Why Are We Awash in the Soapy Seas of ‘Survivor’?

Intrigue. Drama. Scheming, backstabbing and plotting. Characters the audience can root against. And last but definitely not least, rats--the two-legged and four-legged kind.

If it sounds like a soap opera, it’s also an accurate description of “Survivor,” the summer series that has established a foothold with millions of viewers in its first two weeks, much to the delight of CBS and potential chagrin of writers once counted on to dream up these sorts of scenarios.

While the 16 people initially stranded on the island of Pulau Tiga ostensibly must work together to survive, each episode ends with one of the group being voted out by their peers, counting down over 13 weeks to three finalists, one of whom will claim the grand prize of $1 million.

Based on the early response, viewers who have glommed onto “Survivor”--and even viewers who haven’t seen the series but have heard enough about it from friends and colleagues to be curious--are finding soap opera elements within the series, which producer Mark Burnett has dubbed “dramality”--that is, a mixture of prime-time drama and a reality program.

Maria Brown, a private-duty nurse who lives in Los Angeles and is an unabashed fan of soaps such as “The Young and the Restless” and “The Bold and the Beautiful,” said she was intrigued by “Survivor” because “I want to see who’s going to be on the island at the end. In a way, it’s like a soap opera because they’re all fighting with each other. It’s an interesting story--they’re all trying to prove something.”

Added Inez Vaughn, a retired New York nurse who watched the first installment of “Survivor” and taped the second episode, “It wasn’t as good as some of the soaps I watched, but so many people are talking about it that I still want to check it out. I know I wouldn’t want to be judge and jury picking who gets kicked off the island.”

Soap opera experts say “Survivor” should be a slam-dunk success with fans of the daytime dramas.

“This show would definitely be of interest to soap fans because it has all of the elements that make soaps so compelling,” said Elaine G. Flores, an executive feature writer of Soap Opera Digest magazine. “It’s got intrigue and suspense, loads of drama. They’re hinting at romance in the previews. Then there’s the backbiting aspect. They’re working togetheras teams, but ultimately it’s every man for himself.”

Kay Alden, the Emmy-winning head writer of daytime’s most-watched soap, CBS’ “The Young and the Restless,” immediately recognized the similarities between her venerable genre and Burnett’s hybrid.

“It is a different form of relationship-oriented drama, centering on character,” she said. “Those are the issues of daytime television. . . . The whole grabber, the whole thing that makes it interesting, is what is going to happen between these people.”

Flores said “Survivor” was a tantalizing blend of soap opera and game show: “This is essentially a game show. Although these people are contestants, they’re not really contestants. They’re characters. We’ve seen prime-time drama borrow from soaps for the past 25 years. This is the first time we’ve seen it spill over into game shows.

“It’s a brilliant idea,” she added. “If you miss one episode of ‘Who Wants to Be a Millionaire,’ you don’t really miss that much. It will essentially be repeated next time. But you miss an episode of ‘Survivor,’ you miss a lot. And with the previews giving a glimpse of what is going to happen, it keeps you coming back.”

While uncertain about how to categorize the program, “Restless” executive producer Edward Scott said he’s already hooked on it.

“I called [CBS Television President] Leslie Moonves and told him, ‘This is the best damn show you’ve ever put on,’ ” Scott said. “Whatever it is, it’s compelling.”

To a degree, “Survivor” represents a prime-time revival of the adult-oriented soap opera, which, shows such as Fox’s “Melrose Place” or the WB’s “Dawson’s Creek” notwithstanding, faded after the peak years of “Dallas,” “Dynasty,” “Falcon Crest” and “Knots Landing.” All those serials were gone by 1993, survived by NBC’s less popular “Sisters” through the 1995-96 season.

To Wendy Riche, executive producer of ABC’s daytime series “General Hospital” and “Port Charles,” the idea of reality as soap opera crystallized during O.J. Simpson’s murder trial, which, making the connection even more direct, in some instances preempted daytime serials.

“When [viewers] can get that kind of high drama from not only a real person but an icon, it’s a greater experience,” she said, adding a cautionary note: “If life is about surviving, soap operas are about the journey of survival, and if the audience cares about the characters, they vicariously take the journey. The characters are like family to the fans. I don’t think that will happen in reality shows.”

James E. Reilly, creator and head writer of NBC’s daytime serial “Passions,” suggested “Survivor” merely represents a new wrinkle on an old form.

“It is a pure soap,” said Reilly, whose credits also include stints on “Days of Our Lives” and “Guiding Light.” “The whole idea of a soap opera is to introduce characters in people’s lives and have the viewers bond with them.”

From that perspective, Reilly thinks the producers of “Survivor” could have made the show more compelling by recognizing what has helped make conventional soap operas a television staple since the medium’s infancy. While he is studying “Survivor,” “They in turn could learn from us,” Reilly said. “If you knew those people better before they got to the island, you’d be more involved in their lives. . . . I haven’t identified with anyone.”

Despite all the media coverage, not everyone is ready to cancel their Wednesday night plans for the summer. Virginia Augustinus, a retired bank employee who lives inLa Crescenta, said based on commercials for “Survivor” she has no intention of watching the series.

“I have no desire,” Augustinus said. “I don’t think these people represent a cross section of our society. They’ll do anything for money and publicity. That has no appeal to me.”

Nevertheless, additional variations of the reality serial are in the offing, including the latest edition of MTV’s “The Real World,” which premieres tonight, CBS’ “Big Brother” and Fox’s “American High,” a documentary from producer R.J. Cutler (“The War Room”) set in a high school. All the shows are being positioned as low-cost alternatives to summer reruns.

Yet unlike soap operas, which run uninterrupted for decades, these programs have finite shelf lives. “Survivor” will end in 13 weeks and, assuming CBS wants to bring the program back, must start over by casting and introducing new “characters.”

“I was talking to my assistant and we were saying, ‘Geez, how much time would you want to spend hanging out with any of these people?’ ” Alden noted.

Soap operas, by contrast, go on and on--an ability that sets them apart from reality serials, which if they go on too long also risk falling victim to a certain self-consciousness regarding the fame such programs can impart.

As Reilly put it, “At some point in time, when do these real characters become actors?”

*

* “Survivor” airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. on CBS.