Survivors

Darwinians, take note. Even the fittest don’t have it easy on this show, which is down-to-earth sci-fi at its gritty best.

It works—maybe because the group is so likeable, or because writer Adrian Hodges puts so much faith in his main characters (it's nice, for once, to see a work that doesn't fault us for our reliance on technology, but rather shows how easily people can persist without it).

Survivors isn't great or groundbreaking, but it's a whole lot more than nothing.

I found the first episode of "Survivors" incredibly depressing and began to think longingly of rewards challenges and hidden immunity idols. But a subsequent episode, though devoid of tribal councils, did provide enough heart and even occasional flashes of humor to make survival - and the continuation of "Survivors" - seem like a fate considerably better than death.

Survivors is torn between the desire to go big--it's the literal end of civilization--and small--how would an ordinary person react to the death of everyone he knows? Regrettably Survivors succeeds at neither, getting stuck instead in a blurry bog of middle ground.

I think “Survivors” is going to have a hard time getting noticed, not just because BBC America is way up there on digital cable, but because the hoopla surrounding the end of “Lost” is unrelenting, and “Survivors” just hasn’t done anything to break through.

Imagine the early parts of 28 Days Later stretched out to a feature-length pilot. It's the end for the world as we know it, and I feel bored.