Survivor: The Australian Outback

Template:Infobox Television Survivor Survivor: The Australian Outback was the second installment of the popular United States reality show Survivor. Filming took place at the Gleneagle Cattle Ranch in northern Queensland during 2000 and aired from January 28, 2001 to May 3, 2001 on CBS. It garnered the highest average Nielsen rating for the 2000-2001 season. The location used was within a three hour drive of the coastal city of Cairns and located in a wet, sub-tropical area. The two initial tribes were Kucha and Ogakor, the Aboriginal words for "kangaroo" and "crocodile", respectively.

Fourteen episodes aired weekly, the first one airing immediately after the Super Bowl, also airing on CBS.

The entire season was released in DVD format on April 26, 2005.

Survivor: The Australian Outback, along with CBS' then-breakout hit CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, was instrumental in CBS becoming a major competitor on Thursday nights. It was announced on December 19, 2000 that CBS was going to move Survivor (from Wednesdays) and CSI (from Fridays) to Thursday nights starting in February 2001 to challenge NBC's long-standing and popular Must See TV lineup, which included the hit shows, Friends and Will & Grace.

Notable Events

The elimination of contestant Michael Skupin during the sixth episode is noteworthy for being the first case where a Survivor contestant has had to be evacuated due to injuries. Michael Skupin, while attempting to start a fire, breathed in smoke and momentarily fainted, falling into the fire and suffering severe burns to his hands. After being cared for by medical personnel, a helicopter was brought in and Skupin was evacuated. Due to his evacuation, no Immunity Challenge and no Tribal Council were held. As a result, the Ogakor and Kucha tribes merged with an equal number of tribe members, instead of the possible six to four (had Ogakor lost the Immunity Challenge and gone to Tribal Council). At the first merged Tribal Council, Jeff Varner was eliminated after a tie vote along former tribal lines. The winner, Tina Wesson, was announced on May 3, 2001 where she defeated Colby Donaldson by a vote of 4-3.

This was the first season where the merged tribe lived at an entirely new camp.

Also, contestant Colby Donaldson broke an Australian law by breaking off coral from the Great Barrier Reef which could have resulted in a fine of AU$110,000. According to the contest rules, contestents must not break local or U.S. law. Even though Colby broke the contest rules he was still allowed to play on. The helicopter involved in the incident also flew around sea bird rookeries. When this episode aired in Australia, the commercial breaks featured advertisements that stated removing coral from the Great Barrier Reef is illegal and can result in a fine. Survivor's producer Mark Burnett apologized on behalf of Colby and the production team after the season had aired.

Gameplay changes between the first two seasons included the game being the first and only season to last 42 days instead of 39, meaning that the rapid-fire elimination of a "Final Four" turned into a "Final Three". This series also began the Survivor tradition of revealing the results live, so that none of the castaways would know who won until the finale.

During a reward on Day 34 where the remaining five contestants were permitted to communicate with their family members, Ogakor/Barramundi member Keith Famie asked his girlfriend to marry him. She said yes.

Contestants

Contestant	Original Tribe	Merged Tribe	Finish	Total votes
Debb Eaton 45, Milan, NH	Kucha		1st Voted Out Day 3	7
Kel Gleason 32, Fort Hood, TX	Ogakor		2nd Voted Out Day 6	7
Maralyn Hershey 51, Wakefield, VA	Ogakor		3rd Voted Out Day 9	5
Mitchell Olson 23, Union City, NJ	Ogakor		4th Voted Out Day 12	4
Kimmi Kappenberg 28, Ronkonkoma, NY	Kucha		5th Voted Out Day 15	6
Michael Skupin 38, White Lake, MI	Kucha		Removed Due to Injury Day 17	0
Jeff Varner 34, New York, NY	Kucha	Barramundi	6th Voted Out Day 21	7
Alicia Calaway 32, New York, NY	Kucha		7th Voted Out 1st Jury Member Day 24	5
Jerri Manthey 30, Los Angeles, CA	Ogakor		8th Voted Out 2nd Jury Member Day 27	12
Nick Brown 23, Steilacoom, WA	Kucha		9th Voted Out 3rd Jury Member Day 30	4
Amber Brkich 22, Beaver, PA	Ogakor		10th Voted Out 4th Jury Member Day 33	6
Rodger Bingham 53, Crittenden, KY	Kucha		11th Voted Out 5th Jury Member Day 36	5
Elisabeth Filarski 23, Boston, MA	Kucha		12th Voted Out 6th Jury Member Day 39	5
Keith Famie 40, West Bloomfield, MI	Ogakor		13th Voted Out 7th Jury Member Day 41	8
Colby Donaldson 26, Dallas, TX	Ogakor		Runner-up	5
Tina Wesson 40, Knoxville, TN	Ogakor		Sole Survivor	0

The Total Votes is the number of votes a castaway has received during Tribal Councils where the castaway is eligible to be voted out of the game. It does not include the votes received during the final Tribal Council.

