Survivor

Like previous standout seasons The Amazon and Marquesas, Pearl Islands once again features a perfect mix of good and evil.

The first season's episodes were, in a sense, edited backward: Knowing who was going to be voted off, each show's footage was cut in a way that demonstrated why the expulsion was inevitable. The tribes' motives were made clear, which ensured satisfying drama. In Outback [season 2], Burnett and his bunch are tossing us red herrings, to make the voting impossible to predict.

The show's aura of jungle mysticism is so overblown it's hilarious. I love how the castaways have to kill rats for food and make fire with sticks, but the tribal council meetings take place on a lavish, obviously prefab jungle village set that looks like the Ewok treehouse city in "Return of the Jedi." (The million-dollar grand prize is sitting over in one corner of the set - a pile of cash in an open treasure chest. Very Scrooge McDuck.)...Asinine stuff - and intensely addictive. [2 June 2000, p.37]

Even if the supply of waterproof matches ran low, these 16 abrasive Americans can be counted on to generate sparks merely by arguing with one another. If drama equals tension, Survivor is drama distilled - and addictive. [1 June 2000, p.100]

The first episode of Survivor felt closer in spirit to a summer camp color war than "Lord of the Flies." [2 June 2000, p.E25]

Speaking of Probst, please send this plastic man back to Rock & Roll Jeopardy! Only James Earl Jones himself could intone "The tribe has spoken" without provoking giggles.

CBS' new island series Survivor is populated with rats...Most of them walk on two legs. [1 June 2000, p.47]