think about this game for years?' We realized we should just go back to the basics."
Might past champs expect to be voted off early? Hatch, the show's first $1 million winner, must be a marked man this time out. Or is he?
Burnett uses the analogy of Michael Jordan "getting double-guarded and slammed around on the basketball court. If you're a winner and you're a threat, people target you. And that's life."
Burnett has a deal with CBS to produce at least two more editions of "Survivor." But he got to that point only after first playing games with the network's CEO Moonves during a session with TV critics.
"It's been a great run. And maybe a great way to end is the all-stars," Burnett says, contending he'd heard nothing from CBS beyond that.
Moonves quickly jumps into that void, saying casting already has started on another "Survivor."
"You want me to write you a letter now?" he asks Burnett while TV critics circle the pair in a hotel ballroom. "Here's a letter: 'Dear Mark, please do a Number 9."'
They agreed to a 10th "Survivor" as well, after a somewhat miffed Moonves buttonholed Burnett out of earshot of critics.
Burnett, who's also producing Donald Trump's "The Apprentice" series for NBC and a new Las Vegas-based "reality" show for Fox this summer, insists he's not serving too many masters.
"'Survivor' has become a really revered thing among younger people, and you owe it to them," he says. "So I'm working harder than ever. I am working my (tail) off to provide the best drama for you."
