--- description: Breaking news and analysis from time.com. Politics, world news, photos, video, tech reviews, health, science, and entertainment news. title: Survivor image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4015ef071ee214bf/69869f33169ab0e47b27ab1c/t100_tv_survivor_landov1.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Aug 12, 2014 # _Survivor_ by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close  Everett In reality TV, 90% of success is in the concept, and _Survivor_‘s remains the master equation: isolation + cash prize \* hot-weather clothing = entertainment. Still, the 10% that is execution separates the best from the rest, and _Survivor_ remains a constantly surprising and enthralling game, both socially and physically. Even after seven years, there’s no clear single best way to win the political game of _Survivor_: is it better to be liked (Africa’s Ethan) or respected (the first season’s Richard), a master athlete (Palau’s Tom) or a master strategist (All-Stars’ Rob and Amber)? Whether or not it sheds any light on how people behave in “real” society, it remains the most engrossing example of how people really behave in the fake society of a high-pressure TV contest. [Get This TV Series](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0001ZDKXI/?tag=timecom-20 "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/all-time-100-tv-shows/3103831/survivor/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/all-time-100-tv-shows/3103831/survivor/"},"headline":"Survivor","datePublished":"2014-08-12T15:35:50.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-02T23:01:54.700Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/all-time-100-tv-shows/3103831/survivor/","keywords":["Survivor"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4015ef071ee214bf/69869f33169ab0e47b27ab1c/t100_tv_survivor_landov1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4015ef071ee214bf/69869f33169ab0e47b27ab1c/t100_tv_survivor_landov1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/all-time-100-tv-shows/3103831/survivor/","name":"Survivor"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Survivor","description":"Whether or not it sheds any light on how people behave in \"real\" society, it remains the most engrossing example of how people really behave in the fake society of a high-pressure TV contest.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/5FTlGPvm/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2007-09-04T21:05:21.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/5FTlGPvm.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/collections/all-time-100-tv-shows/3103831/survivor/","duration":"PT31S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/collections/all-time-100-tv-shows/3103831/survivor/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```