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Survivor : The Ultimate Game
Provides a behind-the-scenes look at all thirteen episodes, information about the contestants and the host, and an interview with the last remaining survivor in which he reveals his winning strategies.
237 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2000
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews
April 11, 2022
Long-time superfans or brand new viewers of Survivor will get a kick out of this book. Survivor!: The Ultimate Game is a surprisingly eloquent novelization of the first season, written entirely on-site of filming (as disclosed in the book).
As a new Survivor fan, I actually found this book to be even more fascinating than the cut of season one. While it provides a play-by-play of the season, it divulges information that wasn't included in what aired on television. Not only is the fourth wall broken in learning more information about the crew and how life on Pulau Tiga worked as a "dramality", but we also get a more in-depth look into each castaway. I read this alongside watching season one (I actually haven't finished watching it yet) and at times didn't want to put it down, even when I knew what was already coming.
I've only knocked a star off the rating because there were some errors/typos in the book that stood out to me.
As a new Survivor fan, I actually found this book to be even more fascinating than the cut of season one. While it provides a play-by-play of the season, it divulges information that wasn't included in what aired on television. Not only is the fourth wall broken in learning more information about the crew and how life on Pulau Tiga worked as a "dramality", but we also get a more in-depth look into each castaway. I read this alongside watching season one (I actually haven't finished watching it yet) and at times didn't want to put it down, even when I knew what was already coming.
I've only knocked a star off the rating because there were some errors/typos in the book that stood out to me.
January 8, 2012
Perhaps his goes without saying, but this book is only for "Survivor" hardcores...which I am. This is basically a novelization of the first season, which I remember watching, almost 12 years ago. I have been a huge fan ever sense (I think I missed maybe 3 or 4 of them due to the Army). But I loved every moment of this book, re-living the experiences of Greg, Rudy, Gretchen, and, of course, Rich. I picked him to win, and he truly made the game what it was (I've only picked 3 or 4 winners in 22 incarnations, so I don't pretend to be great...and when I say "pick," I mean from the first or second episode). Previously on..."Survivor"!
January 1, 2016
I was pleasantly surprised with this book. I was unsure if I would like it. I'm a huge fan of the show and reading this felt like I was watching the show with a special behind the scenes look added. There were some missed errors but that didn't hinder the book too much. This book was a well written account of the first season of Survivor that enjoyed a lot. I hardly remember the first season since I was very young when it aired and this book gave me a chance to re-experience it.
May 3, 2022
A great look at the behind the scenes of season 1 of Survivor. I thought it was fascinating getting to hear Mark Burnett’s perspective on how Survivor was going as the game was unfolding.
I would recommend to anyone who loves Survivor!
I would recommend to anyone who loves Survivor!
November 2, 2013
This is the Survivor bible. All Survivor fans need to read it.
May 17, 2020
This book was far more enjoyable than I expected. I’ve only seen a couple episodes of this type of television show, as I find them rather repulsive, with all the hyped drama around a synthetic “real” situation. I’m also very uncomfortable with the blurring of reality and pretense (and have also heard that this blurring has had long-term negative effects on some of the people who have participated in this type of show).
Author Mark Burnett’s approach in this narrative made it seem more like a complicated psychology experiment. His perspective of the production provided a larger picture which included commercial, logistical and staffing concerns. His descriptions of the contestants’ backgrounds, personality types, motives, and strategies during the course of the contest seemed well thought out and genuinely sympathetic to each of them. So rather than rooting for or hating any of the contestants, I found myself empathizing with whichever one was the focus of his attention and wondering what I would do in his/her place.
Some of the writing was awkward or ambiguous, but then I was more forgiving when I read in his last paragraph that it had all been written in real time on location, that no words had been removed or added in hindsight, and that he ended it when the production team left the island for home.
