Survivor

PREMIERED May 31, 2000

THE SCOOP Arriving at the end of the 1999-2000 TV season — and the beginning of America's reality TV explosion — CBS' version of the Dutch castaway contest proved to be unlike anything on U.S. airwaves and, as a result, became an out-of-the-box ratings smash. Just as important to CBS, though, was Survivor's popularity among younger viewers, a demographic that had long proved elusive for the Eye. Fifteen editions later, Survivor still resides near the top of the ratings heap, but for delectable strategy (winner Richard Hatch, pictured, creating an alliance of four that blindsided his remaining tribemates) and pure unvarnished emotion (fourth-place finisher Susan Hawk's venomous ''snake-rat'' jury diatribe), season 1 remains in a league of its own. —Michael Slezak