It may come as a surprise to you, dear reader, but there are people out there who aren't down with this whole reality TV thing. In fact, there are vast numbers of those who actively despise the genre. Heck, you may even know a couple of these people. Their reasons may be legitimate or dubious, but it doesn't matter. Reality TV is here to stay. It's not a passing fad. Before the reality television boom, turning on the television was like walking into a bookstore that only carried fiction. The general public is always going to want the option of fiction AND non-fiction. Those who continue to refute the inevitability of reality television are simply being stubborn. I've heard their complaints and they are short-sighted. Yes, there are lots of terrible reality shows. Most films these days are horrendous. So is most fiction. TV comedy is on life support. Focusing on the low end of the spectrum of anything is naive. Whenever I'm around one of these reality show haters, and the topic of Survivor comes up, they're reaction is always more or less the same, “Survivor? That stupid show is still on TV?” Little do they know how hopelessly ignorant they are being.
Survivor, my friends, will never end. It is the best reality show of all time and will always be the best reality show of all time. Survivor is "The Beatles". Survivor is "Citizen Kane". Survivor is the "Steak". Every competitive reality show created since Survivor comes from Survivor's template and owes its existence to Mark Burnett's brain-child. I remember when Survivor's first season was on the air. I hadn't watched from the beginning, but I knew about it, because, obviously, it was a big deal. The coolest thing about it, the aspect most talked about, was not the desert island aspect, not the challenges, but the whole concept of the castaways voting each other off. This was cool. It was diabolical and it created the kind of real human drama never before seen on television. We forget how revolutionary this was. A TV show had never done this before and, frankly, it's turned television on its heels. Survivor's lasting appeal is a microcosm of reality TV's lasting appeal. Reality TV is wholly reliant on human drama, on the natural conflict that occurs between people when forced to coexist for an extended period of time. Knowing this, each individual show is responsible for three things: 1)The Casting, 2) The Context, and 3) The Venue. Survivor has the upper hand in all three of these areas. The casting net for Survivor is unlimited, the context is primal (literally surviving, winning physical battles, mentally dominating your opponent), and the venue is dynamic. Survivor has the most flexible template of any reality show ever. But what it comes down to is this: Survivor provides the perfect platform for entertaining human drama. It is no more complicated than this. Other shows shackle themselves within the requirements of their premise, making those show stale after a time. The Simple Life cannot continue to be amusing since it has pigeon-holed its casting to exclusively rich, daft socialites. The Apprentice can only cast business people and (unfortunately) the program must involve Donald Trump. And so on. Whether we are aware of it or not, we are all interested in drama and conflict. That's what we watch TV for. This is what humans have been mostly interested in forever, going back to the days of Socrates. Survivor was and is the next evolutionary step, a genuine display of emotion, conflict, and drama in an entertaining venue. Survivor is here to stay, no matter what your pretentious friend may think. -Oscar Dahl, BuddyTV Senior Writer