On May 31st, 2000, CBS launched a series for the summer season that no one was quite sure how it would do, or if anyone even watch it.

Hundreds of episodes, 20 seasons and 301 contestants later, Survivor is still going strong, and can easily be blamed for the explosion of reality TV programming in the United States that followed it.

It was funny how no one saw this show catching on, and I didn’t start watching until about halfway through that first season.  CBS repeated the earlier episodes which allowed me to catch up, and I haven’t missed an episode since.  Despite the silliness of the whole thing, I enjoy watching how it shows no one learns from mistakes.  How many times can people pull the same ploys as players in previous seasons, and people will believe them?

I am also constantly amazed how players in the game, whom vote for the winner, hardly ever vote for the person who actually play the game.  ”You lied to me!”  Um … hello?  Have you not heard of this game called “Survivor”?  It does say “Outwit. Outplay. Outlast.”, not “Don’t lie. Make friends. Make people feel good about themselves.”  Vote for the people who actually play the game, and stop boting with your emotions.

All that being said, it is amazing the longevity of this show, and its impact on popular culture.  ”The tribe has spoken” has become such a part of our vernacular that no one even needs to state anymore what they are referring to.  Pretty impressive for a show no one was sure it would survive its first season.