Rats, snakes -- and pirates

'Survivor' producer tells how show persevered in new book

Producer Mark Burnett, with Martin Dugard, has written a behind-the-scenes look of his hit show, "Survior"

September 25, 2000
Web posted at: 12:12 p.m. EDT (1612 GMT)

In this story: Playing to win Looking for fascinating people RELATED STORIES, SITES

By Paul Clinton
For CNN.com

LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- Rats, thunderstorms, hunger pains, sand fleas, snakes and back-stabbing alliances weren't the only perils facing the 16 castaways and 124 crew members of the CBS series "Survivor." Shipwrecked on the remote island of Pulau Tiga, 20 miles off the coast of Borneo in the South China Seas, these hardy souls also had to deal with modern-day, fully armed pirates, according to Executive Producer Mark Burnett.

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"The island was a midway staging post for piracy," says Burnett, 40, a former member of the British Army and creator of the cable miniseries "Eco-Challenge." "Pirates would exchange contraband on 'Miami Vice'-style cigarette boats. They didn't know we were coming, and they were just as surprised as we. I mean modern-day pirates with AK-47s."

This is just one of the many tidbits offered in Burnett's new book "Survivor" (TV Books). Written along with his writing partner Martin Dugard, the paperback is meant as an official companion book to the television series, currently in reruns. The wildly successful reality series drew 52 million viewers for its final episode, when Richard Hatch won $1 million and became the sole survivor of the program.

Rudy Boesch, Richard Hatch, Kelly Wiglesworth and Susan Hawk were the final four survivors

Despite his experience doing shows in remote locations, finding pirates in his territory was a new experience for Burnett. "I have a very capable medical crew I take everywhere, and we also had a security force we brought from Hong Kong ... (but) we had no idea about the pirates," he says. I did that because I had 140 Americans on a remote island, and I have an obligation to protect those Americans."

"Our security guys handled it in the best way," he continues. "No shooting, (just) discussion. The pirates got the message. You know, chill out, leave us alone for 45 days, come back when we've gone home."

The people playing the game were barely aware that any of this ever happened, according to Burnett. "The castaways didn't notice anything really," he says. "They were playing the game to win, and their number one focus was dominating their peer group."

Cast members of "Survivor" had to participate in competitions to stay on the island for a chance at a million dollars

What they did notice was the inhumane environment. "The conditions were much, much worse than the TV show showed," notes Burnett. "It was brutal -- often 90 degrees -- and humid. The snakes every single night. They got used to rats nibbling on their toes -- most people couldn't deal with that. (It was) a tough bunch of people in extremely tough conditions."

Burnett claims he always knew "Survivor" would work as a TV show. "When I pitched CBS I mocked up a cover of Newsweek, and said this would be on Newsweek," he says. "I didn't know the ratings would be this big -- nobody could know that -- but I did think that ... Americans would like the idea of a bunch of Americans building a new world. I just never realized it would be 'Survivor,' " he laughs.

Burnett also had no idea that Hatch, a corporate trainer and an openly gay man, would win the competition. At the time, he thought Hatch would be voted off the island in the first round, but now says Richard played the best game. "I should think in retrospect Richard wasn't a liar," says Burnett. "He never actually openly lied to people. He always said he was playing the game to win, and never pretended to be friends with someone he wasn't. He's a very clever guy."

Burnett says Hatch was not picked because he would fill some kind of demographic as a gay man. He says the same is true of the African-American participants. Instead, Burnett was looking for fascinating people who could play the game and hold the interest of television viewers.

But he does admit that the fact that Hatch is gay did add an extra dimension to the drama. It refuted stereotypes of homosexuals as "weak," and it helped a cast member deal with his preconceptions. "Richard -- (who) is six-foot-five, and is a very tough guy -- won the game, so that's a good thing," says Burnett, "and the most wonderful thing about the whole show is how Rudy softened his approach to homophobia."

"Survivor II" is already in the works. Sixteen people will be left to fend for themselves in the Australian outback, and the new series is set to start airing after next year's Super Bowl. But for those people who just can't get enough of "Survivor," Burnett's 230-page book and the current TV reruns of the show should give them sustenance until the next games begin.

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