Survivor season 1, later retitled Survivor: Borneo, aired on CBS in the summer of 2000 and changed reality TV—and television—forever thanks to its cast of characters (including Richard Hatch, Sue Hawk, Kelly Wiglesworth, Rudy Boesch, Gervase Peterson, Colleen Haskell), host Jeff Probst, and a game unlike anyone had ever seen on TV before.
This collection of my Survivor Borneo recaps explores the strategy, challenges, and events of CBS’s Survivor season one, which introduced us to Richard Hatch, Sue Hawk, Rudy Boesch, Kelly Wiglesworth, Gervase Peterson, Colleen Haskell, and the other players in a game that changed television forever.
Richard Hatch, Kelly Wiglesworth, Sue Hawk, and Rudy Boesch have survived to the end of Survivor: Borneo, and their incredible final moves in this new game would become the second-most-watched TV show of the 2000s.
The reward challenge for Survivor Borneo episode 12 turned out to be pivotal for the show’s crew and host Jeff Probst, who told the story of what happened behind the scenes when the cast threatened to not compete in the reward challenge.
Kelly Wiglesworth was almost voted out of Survivor Borneo, but immunity saved her. But the show spent much more time on its first visit from a family member: Sean’s dad joins him for a night on a yacht.
Gervase’s new kid gets a lot of attention Survivor: Borneo episode. So does strategizing: Jeff Probst’s recap of Tribal Council to discussions of whether to break up an alliance, strategy has moved to the forefront of Survivor: Borneo.
In an incredibly strong episode of Survivor season 1, Kelly bails on the Tagi four, but doesn’t join with Pagong members to vote out Rich, whose lack of clothing becomes a real problem that Jeff Probst even brings up at Tribal Council.
Survivor Borneo’s eighth episode focuses a lot on Greg and Jenna, who end up receiving all of the votes at Tribal Council.