Salon TV critic Joyce Millman reflects on the debut episode of The Survivor, finds few surprises. “When the president of CBS TV, Leslie Moonves, tells
reporters that he participated in the casting of “Survivor,”
helping choose the final 16 contestants, and gets all giddy
describing the show’s “voyeuristic appeal,” then you can bet,
my friends, that this is not “reality,” but some winking faux
version of it. Still, I’m sure that won’t stop “Survivor” from
becoming this summer’s national obsession and then, who
knows, maybe next year’s sweeps programming main event.
I can see the celebrity edition of “Survivor” now: Bobby
Knight, Oprah Winfrey and the cast of “Friends” vs. Martha
Stewart, the Dixie Chicks, Jerry, George, Kramer and
Shaquille O’Neal.”