Author Mark Burnett’s approach in this narrative made it seem more like a complicated psychology experiment. His perspective of the production provided a larger picture which included commercial, logistical and staffing concerns. His descriptions of the contestants’ backgrounds, personality types, motives, and strategies during the course of the contest seemed well thought out and genuinely sympathetic to each of them. So rather than rooting for or hating any of the contestants, I found myself empathizing with whichever one was the focus of his attention and wondering what I would do in his/her place.
Some of the writing was awkward or ambiguous, but then I was more forgiving when I read in his last paragraph that it had all been written in real time on location, that no words had been removed or added in hindsight, and that he ended it when the production team left the island for home.
October 25, 2015
Read this shortly after the show came out. Love the show and I've seen them all. (Kinda sad, huh!)
January 2, 2025
This is a book for someone that has seen season one of survivor or is co-reading chapters as the days go for just a taste of what goes into the season.
Big plus to the psych evals of all the contestants sprinkled throughout which impacted their games. Getting to know why Jeff was picked/how he was impacted by contestants.
Big stinks to the repetition of things I had just seen on the season with nothing to add. Just feeling like it was a bit of a nothing burger for 10-15 pages at a time. Unsure who this book is for and struggles to keep up with the test of time.
Cannot wait for a Jeff probst Biography that would go hard as hellllll.
2.5 outta 5 immunity necklaces and yes I would vote this book off the island.
Big plus to the psych evals of all the contestants sprinkled throughout which impacted their games. Getting to know why Jeff was picked/how he was impacted by contestants.
Big stinks to the repetition of things I had just seen on the season with nothing to add. Just feeling like it was a bit of a nothing burger for 10-15 pages at a time. Unsure who this book is for and struggles to keep up with the test of time.
Cannot wait for a Jeff probst Biography that would go hard as hellllll.
2.5 outta 5 immunity necklaces and yes I would vote this book off the island.
October 14, 2024
Low key mark Burnett kinda annoying
January 24, 2016
I'm a huge Survivor fan. Recently Rob Has A Podcast (RHAP) has been doing retrospective podcasts of all the old seasons. For the most part the focus of those have been on the evolution of Survivor from the original season to the currently airing season, the 30th.
This book is a behind the scenes look at the first season. Being a big fan, there wasn't much groundbreaking information in the book but it was interesting nonetheless. Especially, when they talk about the castaways pregame psych evaluations and how that reflected their gameplay.
This book isn't an exhaustive look at the first season. Some events are skimmed over or mostly ignored. But the last words of the book mention that it was written entirely during production, which I had not realized. This makes it more of a travel journal of the events on the island. Topics, such as the massive popularity of the show, were still months away from being important.
This book is fun but not essential Survivor knowledge. For that, check out RHAP
This book is a behind the scenes look at the first season. Being a big fan, there wasn't much groundbreaking information in the book but it was interesting nonetheless. Especially, when they talk about the castaways pregame psych evaluations and how that reflected their gameplay.
This book isn't an exhaustive look at the first season. Some events are skimmed over or mostly ignored. But the last words of the book mention that it was written entirely during production, which I had not realized. This makes it more of a travel journal of the events on the island. Topics, such as the massive popularity of the show, were still months away from being important.
This book is fun but not essential Survivor knowledge. For that, check out RHAP
July 27, 2016
This book opens with Richard Hatch saying he was going to win the million bucks. And he does in the very first American Survivor season. He knew immediately this was a social game, and he played what is, after 30+ American seasons, one of the best games ever. Love him or hate him, he outwitted, outplayed, and outlasted everyone. I admit: I'm a Surivor addict and haven't missed a single show of a single season yet. There was a middle phase where the producers cast particularly villainous players, but I think the show is back on track with great editing, interesting players, great music, and it's just beautiful to watch. (Yes, in general, the players are chosen for looks, but this IS a TV show.) Fourteen years ago, I applied, but never heard anything. Unfortunately, I can't physically do it today, but I still love to watch.
Read
October 4, 2015Really sort of patchy writing, but for a fan of the show, an excellent background look at the monumental first season. I recommend reading as you rewatch each episode.
