Survivor is the American version of the international Survivor reality competition television franchise, itself derived from the Swedish television series Expedition Robinson created by Charlie Parsons which premiered in 1997. The American series premiered on May 31, 2000, on CBS. It is hosted by Jeff Probst, who is also an executive producer along with Mark Burnett and Parsons.
Survivor places a group of people in an isolated location, where they must provide food, fire, and shelter for themselves. The contestants compete in challenges including testing the contestants' physical abilities like running and swimming or their mental abilities like puzzles and endurance challenges for rewards and immunity from elimination. The contestants are progressively eliminated from the game as they are voted out by their fellow contestants until only two or three remain. At that point, the contestants who were eliminated vote for the winner. They are given the title of "Sole Survivor" and are awarded the grand prize of $1,000,000.
The American version has been highly successful. From the 2000–01 through the 2005–06 television seasons, its first 11 seasons (competitions) rated among the top 10 most-watched shows. It is commonly considered the leader of American reality television because it was the first highly rated and profitable reality show on broadcast television in the United States, and is considered one of the best shows of the 2000s. The series has been nominated for 63 Emmy Awards, including winning for Outstanding Sound Mixing in 2001, Outstanding Special Class Program in 2002, and was subsequently nominated four times for Outstanding Reality-Competition Program when the category was introduced in 2003. Probst won the award for Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality-Competition Program four consecutive times after the award was introduced in 2008. In 2007, the series was included in Time magazine's list of the 100 greatest TV shows of all time. In 2013, TV Guide ranked it at No. 39 on its list of the "60 Best Series of All Time".
On January 22, 2026, ahead of the season 50 premiere, the show was renewed for a 51st and 52nd season. The 51st season premiered on September 23, 2026.
Format and rules
The first American season of Survivor followed the same general format as the Swedish series. Sixteen or more players, split between two or more "tribes", are taken to a remote isolated location (usually in a tropical climate) and are forced to live off the land with meager supplies for 39 days (42 in The Australian Outback, 26 in post-COVID seasons). Frequent physical and mental challenges are used to pit the teams against each other for rewards, such as food or luxuries, or for "immunity", forcing the other tribe to attend "Tribal Council", where they must vote off one of their tribemates.
Signaling the halfway point in the game, survivors from both tribes come together to live as one, making it to the "merge". At this point, survivors will compete against each other to win individual immunity; winning immunity prevents that player from being voted out at Tribal Council. Most players that are voted out after the merge form the game's "jury". Once the group gets down to two or three people, a Final Tribal Council is held where the remaining players plead their case to the jury members. The jury then votes for which player should be considered the "Sole Survivor" and win the show's grand prize. In most seasons for the American version the grand prize is $1 million in addition to the Sole Survivor title; the grand prize was set at $2 million for the all-winner edition, Winners at War and increased to $2 million during In the Hands of the Fans as a result of a game advantage. Some seasons (particularly earlier seasons) have included additional prizes offered during the game, such as a car, as well as fan-favorite prizes awarded at the finale. All contestants are paid on a sliding scale based on the order they were voted out: the first player voted out has been given and the amount increases from there. Some of the seasons that have featured returning players have increased these amounts: Survivor: All-Stars featured payouts starting at , while Winners at War had a minimum payout. All players are offered for participating in the finale show.
In addition to being eliminated by a Tribal Council Vote, the Castaways can also elect to leave the game at any time, either if they are finding the game or the experience too difficult, or to attend to a personal emergency outside of the game. Castaways who are injured can be removed from the game if the medical staff assess their condition and decides that they are not fit to continue in the game.
The American version has introduced numerous modifications, or "twists", on the core rules in order to keep the players on their toes and to prevent players from relying on strategies that succeeded in prior seasons. These changes have included tribal switches, seasons starting with more than two tribes, the ability to exile a player from a tribe for a short time on "Exile Island", hidden immunity idols that players can use to save themselves or others at Tribal Council, special voting powers which can be used to influence the result at Tribal Council, the chance to return to regular gameplay after elimination through "Redemption Island", "Edge of Extinction" or "The Outcast Tribe" twists, and special advantages to help players in the game like an extra vote, the ability to steal a vote, an idol nullifier, and a final four fire-making challenge as of season 35.
Series overview
The United States version is produced by Mark Burnett and hosted by Jeff Probst, who also serves as an executive producer. Its creator Charlie Parsons is also an executive producer. Each competition is called a season, has a unique name, and lasts from 13 to 16 episodes. The first season, Survivor: Borneo, was broadcast as a summer replacement show in 2000. Starting with the third season, Survivor: Africa, there have been two seasons aired during each American television season. Starting with the 41st season, no subtitle has been used in promotion of the season.
