In 2000, three simple words surrounding a tiki torch and a palm tree defined not just a television series, but an entirely new entertainment culture: outwit, outplay, outlast. When the competitive reality show Survivor first aired, producers Mark Burnett and Jeff Probst left sixteen Americans stranded on a tropical island, just hoping that nature would take its course and drama would ensue. No one could have predicted the phenomenon that would be a catalyst not only for reality TV, but also for competitive games that put people at their most vulnerable. Now that ten years have passed, many people have begun to quickly dismiss Survivor as the destroyer of thoughtful television: a show all about intrigue, connivance, and eating bugs, all for the sake of winning a million dollars. Going even further, intellectuals argue that programs like Survivor encourage blatant discrimination, racism, sexism, and ageism — after all, the idea of ​​the show is to form social cliques (dubbed "alliances") and vote people both out of the game and out. of the island, sometimes for no reason other than that they “don't like it”. Not to mention, it always seems to magically start pouring rain the moment two people are left standing on a ten-foot pole above the Atlantic Ocean in the final challenge, introducing the controversial concept of whether or not reality TV is real . , but simply an artificial series of events captured by a camera. While all of these negative arguments are valid, critics underestimate the positive aspects of the show. The reason the series has managed to last ten years, twenty seasons, two hundred contestants and dozens of locations ranging from jungle islands to desert oases is that it offers a psychological... middle of paper... ... March 24, 2010. Television.--. “I trust you, but I trust myself more.” Survived. CBS. May 17, 2009. Television.--. "The fusion." Survived. CBS. March 8, 2001. Television.--. "The puppeteer." Survived. CBS. September 17, 2009. Television.Cardona, Erik. "Best...entrance...ever." Web log post. Erik's immunity blog. CBS. Net.--. "Heroes? Heroes?? Come out, come out, wherever you are!" Web log post. Erik's immunity blog. CBS. Web.Klosterman, Chuck. "Billy Sim." Sex, drugs and cocoa puffs. New York: Scribner, 2003. 13. Print.Ross, Dalton, ed. "The Best and Worst Survivors." Entertainment Weekly April 13, 2010: 80-83. EBSCO. Web.Tremblay, Tony. “Reading the “Real” in Survivor: Unearthing Republican Roots in Reality Narrative.” Topia 9 (2003): 147. ProQuest. Web.Woodman, Tenley. "Robbed Again: Mariano Reflects on Survivor's Death." Tribune Business News April 3, 2010. Print.