To be honest, I wish there was a book for (almost) every season. I'd love to hear some psychological background on some of the later contestants.
(I refrain from rating this title as my rating would really reflect on the show, not the book.)
To be honest, I wish there was a book for (almost) every season. I'd love to hear some psychological background on some of the later contestants.
(I refrain from rating this title as my rating would really reflect on the show, not the book.)
February 6, 2020
I am an avid survivor fan. I made it to page 21 and realized this book is an exact replica of season one. I do not need to read something that I have already watched and know the outcome.. I bailed.
February 22, 2016
If you're a fan of the show Survivor, this book is a must read.
May 1, 2021
I have been a massive fan of the Survivor TV show since the very first season, especially in the early years of the show. I still never miss an episode, but I watched the first season twice in a row, back in 2000, when it first aired. During the next few years, I picked up the DVDs and watched it a couple more times. I have even applied to be on the show, but unfortunately have never made it particularly deep into the casting process.
I came across this book at my local library in 2004 and checked it out immediately. Then a few years later, when it made in appearance in the library book sale, I bought it for $1. Since Survivor has been on somewhat of a hiatus this past year, I decided to watch the first season again, the first time I have done so in well over a decade now at this point. I also reread the book in parallel.
In my opinion, the book is essential reading for serious fans of the show, those early seasons in particular. While the book does follow the show pretty closely, it details more of a "behind-the-scenes" viewpoint of the filming and production of the show. The reader gets a better understanding of how everything is coordinated and planned as much as possible, but also how certain adaptations have to be made spontaneously. We learn about how the castaways interact with the crew, which is invisible for the most part in the final cut of the show. Mark Burnett provides quite a bit of his own insight into depth of the castaways' motivations, at least how he sees them, which is quite interesting.
Finally, while the book does closely follow the chronology of the show, it is not just a retelling of events that we see on the screen. Burnett gives us what is relevant for presenting his perspective on the game. In some cases there is overlap, but in other cases he skips over entire events of challenges. In other cases, where we get a bit of this detail, it is interesting to see differences between what he describes in the book and what is actually presented on the show, and some of this was only obvious to me because I was reading the relevant chapters of the book immediately after watching episodes of the show. For example, there were cases where apparently the challenges were much longer and more in depth than a viewer would assume from the edited footage that ends up in the final cut of the show. At other times it becomes apparent that events are presented in a slightly different order on the show than that in which they actually occurred. None of these were major to the point where they are manipulative of what took place, but it is interesting to see how some of these minor liberties are taken in the editing to enhance the viewing experience. That in and of itself makes this book worthwhile reading for any serious Survivor fan.
I came across this book at my local library in 2004 and checked it out immediately. Then a few years later, when it made in appearance in the library book sale, I bought it for $1. Since Survivor has been on somewhat of a hiatus this past year, I decided to watch the first season again, the first time I have done so in well over a decade now at this point. I also reread the book in parallel.
In my opinion, the book is essential reading for serious fans of the show, those early seasons in particular. While the book does follow the show pretty closely, it details more of a "behind-the-scenes" viewpoint of the filming and production of the show. The reader gets a better understanding of how everything is coordinated and planned as much as possible, but also how certain adaptations have to be made spontaneously. We learn about how the castaways interact with the crew, which is invisible for the most part in the final cut of the show. Mark Burnett provides quite a bit of his own insight into depth of the castaways' motivations, at least how he sees them, which is quite interesting.
Finally, while the book does closely follow the chronology of the show, it is not just a retelling of events that we see on the screen. Burnett gives us what is relevant for presenting his perspective on the game. In some cases there is overlap, but in other cases he skips over entire events of challenges. In other cases, where we get a bit of this detail, it is interesting to see differences between what he describes in the book and what is actually presented on the show, and some of this was only obvious to me because I was reading the relevant chapters of the book immediately after watching episodes of the show. For example, there were cases where apparently the challenges were much longer and more in depth than a viewer would assume from the edited footage that ends up in the final cut of the show. At other times it becomes apparent that events are presented in a slightly different order on the show than that in which they actually occurred. None of these were major to the point where they are manipulative of what took place, but it is interesting to see how some of these minor liberties are taken in the editing to enhance the viewing experience. That in and of itself makes this book worthwhile reading for any serious Survivor fan.
