The motto of Survivor, the reality television competition that essentially invented the genre, is "outwit, outplay, outlast". That is particularly pertinent to the Australian edition, which has failed twice but nonetheless become a success the third time around. Nine's barren first take in 2002 lasted but a season, despite the American edition being a ratings phenomenon at the time, while a celebrity revival on Seven in 2006 got what any television show that features David Oldfield gets: scornful dismissal.
But somehow Ten, the last commercial network to take a shot at the franchise, has made a solid success of a format that's a minefield for bad spin-offs. With actor Jonathan LaPaglia comfortable in the host's role, Australian Survivor has found an audience since it was relaunched in 2016. The show has managed to excite the fervent Survivor faithful in this country, who already get two American seasons a year on Nine's digital channels, while adding casual viewers who want a familiar accent with their evening's reality television.
Australian Survivor become a success the third time around.
Perhaps it was that foundation that gave Ten the confidence to tinker with the new season of Australian Survivor, or perhaps they saw their changes and tweaks as a means of forestalling familiarity. Either way, there was an awkwardness to what should be now confident rhythms when the program returned last week under the banner of Champions vs. Contenders. The American mothership has long supercharged the format, often to satisfy fans, but the Australian update felt unnecessary.
Unfolding in Fiji with a $500,000 prize, the new season pits 12 "successful" contestants (the definition is quite loose) against 12 regular hopefuls. The champions were a barely diverse bunch, with no surprise that half of them are current or former professional athletes. The problem with putting famous people on Survivor is that their celebrity gets in the ways of the game's ruthless mechanics, which encourages gameplay, strategic alliances, loopy deception and crazy gambits. A Miss Universe contestant is just lazy decoration.
The producers went the extra step and imported Russell Hantz, a famous figure for Survivor fans due to his trio of nefarious stints on the American edition. The fedora-wearing Texan has never actually won Survivor, but that didn't stop him extolling his own virtues by comparing himself to Picasso for the way he assembled his less than reliable alliance. "I'm playing with a bunch of dweebs," he complained, citing a lack of early machinations, yet it only took two episodes for him to be voted out.
Whether it was hubris or a lack of interest in sticking around, Hantz was a mercenary-like figure sent in to rile up the players and goose the audience figures. Ten's first season of Survivor suffered from a surplus of mateship – the narrative was sedate and the outcomes predictable for a raft of episodes. But last year's season cured that with strong casting that created an ever-changing dynamic through the personality traits of the players. Adding a ringer who called himself "King Russell" wasn't necessary.
Given that the previous two winners, Kristie Bennett and Jericho Malabonga, were not obviously dominant figures, the Contenders mix this year lacks cultural and competitive diversity as well; if you've ever wanted to see the herd mentality of muscled bros in the wilderness, this is the nature documentary for you. Thankfully the Champions include astrophysicist Samuel Hinton, whose research into "dark energy" should give him insight how the dudes asserted themselves.
Post-Russell the show gets into a familiar groove, even if the early challenges were too focused on physical confrontations – I'm not overly keen on seeing veteran swimming legend Shane Gould hurt herself in some mock combat trial. More intriguing is weighing the risks to celebrity reputation. The Biggest Loser trainer Steve "The Commando" Willis lost both of his first two competitive challenges to a Contender, which probably left his agent fretting about his future value late into the night.
What's shining through is ultimately the Australian perspective on a model that's currently being produced in about 20 territories. "It was tougher than a $2 steak," lamented Contender Anita after sleeping rough without a fire, while Chinese-born Steve, who looked dangerously close to being a comic stereotype pre-packaged for eviction, proved that he could adapt to the circumstances and actually hang around. That's the best indicator of Australian Survivor's resilience: it's hanging in there despite the clumsy tinkering of those running it. Maybe it's time to vote a producer or network executive off.
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