Who survives? It's a surprise

[CBS photo / Times photo illustration: Paul Alexander] And then there were three: Even Colby Donaldson, Tina Wesson and Keith Famie don’t know who won the $1-million prize.

By ERIC DEGGANS

© St. Petersburg Times, published May 3, 2001

The 'Survivor' sequel, which has steamrolled its competition despite its ''been there, done that'' quality, ends tonight with a live unveiling of the winner.

Forget all the snarky stories you've read about how this year's Survivor isn't cool. Forget all the critics carping on everything from the lack of suspense in the final days of CBS' reality TV phenomenon to the too buff, too self-aware cast.

For Tampa resident Gloria Hill, the latest Survivor is still the best show on television.

"I actually (teared up) during the show ... when Michael (Skupin) fell into the campfire," said Hill, a data processing supervisor at the University of South Florida.

"It's become a part of my daily conversation with co-workers, neighbors and friends ... (which is) part of its appeal," she added. "The show has a quality all its own ... a mixture of soap opera, suspense movie, comedy, Discovery Channel documentary... . It's got it all."

Ratings show that Hill isn't alone. Since its January debut, Survivor: The Australian Outback has drawn the largest audience of any prime-time TV series: an average 28-million viewers, compared with 22-million for its closest competition, NBC drama ER.

“It’s a lot easier to watch us and say we had it easy than it is to go through it,” says Elisabeth Filarski of any criticism. Her ejection from the show last week left three contestants.

Focused on the trials of 16 people isolated for 42 days on a ranch in Queensland, the Survivor sequel ends tonight with the final competition between tough Texan Colby Donaldson, motherly back-stabber Tina Wesson and underskilled chef Keith Famie.

CBS executives finally confirmed a few weeks ago what Web sites had been telling fans since January: Even the contestants don't know who won the $1-million jackpot. The final tribal vote ballots were saved for tabulation during this evening's live reunion show, which follows the two-hour finale.

For 13 weeks, viewers have watched as contestants voted each other off (all the action was filmed last fall). Tonight, once the field is narrowed to two finalists, the last seven return to pick the million-dollar winner.

And according to 23-year-old Elisabeth Filarski, whose ejection was shown last week, contestants still have no idea who actually won.

"We were just about through with talking about all this anyway," said Filarski, warned in mid interview by a CBS publicist against speculating on what qualities a contestant might need to finish on top. "We value the show and what it stands for so much, this element of surprise is pretty welcome. Besides, it takes the pressure off us."

AT A GLANCE The two-hour finale of Survivor: The Australian Outback airs at 8 tonight on WTSP-Ch. 10. At 10 p.m., Early Show anchor Bryant Gumbel hosts a live, town hall-style reunion show that reveals the winner.

Despite its second-time-around status, CBS' Survivor sequel has demolished the competition this year. NBC's lengthening of time slot rival Friends by 10 minutes in February barely slowed it down. In the process, CBS breathed extra life into its gussied-up drama CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, which occupied the slot after Survivor.

Seeking to extend the ratings afterglow in an all-important May sweeps period, network suits have scheduled a documentary, Back From the Outback, at 8 p.m. May 10. On the same night, NBC's hit game show The Weakest Link features stars from the original Survivor but can't mention the CBS show's name.

Survivor's emergence as a cultural touchstone has even forced rival networks to play along, with Survivor stories on NBC's Today show and ABC's Good Morning America (local ABC affiliate WFTS-Ch. 28 has jumped on the bandwagon with a Survivor-styled water-conservation contest).

So why doesn't tonight's finale feel more, well, important?

Last year, the final four Survivor contestants -- river guide Kelly Wiglesworth, ex-Navy SEAL Rudy Boesch, corporate trainer Richard Hatch and truck driver Susan Hawk -- were easily the game's toughest competitors, living proof of the ruthlessness required to win America's newest TV obsession.

But what are we to make of this year's finalists? Macho Donaldson, wiry Wesson and abrasive Famie hardly seem the stuff of Survivor legend.

"These people know they're being watched... . They're more aware of what they do, how they act and what their careers are going to be like when the show ends," said Wiglesworth, who predictably gives the latest crop of survivors low marks for their TV appeal.

"We didn't know it would be a huge show, so we just kind of went and carried on," added the river guide, who lost the $1-million vote to Hatch. "These guys have got a ton of food, and everyone's aware that they're being filmed. People have just been there and done that already."

As this year's show unfolded, a new dynamic emerged: Those who do best are competent enough to win challenge competitions but not distinctive enough to get picked off early.

