Survivor (TV series): Difference between revisions

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Well, if ''[[The Real World]]'' is the grand-daddy of the reality show, ''Survivor'' is [[Follow the Leader|the daddy]]. Sure, it's proved a huge hit, and [[Cash Cow Franchise|a big moneymaker]] for [[CBS]], but it launched a wave of reality shows that, in 2012, we're ''still'' recovering from.

{{tropelist|This show provides examples of the following:}}

== General Tropes ==

* [[All or Nothing]]: While all the jury members get something for their time, and one can still win the Fan Favorite prize, but the prize structure is still essentially winner-take-all.

** [[Second Place Is for Losers]]: See ''Samoa'', where Russell was in tears when he didn't get first. And then he offered to buy the title from the winner. And when he lost first place ''again'' in ''Heroes Vs Villains'', he claimed the rules were flawed ''because'' he wasn't winning.

* [[Evolving Music]]: One of the better examples on TV [[Long Runners|today]], thanks to [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipaNdOKYFcQ all the] [[Once a Season|seasonal]] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pLp-fAxcvc remixes] of "[[Theme Tune|Ancient Voices]]". Various regional instruments, spirited grunts, chants, shouts, and ''drums, drums, drums'' are woven into the main track each season, and the [[Crowning Music of Awesome|results are indeed awesome]].

** Averted with ''Nicaragua'', which defaulted to the first season's theme. Russ Landau did create a version for ''[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRG26kj7VOQ Nicaragua]'', but it was tossed out.

* [[Executive Meddling]]: Given how production uses [[Manipulative Editing]], it's fairly popular for fans to accuse them of other manipulation when events go the way of the [[Spotlight-Stealing Squad]]. Keep in mind, however, that none of this has been confirmed.

** Fans have pointed out that producers have the power to slant the season by putting the right competitions in. Such as making most the immunity challenges in ''Redemption Island'' be puzzles (Rob's strength) and putting challenges that favour a particular body type (the final immunity challenge of Exile Island, which slanted heavily in favor of the lone female).

** In ''One World'', all the males on Manono who aren't "Roosters" align with each other, and [[Manipulative Bastard|Colton]], the leader, refers to them as misfits, which they most definitely are. They proceed to vote out the head of the "Rooster" alliance.

* [[Rash Equilibrium]]

** And in ''Redemption Island'', bringing back Rob and Russell Hantz and setting up an entire season for one of them to win. (''South Pacific'' also brought back two players, Ozzy and Coach, but didn't play up any rivalry between the two.)

* [[Reality Show Genre Blindness]]: Very few people coming on the show seem to have an idea how these things tend to work. For example:

** Praise should be given to all of the Survivor contestants who actually knew how to survive out there, despite little-to-no prior experience or survival skills. To name the more obvious examples: Richard, Rudy, Greg and Gretchen from ''Borneo'', Michael from ''Australian Outback'', Hunter from ''Marquesas'', Rupert from ''Pearl Islands'', Ozzy from ''Cook Islands''...and the list goes on.

* [[Awesome McCoolname]]: Andrew Savage and Richard Hatch (as in hatching an evil plot) come to mind.

** The Redemption Island gimmick (first used in the season of the same name) is a [[Not Quite Dead]] variant: when someone's voted out, they're sent to Redemption Island where they challenge the person already there; loser is out for good. At the merge and just before the finals, [[My Greatest Second Chance|the reigning champion will be able to return to the game]].

* [[Badass]]: In real life, Rudy Boesch is a retired Navy SEAL. Hunter Ellis from ''Marquesas'' saved a man's life while in the service and was the resident survival expert on his tribe. Gretchen Cordy was also a desert and jungle survival expert for the US Army. Tom Westman was a fireman for years before ''Palau''.

* [[Everything's Better with Bob]]: Subverted with Bobby Jon Drinkard in ''Palau''. He did better in his following stint in ''Guatemala''. Meanwhile, there's Bob Crowley, the winner of ''Gabon''.

* [[Evil Is Cool]]: [[In-Universe|Some contestants believe this]] (as it ''is'' a game of deception), and swear to lie, cheat, and steal their way to the million. Most of them realise that they ''are'' on a television show, and deliberately do this to play up to the cameras.

