‘Survivor:’ Outlasting The Test Of Time

Binge-watching a TV series has become one of the most preferred ways of watching shows due to whole seasons being released at once.

CBS’s “Survivor” has released 520 episodes and has 372 hours (more than 15 days) of footage, which will give you plenty of entertainment while trying to pass the time. Not only is there an enormous amount of material to watch, but the show is actually entertaining on many different levels. The outdoorsy type of person will love “Survivor” for all of the footage of beautiful landscapes, the adrenaline junky will love the show for the immunity and reward challenges, and the person who likes mind games will love it for the voting strategies.

To win “Survivor” one must outwit, outplay, and outlast the other contestants in order to win the million dollars, and the title of Sole Survivor. “Survivor” has had to outlast the test of time by maintaining relevance while slightly changing each season to make some aspect of the show different and interesting. “Survivor” has done that thanks to the continual support of the fans.

“Survivor” has stayed alive by creating new themes for each season while maintaining the same basic premise. Examples of different themes vary from Blood vs. Water (family members against one another), Heroes vs. Villains (former contestants who played honorably against contestants who played dirty), and Fans vs. Favorites (fans against former contestants that were loved by the viewers).

Another reason that “Survivor” keeps fans coming back for more is due to the locations of each season. Filmed in places like the Australian Outback, Africa, Thailand, Fiji, China, Nicaragua, and Cambodia, each season has breathtaking cinematic shots to accompany the excitement and drama that comes with each episode.

People who don’t watch “Survivor” are surprised when I tell them that “Survivor” is on its 35th season. The numbers show that it is still doing well when compared to extremely popular shows such as “Modern Family” and “Game of Thrones.”

Ratings shown on TVbythenumbers.com say that the latest episode of the hit series “Modern Family” had 7.01 million people tune in to watch the latest episode. Ratings also show that “Survivor” had 8.33 million people tune in to watch, which shows that fans of the TV show are just as devoted as ever.

The most popular TV show right now on television is a back and forth between “Game of Thrones” and “The Walking Dead,” which have obtained massive popularity in recent years. You may be surprised to know that “Survivor” at one point was even more popular than “Game of Thrones” is now.

TheVerge.com reported that “Game of Thrones” most viewed episode had 18 million viewers tune in; “Survivor’s most viewed episode had 45 million viewers back in 2001. “Survivor” has had a decline in their popularity since the first season came out back in 2000 there is no question about it. However, in 2014 “Survivor” was voted the Best Reality Series by the Critics’ Choice Television Awards.

Still to this day “Survivor” is getting about half the viewers that “Game of Thrones” is getting which goes to show that “Survivor” is still alive and is surviving the test of time.

The latest episode of “Survivor” (Episode 9) will be on CBS on Wednesdays at 7 p.m. in case anyone wants to become a fan of the show 17 years after it came out.