The game

Episode title	Air date	Challenges		Eliminated	Vote	Finish
		Reward	Immunity
"Stranded"	January 282001	Ogakor		Debb	7-1	1st Voted Out Day 3
"Suspicion"	February 012001	Ogakor	Kucha	Kel	7-1	2nd Voted Out Day 6
"Trust No One"	February 082001	Ogakor	Kucha	Maralyn	5-1-1	3rd Voted Out Day 9
"The Killing Fields"	February 152001	Kucha	Kucha	Mitchell	3-3	4th Voted Out Day 12
"The Gloves Come Off"	February 222001	Kucha	Ogakor	Kimmi	6-1	5th Voted Out Day 15
"Trial By Fire"	March 012001	Kucha	None 1	Michael	No Vote	Removed Due to Injury Day 17
"The Merge"	March 082001	None	Keith	Jeff	5-5	6th Voted Out Day 21
"Friends?"	March 152001	Jerri [Amber]	Keith	Alicia	5-4	7th Voted Out Day 24
"The First 24 Days"	March 222001	Recap Episode
"Honeymoon Or Not?"	March 292001	Colby, Jerri	Nick	Jerri	6-2	8th Voted Out Day 27
"Let's Make A Deal"	April 052001	Survivor Auction	Colby	Nick	4-2-1	9th Voted Out Day 30
"No Longer Just A Game"	April 122001	Colby	Colby	Amber	4-2	10th Voted Out Day 33
"Enough Is Enough"	April 192001	Tina	Colby	Rodger	3-2	11th Voted Out Day 36
"The Final Four"	April 262001	Colby	Colby	Elisabeth	3-1	12th Voted Out Day 39
"The Most Deserving"	May 032001	None	Colby	Keith	1-0	13th Voted Out Day 41
"The Reunion"	May 032001	Jury Vote		Colby	4-3	Runner-Up
				Tina		Sole Survivor

In the case of multiple tribes or castaways who win reward or immunity, they are listed in order of finish, or alphabetically where it was a team effort; where one castaway won and invited others, the invitees are in brackets.

Template:Fnb No immunity was given in Ep. 6 because of Michael's injury.

Voting history

	Starting Tribes						Merged Tribe
Episode #:	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Reunion
Eliminated:	Debb 7/8 Votes	Kel 7/8 Votes	Maralyn 5/7 Votes	Mitchell 3/6 Votes2	Kimmi 6/7 Votes	Michael No Vote3	Jeff 5/10 Votes4	Alicia 5/9 Votes	Jerri 6/8 Votes	Nick 4/7 Votes	Amber 4/6 Votes	Rodger 3/5 Votes	Elisabeth 3/4 Votes	Keith 1 Vote	Colby 3/7 Votes	Tina 4/7 Votes
Voter	Vote
Tina		Kel	Maralyn	Mitchell			Jeff	Alicia	Jerri	Nick	Amber	Rodger	Elisabeth		Jury Vote
Colby		Kel	Maralyn	Mitchell			Jeff	Alicia	Jerri	Nick	Rodger	Rodger	Elisabeth	Keith
Keith		Kel	Mitchell	Mitchell			Jeff	Alicia	Jerri	Nick	Amber	Rodger	Elisabeth			Tina
Elisabeth	Debb				Kimmi		Colby	Jerri	Jerri	Amber	Amber	Keith	Keith			Tina
Rodger	Debb				Kimmi		Colby	Jerri	Jerri	Amber	Amber	Keith			Colby
Amber		Kel	Maralyn	Keith			Jeff	Alicia	Elisabeth	Nick	Rodger				Colby
Nick	Debb				Kimmi		Colby	Jerri	Jerri	Keith					Colby
Jerri		Kel	Maralyn	Keith			Jeff	Alicia	Elisabeth							Tina
Alicia	Debb				Kimmi		Colby	Jerri								Tina
Jeff	Debb				Kimmi		Colby
Michael	Debb				Kimmi
Kimmi	Debb				Jeff
Mitchell		Kel	Maralyn	Keith
Maralyn		Kel	Jerri
Kel		Jerri
Debb	Jeff

Template:Fnb Keith and Mitchell were tied 3-3 at Tribal Council and in a Tribal Council countback Keith had no previous votes, but Mitchell had one; therefore, he was eliminated.
Template:Fnb On Day 17 Michael fell into a fire and had to be evacuated due to injuries, as a result he was the sixth person to leave the game meaning no Tribal Council was held.
Template:FnbColby and Jeff were tied 5-5 at Tribal Council and in a Tribal Council countback Colby had no previous votes, but Jeff had two; therefore, Jeff was eliminated