* [[Exact Words]]: In the ''Tocantins'' premiere, the players are about to begin an hours-long hike to the campsites, when the host suckers them good:

{{quote|'''Jeff''': "We're going to have our first vote, and one person from each tribe is not gonna make this journey..."

** Chris in ''Vanuatu'' was assuring Eliza that he would stay solid in his deal with her, but accidentally said that they were fine up until the Final Three (which was the absolute farthest he planned on taking her) as opposed to Final Two (which she believed was the deal). Eliza's reaction was a rare example of not realizing the slip-up and just correcting him.

** The botched challenge taunt from Angie in ''Palau'', while in the middle of ''the'' Ulonging: "We're not going back to immuni- to Tribal Council!"

** Boston Rob during ''Marquesas'' was at best a [[Smug Snake]] [[Ensemble Darkhorse]] with a smart alec mouth, but during ''All Stars'', he ends up leading Chapera to becoming the overwhelmingly more dominant tribe compared to Mogo Mogo and Saboga, to the point where Mogo Mogo becomes pagonged, and the Saboga members who were absorbed into Chapera became his loyal followers. He made it to the Final 2, and was one vote away from winning in spite of how many bridges he had burned. By the time ''Heroes vs Villains'' rolled around, Rob was considered a Survivor legend, which he also used to exploit his tribe members during ''Redemption Island''(the season in which he finally won).

** Parvati during ''Cook Islands'' was seen as merely a flirtly girl who was on a losing tribe which itself was overshadowed by [[The Smart Guy|Yul]] and [[The Ace|Ozzy]] on Aitu, but during ''Micronesia'', she managed to use her unassuming reputation to great effect, and built an [[Amazon Brigade|all female alliance]] which took her to the Final 2 and eventually a victory. Her reputation grew even more during ''Heroes vs Villains'' when she herself managed to overshadow the self-described "best player ever" [[Entitled Bastard|Russell Hantz]] in strategy, making several ingenious moves and also overcoming the bias other players had against her. She didn't win this season, but she did come in second, and many believe that she was more deserving overall than either Sandra or Russell.

* [[Love At First Sight]]: Apparently Candice reassuring Billy who was going to be voted out with "we love you" triggered this.

** Boston Rob to Amber. As the guy said: "[[Establishing Character Moment|Because she's beautiful, and any idiot can see that!]]"

** ''Cook Islands'' have a type 4 [[Triang Relations]] with Billy, Candice and Adam.

* [[Lucky Seven]]: After winning the seventh season (''Pearl Islands''), Sandra became the first two-time winner by winning ''Heroes vs Villains'' seven years later.

== Season-Specific Tropes N-Z ==

* [[Naked People Are Funny]]: Rich Hatch's other major shtick, besides being the show's first [[Manipulative Bastard]].

* [[The Napoleon]]: Sandra, Jonny Fairplay and Russell may be small in stature, but they're people you don't wanna mess with.

** Clay from ''Thailand'' was a 5'5 [[Manipulative Bastard]] who almost beat the [[Showy Invincible Hero|Showy Invincible Player]] of that season.

** It's suspected that the [[Out of Focus|supporting cast]] of ''Samoa'' and ''Redemption Island'' were chosen specifically because they weren't the smartest players, and would allow Russell/Boston Rob to manipulate them easily to a victory. It failed in Russell's case, but allowed Boston Rob to get on everyone's good sides and win against two vastly inept players.

** Russell falls victim to this after he loses the advantage he acquired in ''Samoa'' and ''Heroes vs. Villains''. While he promises to change his strategy, he in fact uses the same tactics he did in these previous seasons, but this time his tribe knows what he's up to and eliminates him quickly.

* [[Took a Level in Jerkass]]: Many survivors who return to the competition do so on a sour note for various reasons, such as Jenna Lewis, Boston Rob and Lex Van Den Berghe in ''All Stars'', Stephenie LaGrossa in ''Guatemala'', and James Clement in ''Heroes vs Villains''. Hell, even Jeff Probst has become more aggressive in his questioning and role in the show in later seasons..

* [[Ungrateful Bastard]]: Many players fit this perfectly. See [[You Have Outlived Your Usefulness]] above.

 

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[[Category:Reality TV]]

[[Category:TV Series]]