<p>Most people would probably say “Yes” immediately if someone agreed to pay them a million dollars for spending time on an island. But what if you had to undergo challenges like eating beetle larvae, and be judged by a jury of your peers in order to get the money? Oh, also, finding a place to poop is not fun. That may not sound like your ideal vacation, but to the first-season contestants on&nbsp;<em>Survivor</em>, that was their reality for the 39-day duration of the show. And to the millions of people who were glued to the screen, they witnessed a seminal moment of television that helped define a genre and has continued to this day.</p><p>Ray teaches Rob about the first season of&nbsp;<em>Survivor</em>&nbsp;and how its creators and producers, Charlie Parsons and Mark Burnett, made their dream reality show an actual reality; why psychologists are essential to the casting of the show; Ray’s deep love for Mr. Jeff Probst, the show’s legendary host; moments of the first season that have become part of&nbsp;<em>Survivor</em>&nbsp;canon; the strong personalities that made up the show’s original sixteen-person cast; and how&nbsp;<em>Survivor</em>&nbsp;has innovated on its formula since the first season.</p><p>If you like what we’re doing,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.patreon.com/thiswasathing" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">please support us on Patreon</a>, or you can&nbsp;<a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/this-was-a-thing-the-retro-podcast/id1577054693" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">subscribe to our bonus content on Apple Podcasts</a>. And we’d love to find even more listeners, so if you have time,&nbsp;<a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/this-was-a-thing-the-retro-podcast/id1577054693" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">please leave us a rating or review on Apple Podcasts</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/78G1stm560J7fDZiBbKHSE?si=d5fd534e7c784ddc" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Spotify</a>, or wherever you listen to podcasts. And if you have any other thoughts or feedback you’d like to share with us, we’d love to hear from you -&nbsp;<a href="mailto:[email protected]" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">feel free to email us</a>&nbsp;or&nbsp;<a href="https://www.instagram.com/thiswasathingpod/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">send us a message on social media</a>.</p><h3>TEAM</h3><p><a href="https://twitter.com/totesray?lang=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Ray Hebel</a></p><p><a href="https://www.instagram.com/robwschneider/?hl=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Robert W. Schneider</a></p><p><a href="https://www.instagram.com/mark_schroeder/?hl=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Mark Schroeder</a></p><p><a href="https://www.instagram.com/thebillyrecce/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Billy Recce</a></p><p><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-schwartzberg-257334164/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Daniel Schwartzberg</a></p><p><a href="https://www.instagram.com/gabecrawford/?hl=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Gabe Crawford</a></p><p><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/34399519@N08/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Natalie DeSavia</a></p><h3><br></h3><h3>EPISODE CLIPS</h3><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBSMBfoMVHk&amp;t=99s" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Sue’s Famous Rat and Snake speech</a></p><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AM7VBVBIhco" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Survivor Borneo Rudy Likes Rich Not in a Homosexual way</a></p><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5g\_PjttdKQ&amp;t=362s" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Survivor Borneo in 19 Minutes!</a></p><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BAOzVGV-SBM" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Survivor 1 Borneo Opening Credits High Quality</a></p><h3>ADDITIONAL MUSIC &amp; SOUND EFFECTS</h3><p>“Happy Bee"</p><p>• Kevin MacLeod (<a href="https://incompetech.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">incompetech.com</a>)</p><p>• Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0</p><p>•&nbsp;<a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/</a></p><p>Additional Sound Effects from&nbsp;<a href="https://www.apple.com/legal/sla/docs/FinalCutPro.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Final Cut Pro</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.apple.com/legal/sla/docs/iLife11.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">iLife</a>, and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.apple.com/legal/sla/docs/LogicPro.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Logic Pro</a></p>