June 10, 2024
This book is great for anyone wanting some revisionist history about the beginning of Survivor and reality television. Although it is filled with grammatical errors and bias, the content is as good as the actual show. My only wish is that an unbiased person (like maybe a camera operator) would have written it, so it would not be so in favor of certain castaways.
Final Thoughts on Each Castaway:
- Sonja: too weak for the game
- BB: struggled more than I thought
- Stacey: absolutely voted off by production (to save Rudy) more than the castaways, which is made obvious by the way Burnett skirts around her eviction
- Ramona: kind of forgettable because she got sick
- Dirk: too good for the game and deserved better treatment
- Joel: strongly mocked by author but was kind of irrelevant
- Gretchen: would have been a fantastic winner or returnee but glad she got to see her family and not have to sit on the jury bench
- Greg: really weird but entertaining
- Jenna: best strategic player on Pagong and it showed through in here
- Gervase: should not have left his 9 month pregnant wife to starve for a month
- Colleen: people think she is weak because she is quiet but she has potential to be a silent assassin
- Sean: the best example of not all doctors being smart
- Sue: extremely emotional but who would not be (juicy jury speech though)
- Rudy: would have won if Richard was trustworthy and was great representation
- Kelly: loss makes more sense now and I am glad she had a chance at redemption
- Richard: not who I wanted to win but he did make the show what it is now
Link to 14 day free trial: https://archive.org/details/survivor0...
Final Thoughts on Each Castaway:
- Sonja: too weak for the game
- BB: struggled more than I thought
- Stacey: absolutely voted off by production (to save Rudy) more than the castaways, which is made obvious by the way Burnett skirts around her eviction
- Ramona: kind of forgettable because she got sick
- Dirk: too good for the game and deserved better treatment
- Joel: strongly mocked by author but was kind of irrelevant
- Gretchen: would have been a fantastic winner or returnee but glad she got to see her family and not have to sit on the jury bench
- Greg: really weird but entertaining
- Jenna: best strategic player on Pagong and it showed through in here
- Gervase: should not have left his 9 month pregnant wife to starve for a month
- Colleen: people think she is weak because she is quiet but she has potential to be a silent assassin
- Sean: the best example of not all doctors being smart
- Sue: extremely emotional but who would not be (juicy jury speech though)
- Rudy: would have won if Richard was trustworthy and was great representation
- Kelly: loss makes more sense now and I am glad she had a chance at redemption
- Richard: not who I wanted to win but he did make the show what it is now
Link to 14 day free trial: https://archive.org/details/survivor0...
March 25, 2019
Well, isn't this just exactly what I've been craving as my renewed Survivor obsession heads toward its sixth month: a recap of season 1, both on screen events and some of those behind the scenes in production. "Chief Jeff" is the worst phrase I've ever seen, and at times I felt uncomfortable with the way some of the players' thoughts or internal motivations were depicted -- are these based on quotes from interviews, or assumptions you made? -- but everything else was a great way to vicariously experience a season that I've only ever seen the latter half of, at best, and when it was airing (in 2000!) at that.
It would be even better if I had more emotional investment in this particular cast, but between loving all of the final 4 except Richard the Terrible, Kelly and Gervase coming back on later seasons* and the fact that I have never forgotten how much I loved Colleen (I watched a terrible Rob Schneider movie for her), there was still plenty of personal insight to satisfy me -- Kelly in particular. Mentally comparing what's written about her here to Survivor: Second Chances was a blast.
