Survivor (2000)

Like previous standout seasons The Amazon and Marquesas, Pearl Islands once again features a perfect mix of good and evil.

The first season's episodes were, in a sense, edited backward: Knowing who was going to be voted off, each show's footage was cut in a way that demonstrated why the expulsion was inevitable. The tribes' motives were made clear, which ensured satisfying drama. In Outback [season 2], Burnett and his bunch are tossing us red herrings, to make the voting impossible to predict.

Anyone who has worked in an office can identify with the tribalists' permanent state of exhaustion and paranoid mistrust, so Survivor's chief goal in the upcoming weeks is to make distinctive some of the initially rather bland-seeming participants.

It's the rock-solid basic format that makes the show feel vital even 11 years and 22 seasons in.

This season is shaping up to be a good one, with strong personalities and savvy players. The Redemption Island twist is making for compelling duels, and no one knows yet how the winner of the Island challenges will integrate back into the tribe.

Why the pick few blacks all the time. And they're voted out first most of the time. Try to out more blacks few white or be fair

The show became very socio-political. Race, gender, sexual orientation. 3 seasons in a row and it stopped being fun to watch. We all know the world is unfair! You're not raising awareness by crudely showcasing those issues! You're being patronizing! Prior to the politics the show was 8/10. Now it's unwatchable 0/10.