Celebrate the 25th anniversary of Survivor with a look back at one of history’s most popular and long-running reality shows.

Premiering in 2000, Survivor altered the landscape of network television from its first season, popularizing reality shows for audiences in the 21st century and quickly growing to a semi-annual release slate that has resulted in more than 46 seasons and hundreds of contestants. Over twenty years later, the series remains popular and a ratings hit, maintaining a devoted fanbase even as the television landscape has evolved and shifted to streaming.

In Survivor: A Cultural History, Joseph J. Darowski and Kate Darowski analyze how the iconic CBS show revolutionized television and has adapted and changed across decades of production. They explore the creation of the series and its surprising emergence as a ratings juggernaut, the evolution of gameplay for both the producers and the players, the series existence as a self-proclaimed “social experiment”, and much more. While the basic premise of the series has remained the same—survivors are marooned in the wild with few supplies and must vote someone out at a weekly tribal council with the goal of being the sole survivor to win $1 million—there are notable differences from where the game began to where it is now.

From stylistic changes in the presentation of the show to new twists in the game rules, the transformations from season 1 to the present reflect real life, keeping the show fresh amid a stream of new reality competition shows. Survivor: A Cultural History details these cultural shifts while highlighting Survivor’s place as one of the most impactful television shows of this century. Featuring an overview of the key players and a ranking of the must watch-seasons, this is an essential guide for fans both new and old.

Joseph J. Darowski, PhD, is an assistant professor of English at Brigham Young University. He is the editor of The Ages of Superheroes essay series, the author of X-Men and the Mutant Metaphor: Race and Gender in the Comics, and coauthor of Frasier: A Cultural History and Cheers: A Cultural History.

Kate Darowski has a master’s degree from Parsons School of Design, where she studied the history of decorative arts and design, with an emphasis on twentieth-century modern design and pop culture in design. With her brother, Joseph, Kate is the coauthor of Frasier: A Cultural History and Cheers: A Cultural History.

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