Elimination notes

• Debb - Debb proved to be socially inept and her personality quickly grated on the nerves of her Kucha tribemates. Finding herself unable to fit in and unable to convince the tribe that Jeff was a weak link, Debb was eliminated by a unanimous vote. (voted out 7-1)
• Kel - Kel proved to be the outcast of the Ogakor tribe, never truly bonding with anyone else. He was accused by Jerri of smuggling beef jerky into the game, and despite being one of the stronger members of the tribe, was voted off in a unanimous decision. (voted out 7-1)
• Maralyn - Despite being well-liked by her tribe, "Mad Dog" Maralyn proved to be too much of a challenge liability to keep around. Her stumble in the Episode 3 Immunity Challenge confirmed her to be a weak link, and she was voted off by even her closest allies. (voted out 5-1-1)
• Mitchell - Mitchell had made a strong alliance with Jerri and Amber, who believed Colby was with them in the vote. However, Keith and Tina proved to have stronger ties to the Texan, and Colby sided with them in the vote, creating a deadlocked tie. As Mitchell admitted he was ready to leave the game (having been targeted in the first place for being too weak), a past vote cast against him at the previous Tribal Council voted him out of the tribe (Keith, voted for by the Jerri/Amber/Mitchell alliance, had no previous votes). (voted out 3-3)
• Kimmi - Kimmi, who had a hard time fitting in with her tribe, found herself on the outside of Kucha when she argued with Alicia over treatment of chickens won on a Reward Challenge. When Kucha finally ended their winning streak, it was Kimmi who paid the price. (voted out 6-1)
• Michael - Self-proclaimed leader of the tribe, Michael fell into a fire he was tending at camp. Suffering serious burns on his hands, he was airlifted out of the game, and could not return. This was the first time anyone had left Survivor due to injury. [1]
• Jeff - Once the merge arrived, the 5 Ogakors and the 5 Kuchas found themselves deadlocked in the vote. Ogakor voted for Jeff, who had been revealed earlier in the game by Kimmi to have had previous votes cast against him. Kucha voted for Colby, who had no previous votes to his name. With the tie decided by previous votes, it was Jeff who was voted out. (voted out 5-5)
• Alicia - Secure with their alliance, the Ogakor tribe eliminated the strongest remaining member of Kucha, Alicia. The former Kucha members targeted Jerri, but did not have the votes to turn the game around. (voted out 5-4).
• Jerri - With Nick winning a crucial Immunity Challenge, Colby, Tina, and Keith from the Ogakor alliance finally decided to take out one of their own. Jerri, who got along with very few members of her tribe, received votes from everyone except her close ally, Amber. (voted out 6-2)
• Nick - Nick was targeted by Ogakor as the strongest remaining member of Kucha, as well as one who was becoming progressively more sick. (voted out 4-2-1)
• Amber - Deciding that Elisabeth and Rodger deserved to stay in the game, Tina and Keith turned on the Ogakors for the second time as they voted out Amber, whose game had ended the moment her close ally, Jerri, had been voted out. (voted out 4-2)
• Rodger - Outnumbered by Ogakor's 3-person alliance, Elisabeth and Rodger found themselves with no place to turn. Rodger volunteered to go before Elisabeth, as she needed the money more than he did. (voted out 3-2)
• Elisabeth - As the last remaining member of Kucha, Elisabeth was unanimously voted out by the Ogakor alliance. (voted out 3-1)
• Keith - When Colby proceeded to win the final Immunity Challenge (his 5th IC win in a row), it was Keith who was voted off by the dominant Texan, who decided he'd rather face Tina than Keith in the Final 2, despite the fact that Keith would have been an easy player to defeat.
• Colby - Colby's final vote proved to be a fatal one, as Tina narrowly defeated him in the jury vote. Colby received votes from Amber, Nick, and Rodger, all of which felt they had developed more of a friendship with Colby than Tina (Rodger felt Colby played a more dominant game as well). He ultimately lost the votes of the other jury members, who considered Tina the better strategic player.
• Tina - Tina received four votes from the jury giving her the million dollars and title of Sole Survivor of the Australian Outback. Deemed the more adept strategic player by the jury, Keith, Elisabeth, Alicia, and Jerri admitted they had Tina's vote 100%, and they would never have voted for a physical contestant. Tina never received a vote against her during the entire season.

After the Show

• Fourth-place winner Elisabeth Filarski went on to co-host The View.

External links

• Official CBS Survivor The Australian Outback Website

References

Preceded by The Practice 2000

Super Bowl lead-out program 2001

Succeeded by Malcolm in the Middle 2002