*I know 3 of the final 4 came back for All Stars, but my Survivor viewing took a break halfway through Africa (S3) and didn't return again until Palau (S10), and since I've never been willing to shell out for DVDs or CBS All Access, the interim seasons remain unseen by my eyes except as occasional clips on YouTube.
It would be even better if I had more emotional investment in this particular cast, but between loving all of the final 4 except Richard the Terrible, Kelly and Gervase coming back on later seasons* and the fact that I have never forgotten how much I loved Colleen (I watched a terrible Rob Schneider movie for her), there was still plenty of personal insight to satisfy me -- Kelly in particular. Mentally comparing what's written about her here to Survivor: Second Chances was a blast.
*I know 3 of the final 4 came back for All Stars, but my Survivor viewing took a break halfway through Africa (S3) and didn't return again until Palau (S10), and since I've never been willing to shell out for DVDs or CBS All Access, the interim seasons remain unseen by my eyes except as occasional clips on YouTube.
June 7, 2018
A great behind the scenes look at the epic TV phenomena that is Survivor. Mark Burnett goes into the background and filming of season one in Borneo, while there are some errors, it is still a fascinating look at how the game started - and how far it has come since its inception (not to mention how much it has changed!!) I only wish that he had done this for the subsequent seasons as well, though possibly the preponderance of magic idol sticks in the latter seasons has made it less interesting behind the cameras as well as in front!
October 1, 2022
This book is basically a play by play of season one of survivor. Im a huge survivor fan so i definitely enjoyed it. Theres a lot of behind the scenes information that was definitely interesting to know. I only give it 4 stars because there wasnt as much behind the scenes as i wouldve liked. I mean if you have seen season 1 you’ll probably find the book quite boring because you will always know what comes next. There were also a couple typos, but still really enjoyed it and im happy i read it!
Read
March 21, 2023A wondrously self congratulatory and sometimes condescending portrait of the first season of the best American reality show of all time. Like that first season, it has moments of surprising nuance, but definitely only for the die hards out there
May 29, 2024
Reading 200 pages about the 12 hours of television you just consumed in two weeks was a choice, but you really do grow to love these idiots — and my toxic trait is believing I could win Survivor but that’s for another review.
October 19, 2021
Loved the behind-the-scenes, but really confirmed just how terrible and shitty Burnett is as a human being.
September 11, 2024
Someone that has watched every season of survivor from the beginning, this was literally the season episode by episode and extremely boring.
January 13, 2025
9/10: such a fun concept from a book; wish there was one of these for every season
February 9, 2025
fun way to experience the first season of survivor, and I too will now call Jeff chief Jeff! would have appreciated even more behind-the-scenes info.
April 24, 2025
i think its funny that he somehow got the meaning of “Pulau Kalampunian Besar” as “Little Durian” when it literally means the opposite like who told him that which one of you guys lied to him 😭
November 24, 2025
9/10 Phenomenal, like watching borneo for the first time all over again, a must read for the cultured survivor fan
August 30, 2016
Survivor has always been a guilty pleasure of mine, and when I stumbled across this book, I decided to give it a read, since I'd recently re-watched the first season. It has some really interesting behind-the-scenes insights, and lots of cool tidbits that you don't get just watching the show. I felt like I learned way more about the people in the game, and it was interesting to get that extra perspective. However, as others have said, it's really a book only for really nerdy and/or major fans of the show (e.g. me). Also, it has some annoying elements that I jotted down as I was reading:
- I hated how Burnett always calls Jeff Probst 'Chief Jeff'. It was really annoying. It could have been okay if he'd just done it in the first chapter or something but it was pretty much continuous.
-A lot of what he says about the castaways seems like conjecture. I know most of the things he said were based on pre-game interviews with the show's psychologist and things like that, but his comments about Kelly's mom issues and B.B's dad issues really felt like things he couldn't possibly know.
- There is some annoying moralizing when he talks about Dirk. Essentially he says that everyone hated Dirk being so religious because all non-religious people are made to feel guilty for not being religious when they come across someone who is because they realize how terrible they are as human beings. Yeah. I think he's wrong on that one.