In the first season, there was a 75-person crew. By season 22, the crew had grown to 325 people.Loveline April 19, 2011, with Jeff Probst, 9-minute mark
A total of 751 contestants have competed on Survivors 50 seasons.
Production
Concept The original idea of Survivor was developed by Charlie Parsons. By his production company Planet 24 under the name Survive. He had "marooned" four strangers and filmed them on Network 7, a TV show on which he was showrunner in 1988, and started developing the format from there. It took ten years and many development teams to develop it but despite this the main TV networks in both Britain and American turned it down. It was only when Parsons went to Swedish television, he was able to find a broadcaster, ultimately producing Expedition Robinson in 1997, the most popular show of Swedish television that year. The show was a success, and plans for international versions were made.
Mark Burnett intended to be the person to bring the show to the United States, though he viewed the Swedish version as a bit crude and mean-spirited. Burnett retooled the concept to use better production values, based on his prior Eco-Challenge show, and wanted to focus more on the human drama experienced while under pressure. Burnett spent about a year trying to find a broadcaster that would take the show, retooling the concept based on feedback. On November 24, 1999, Burnett made his pitch to Les Moonves of CBS, and Moonves agreed to pick up the show. The first season, Survivor: Borneo, was filmed during March and April 2000, and was first broadcast on May 31, 2000. The first season became a ratings success, leading to its ongoing run.
Locations The American version of Survivor has been shot in many locations around the world since the first season, usually favoring warm and tropical climates. Starting with season 19, two seasons have filmed back-to-back in the same location, to be aired in the same broadcast year. Since season 33, the show has been filmed in the Mamanuca Islands of Fiji.
Continent/geographical regionLocationsSeason number(s)AfricaGabonWonga-Wongue Presidential Reserve, Estuaire17KenyaShaba National Reserve3AsiaCambodiaKoh Rong31, 32ChinaMount Lu West Sea, Jiujiang15MalaysiaPulau Tiga, Borneo, Sabah1PhilippinesCaramoan, Camarines Sur25, 26Palaui Island, Cagayan27, 28ThailandKo Tarutao5Central AmericaGuatemalaYaxhá-Nakúm-Naranjo National Park, Petén11NicaraguaSan Juan del Sur21, 22, 29, 30PanamaPearl Islands7, 8, 12OceaniaAustraliaGoshen Cattle Station, Queensland2Cook IslandsAitutaki13FijiMacuata14Mamanuca Islands33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51French PolynesiaNuku Hiva, Marquesas Islands4PalauKoror10, 16SamoaUpolu19, 20, 23, 24VanuatuEfate9South AmericaBrazilRio Negro, Amazonas6Jalapão, Tocantins18
From The Australian Outback to Island of the Idols, the show's run ended with a live reveal of the winner with votes read in front of a live studio audience, followed by a reunion show, hosted by Jeff Probst. Reunion shows for the first three seasons were hosted by Bryant Gumbel and the fourth season by Rosie O'Donnell. Jeff Probst took over hosting of the reunion shows starting with the fifth season. Between Africa and One World, the reunion locations alternated between Central Park, Madison Square Garden, and the Ed Sullivan Theater in New York City (home to the CBS's The Late Show franchise) and CBS Television City or the CBS Studio Center in Los Angeles. The reunion show continued to be filmed at CBS Television City from Philippines to Island of the Idols.
The exceptions to the above outlined live reunion were for Survivor: Island of the Idols, which was filmed in front of a live studio audience but taped four hours in advance due to the controversy surrounding contestant Dan Spilo's behavior, and Survivor: Winners at War, where a video conferencing event was used during the broadcast of the final episode due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The final episode of the latter did not include the live reunion, except for a brief moment at the beginning of the episode where all 20 contestants appeared together on screen from their homes, and promo for the upcoming 41st season, which had not filmed at that time.
As part of this, up through Survivor: Cagayan, the production of the last part of the recorded final Tribal Council showed Probst taking the urn or container containing the votes and traveling with it by some means, transitioning this to the live show and suggesting a type of continuity between events; for example Survivor: The Amazon appeared to have Probst jet-ski from the Amazon rainforest directly to New York City where the live show was held. According to Probst, they had also filmed a similar sequence for the 29th season Survivor: San Juan del Sur: he had paddled out on a canoe from the location in Nicaragua, and then paddling into Venice, California from a nearby island. Once on the beach, he would have asked a teenager to borrow his skateboard in the same manner as the "Hey Kid, Catch!" Coke commercial with Mean Joe Greene, with Probst doing some tricks on the skateboard before tossing it back. However, Probst had no idea how to ride a skateboard and even after some basic training, he could not complete the trick for filming. Production opted to eliminate that transition for San Juan del Sur, and they eliminated any similar transitions for future seasons.