Survivor

Survivor’s alright, but if you want thrills it’s all about Danger Island

By Tom Ferrigno

As a person that loves reality TV, I’m sure that you have seen at least one episode of Survivor.  The hit CBS reality TV show that is often credited for launching the reality TV boom, Survivor is an alright show.  For those four of you that are unaware of the premise of the show, simply put: 16 contestants go to an island where they are split into two groups.  These two groups are forced to survive on one part of the island where they have to find their own food, create their own shelter, and essentially survive.

Adding a twist on this show, the two groups compete against each other twice per episode.  The first competition is usually a reward competition, in which the winning team wins some kind of reward (often food) that can be shared between members of the group.  Additionally, this competition also allows one contestant the opportunity to obtain immunity.  This will be important when I describe the second competition on an episode of Survivor.  Usually Survivor concludes with a second competition that has higher stakes: the losing team will have to eliminate one member of their team.  This results in a tribal council in which members of the team privately vote for one member of their team to be kicked off.

Alternatively a show about survival in pretty extreme natural conditions and about survival within the tricky politicking of working within a group of strangers, Survivor has been a huge television hit.  It’s been praised for how dramatic it is and for how well it accurately portrays human behavior.  It has also been credited for bringing a realistic element to what could have been an outlandish premise for a reality TV show.

This is all well and good but truth be known, Survivor is boring.  You have sixteen normal people on an island and you come up with tame challenges and immunity contests.  Where’s the drama in that?  If you want thrilling reality TV that will get your heart beating to the point where it just might blow, it’s all about Danger Island.

Now, it’s true that Danger Island has not been approved for airing in America nor has a single television network picked up this reality TV show for airing, but that’s actually great.  It just shows that Danger Island is too hot for TV and you know when things are too hot for TV, then they’ll be the next big thing on TV.  Danger Island is a non-stop roller coaster ride of thrills, chills, and even maybe some kills.  Once it airs, you can expect Danger Island to have the same clout as Survivor.  Sure Survivor host Jeff Probst is almost a household name and Survivor has made cultural figures of people like hippy Rubert, Boston Rob and his smoking hot fiancé Amber, Colby the spokesman for the Schick Quattro, the gay millionaire that America loves to hate Richard Hatch, and whoever else won the last eight editions of Survivor.  However, you can bet Danger Island will double the star making power of Survivor and it already has a hot name attached to it: former Incredible Hulk and Arnold Schwarzenneger rival, Lou Ferrigno.

So, if you like Survivor, you’ll love Danger Island.

About the author:

Although Tom Ferrigno is not actually Lou Ferrigno’s son, he’s easily Lou Ferrigno’s biggest fan.  A four-time winner of his fantasy league hockey pool, Tom Ferrigno is entering his seventh year of his three-year Sociology degree at Boston College.  His three favorite things in life are: hot chicks, Lou Ferrigno, and Danger Island.