Television
Sixteen Kiwis go to Central America to compete in the first home-grown series of unkillable reality show Survivor.
Russell Baillie
The globe-hopping American competitive reality juggernaut Survivor has delivered 34 sweaty seasons since 2000. It adapted the British-invented Swedish show, Expedition Robinson, which started in 1997 and was adapted here as TVNZ’s celebrity-heavy Treasure Island for a few seasons.
But the US Survivor turned the original format into an epic production where, divided into tribes, 16 contestants had to “outwit, outplay, outlast” each other while fending for themselves in remote locations.
Now, following Survivor shows in much of Europe, Israel and the Philippines, a Survivor New Zealand (TVNZ 2, Sunday, 7.00pm and Monday, 7.30pm) arrives as TVNZ’s biggest reality offering of the season. It takes 16 diverse contestants (8000 applied) to coastal Nicaragua, where they face high humidity and temperatures and hazardous fauna in a location the US show has used four times.
It’s hosted by former Fair Go and Seven Sharp reporter Matt Chisholm. “He has that ability to connect and engage with the contestants and draw the information out of them,” says Emma White, executive producer of SNZ and head of television for Warner Bros International Television Production NZ, the makers of most local reality fare.
But isn’t Survivor so last decade? And doesn’t reality TV now rely on bitchiness and social media pick-up? White doesn’t think so. “TV is a swings and roundabouts business. It feels like the right time for a Survivor show.
“I don’t think television has to be nasty or bitchy to be entertaining. The reason Survivor is entertaining is these guys are very real. There is nothing to hide behind when you are exhausted and hungry and you can barely stand up.
“Not everyone wants to watch bitchy. That doesn’t mean some people in Survivor won’t be bitchy. We have all different types in there.“
And she says there’s good reason the US version has had
34 seasons – the game’s the thing, and the hardships are real. “You effectively put them on the roller coaster and you let them go.
“People come on the show for different reasons. But they are all challenging themselves and people who want to do that are interesting to watch.”
Being able to match the blockbuster feel of the US Survivor has only become possible with technology’s aid. That includes drones, which, like other camera gear, can be taken as luggage rather than freighting an entire production.
“We can pack a small drone in our bag and one person can stick it up in the air. We are now making the same show. But we can afford to do it.”