Survivor: Borneo

Survivor: Borneo is the first season of the Reality Television competition series: Survivor.

Plot
In 1998, CBS offered Mark Burnett the chance to present his idea of the show to producers. In October 1999, CBS held a casting call for a new reality show concept. The idea was Survivor, in which sixteen people would be stuck on an island 20 miles (32 km) away from the mainland of Borneo. Ten main cameras were set on the island that would film the castaways every day. Every three days, a Tribal Council would be held in which one castaway would be voted off the island. The last castaway to be on the island would win $1 million

Over 6,000 people applied for the show; 800 were then interviewed in sixteen cities. 48 semifinalists were then chosen, and after background checks and psychological evaluations done by the producers, the final sixteen contestants and two alternates were picked.

As the survivors awaited the game's start, Survivor crews prepared the island for Reward and Immunity challenges, removing any harmful items, checking for any harmful animals in specific locations, and building a Tribal Council set. Camera and other crews were sent to the island three weeks in advance for testing. On the opposite side of the island from the tribes, headquarters were set up for the producers, and crew to live in on the island. This facility included many traditional trailers with running water, televisions, and one phone line. The Tribal Council set was built two hundred yards from the crew's facility. The Tribal Council set was 30 by 30 feet (9.1 by 9.1 m) with no walls and only a wooden platform. In the middle of the set was the central fire providing fire for the players' torches.

On March 7, 2000, the contestants were flown to Los Angeles, then to the city of Kota Kinabalu in Malaysian Borneo. From there, they were taken by boat to their island. Contestants were not allowed to speak to one another until they got on the boat headed towards their beaches. The two tribes shared the island of Pulau Tiga, which was divided by over 20 miles (32 km) of forest.