Survivor: Borneo

Production

More than six thousand people applied to be on the show. From that pool, eight hundred were interviewed across sixteen cities. The producers then narrowed it down to forty-eight, and after background checks and psychological screenings, they selected the final sixteen contestants plus two alternates. While the players waited for the game to begin, crews got the island ready for challenges, clearing dangerous items, checking for hazardous animals in certain spots, and constructing sets.

Camera and support teams arrived three weeks early for testing. On the far side of the island from the tribes, the production team set up a base camp with trailers that had running water, televisions, and a phone line. The Tribal Council set was built about two hundred yards from that facility. On March 7, 2000, the contestants flew to Los Angeles and then to Kota Kinabalu in Malaysian Borneo.

From there, they took a boat to their island. They were not allowed to talk to each other until they boarded that boat. The two tribes shared Pulau Tiga, separated by more than twenty miles of forest. The island was home to pythons, kraits, adders, monkeys, monitor lizards, and white-bellied sea eagles.

Filming ran from March 13 to April 20, 2000. This season was the only one to reveal the winner on location at the final Tribal Council until the forty-first season in 2021.

Contestants

There were 16 contestants, divided into two tribes, Pagong and Tagi. After six contestants were eliminated, the tribes were merged to form one tribe, Rattana. The final seven eliminated contestants made up the jury that decided who would be the winner. Rudy Boesch, Richard Hatch, Susan Hawk, and Jenna Lewis returned to Survivor for Survivor: All-Stars.

Gervase Peterson returned for Survivor: Blood vs. Water alongside his niece, Marissa. Kelly Wiglesworth returned for Survivor: Cambodia. Jenna Lewis (now Lewis-Dougherty) returned for Survivor 50: In the Hands of the Fans. Outside of Survivor, Richard Hatch, Susan Hawk, Sean Kenniff, Ramona Gray, Gretchen Cordy, and Joel Klug competed on a special edition of NBC's The Weakest Link.

Susan Hawk and Gervase Peterson made an appearance on Big Brother 2. Hatch competed in the 11th season of The Apprentice (known as the fourth season of The Celebrity Apprentice) and appeared on the 17th season of The Biggest Loser. In 2024, Hatch competed on the second season of House of Villains.

Reception

By the second week, the show had already gained over 18 million viewers, beating ABC's Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?'s ratings. Les Moonves, the president of CBS Television, said that 'it has beaten our expectations by about double.' The finale of Survivor was watched by 51.7 million viewers, the second-highest viewership of any American television episode during the first decade of the 21st century, exceeded only by the finale of Friends. The finale had higher ratings than the World Series, NBA finals, NCAA men's basketball finals, and Grammy Awards of that year.

CBS was able to make the cost of commercial advertisers up to $600,000 during the season finale. Survivor was the surprise summer hit show of the season garnering an average of 28.3 million viewers with a 12.1/36 share in the 18/49 market over its 13-week run. The season had the second-highest ranking and the second-highest average viewers of the entire series, behind The Australian Outback. In addition to the most finale viewers, it also had the most reunion viewers (37 million).

Critical reception

Survivor: Borneo initially received mixed reactions in the media. The New York Times Bill Carter wrote that Survivor has 'clearly begun to emerge as part of the wider culture, with news and discussion about the show widespread on television and radio talk shows and coverage increasing in newspapers.' On the Late Show with David Letterman, David Letterman began a segment titled 'Top 10 Things That'll Get You Thrown Off the Survivor Island.' During the first season, USA Today covered the show like a sporting event, listing which participant was voted off.

USA Today also held a poll to see who viewers would have voted off. With 26 percent, Susan Hawk won the poll, although it had no effect on the game, as Susan made it to 4th place. CBS's The Early Show held an interview with each contestant the day after the episode in which they were voted off aired. Survivor: Borneo was criticized by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) in response to footage showing the contestants trapping rats on the island, initially for fish bait but later for human consumption.

Did You Know?

• In 2006, Hatch was sentenced to 51 months in prison after failing to declare his $1,000,000 winnings.
• The set used for the Tribal Council was built 200 yards from the crew's facility.
• Nielsen reported that 125 million people watched at least some part of the finale.