Hatch's powerhouse alliance with the three other finalists destroyed that trend last year. But this year's players hit the ground well-versed in Survivor-style backbiting and intrigue, ensuring that few alliances lasted long.

From top, Colby Donaldson, Tina Wesson and Keith Famie are the final, three contestants on Survivor: The Australian Outback. The winner will be announced tonight during a live town hall style reunion of all the second season participants.

What's left are the also-rans: Donaldson is tough and competitive but not nearly as obvious about it as buff fitness trainer Alicia Calaway (ejected after 24 days); Wesson is manipulative and two-faced but can't compare with the show's tart-tongued villainess, Jerri Manthey (gone after 27 days).

And as irritating as Famie's food obsessions can be -- how does an expert chef consistently mess up the rice? -- they pale next to fretful vegan Kimmi Kappenberg (mercifully ejected after 15 days).

Still, Filarski resists the notion that the sequel's cast had it any easier or is any less distinctive.

"It's a lot easier to watch us and say we had it easy than it is to go through it," said Filarski, criticized by Hatch for breaking down in tears too often on-screen. "As time went on, believe me, all you thought about was the next bit of rice or ... getting a hug from the people you love and a hot meal."

Even as we see the sequel's stars go through the same cycle of celebrity and product shilling as their predecessors -- Manthey has already nailed a cameo role on the CBS soap The Young and the Restless and is reportedly considering a nude layout in Playboy -- Warner Walker, Webmaster of the reality TV Web site SirLinksaLot.net, cautions against underestimating the sequel.

"The first version of the show, everybody was surprised by how interesting it was... . It literally came out of nowhere," said Walker, who still gets about 10,000 to 15,000 hits every day on the Survivor-oriented areas of his site. "By the time the second one came around, (contestants) already had fan clubs, T-shirts, Web sites going. It was crazy."

Perhaps surprise is what's missing most this time.

After all, the sequel follows a subtle formula executive producer Mark Burnett perfected in the debut.

No. 1: Expect the unexpected.

Burnett knows Survivor's biggest enemy isn't Friends or nosy journalists, but predictability.

Now we're down to three contestants, and everyone's convinced buff, likable good ol' boy Donaldson has it in the bag. Don't bet on it.

No. 2: Early impressions are almost always misleading.

You're watching an episode, and 15 minutes into the action, sniping breaks out between two contestants. In the land of Burnett, that means those two are probably safe from harm, mostly because the wily executive producer never telegraphs his intentions that early.

No. 3: Don't mess with what works.

Last year's series featured suspenseful challenge competitions built around balancing on poles and planks; so did this year's. After viewers got weepy last year watching contestants view videos of their loved ones, Burnett updated the trick this year using an Internet connection.

With this carefully crafted formula, no wonder a group of online fans, dubbed the Ellipsiiis Brain Trust, was able to correctly predict 22 of 25 significant Survivor sequel developments in episodes 8 through 12. (See their predictions at http://www.ellipsiiis.com/survivor).

And what are the experts' predictions?

Hatch, last year's winner, picked Donaldson the day after the sequel's first episode aired in January -- standing inside Raymond James Stadium minutes after a Super Bowl-related appearance on CBS' The Early Show.

"He's very sharp and stunning," Hatch said of Donaldson back then. "I think he really is focused and aware of what is going on. (But) I knew watching at once -- boom! -- I would have won that one as well. Because even though they've seen what happened on the first show, they weren't applying it."

As much as she'd like to see a woman win, Wiglesworth picks also Donaldson or Famie. "Tina's played the game good so far. But I don't think she's thought about how she's screwed all these people over (she helped vote off two contestants, Kel Gleason and Maralyn Hershey, after they named her as a pal). They're going to come back after her."

Hill, who was hoping Filarski might surprise everyone, now agrees -- sort of. "If Colby wins immunity (from being ejected), I think he'll win the million, because he's the real survivor," she said. "If not, Keith and Tina will vote him off and Tina will win."

(This critic's pick: Famie. Only because I suspect the show's producers control an awful lot of what happens on the program, and no one expects this prickly chef to survive long.)

As always, CBS is the real winner, charging $800,000 for some 30-second commercials in tonight's finale, according to the New York Post.

"Who wants to go back to only having sitcoms, cop shows and lawyer shows (on TV)?" said Walker, defending his Survivor habit. "The public, when they come home from work, sometimes just wants to be pandered to. And it's going to take a long time before we get tired of this show."

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