- Too many typos! Mark Burnett does not know how to use an apostrophe to save his life. Pretty much any word that would have just needed an 's' at the end to make it a plural earned itself an apostrophe. For a grammar nerd like me, that was pretty bad.
So yeah, interesting info, but if you most recently watched the show when it aired 14 years ago, it's probably more than a little dated.
- I hated how Burnett always calls Jeff Probst 'Chief Jeff'. It was really annoying. It could have been okay if he'd just done it in the first chapter or something but it was pretty much continuous.
-A lot of what he says about the castaways seems like conjecture. I know most of the things he said were based on pre-game interviews with the show's psychologist and things like that, but his comments about Kelly's mom issues and B.B's dad issues really felt like things he couldn't possibly know.
- There is some annoying moralizing when he talks about Dirk. Essentially he says that everyone hated Dirk being so religious because all non-religious people are made to feel guilty for not being religious when they come across someone who is because they realize how terrible they are as human beings. Yeah. I think he's wrong on that one.
- Too many typos! Mark Burnett does not know how to use an apostrophe to save his life. Pretty much any word that would have just needed an 's' at the end to make it a plural earned itself an apostrophe. For a grammar nerd like me, that was pretty bad.
So yeah, interesting info, but if you most recently watched the show when it aired 14 years ago, it's probably more than a little dated.
March 30, 2007
I went into this book expecting little more than a filler text, comprised mostly of trite observations on the show and cute, worthless, behind the scenes stories to liven up the viewing pleasure of the audience. I was absolutely blown away by what I ended up reading.
Survivor is one of the biggest television phenomena in history. The first season's finale pulled in over 51 million viewers, and it helped launch reality TV as we know it today. I've never missed an episode to this day, and eventually got around to reading the book that was the official companion to the first season.
This book is so much more than contrived anecdotes and personality profiles. It's a detailed look at the game itself, a simultaneously scathing and optimistic dive into the core of humanity itself, and a fascinating text considering competition in humans as a general concept. This game is so much more complicated than people give it credit for, and this book helped to truly elucidate this fact. The magic and challenge behind the entire experience is reignited by reading this, and philosophies about personality, social behavior, morals, ethics, integrity, and accountability are all called into question throughout the read.
In short, though I'm an obsessed Survivor fan, I expected very little of this text. I was pleasantly surprised to find it as one of the better books I've read in years.
Survivor is one of the biggest television phenomena in history. The first season's finale pulled in over 51 million viewers, and it helped launch reality TV as we know it today. I've never missed an episode to this day, and eventually got around to reading the book that was the official companion to the first season.
This book is so much more than contrived anecdotes and personality profiles. It's a detailed look at the game itself, a simultaneously scathing and optimistic dive into the core of humanity itself, and a fascinating text considering competition in humans as a general concept. This game is so much more complicated than people give it credit for, and this book helped to truly elucidate this fact. The magic and challenge behind the entire experience is reignited by reading this, and philosophies about personality, social behavior, morals, ethics, integrity, and accountability are all called into question throughout the read.
In short, though I'm an obsessed Survivor fan, I expected very little of this text. I was pleasantly surprised to find it as one of the better books I've read in years.
November 16, 2019
This book is the novelization of the first season of Survivor, that took place on Palua Tiga island just off Borneo. The book was written during the 39 days that the season was filmed on the island. About the only thing it didn't have in it, was exactly who each member of the jury voted for at the very end.
Reread notes: This was written by the producer Mark Burnett. It has a lot of behind the scenes info that was not aired on the series. You will learn a lot more about our castaways and behind the scenes as it was filmed. As this was the first season, there was a learning curve.
Reread notes: This was written by the producer Mark Burnett. It has a lot of behind the scenes info that was not aired on the series. You will learn a lot more about our castaways and behind the scenes as it was filmed. As this was the first season, there was a learning curve.
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