Are You A Survivor?

If you think Big Brother is watching, you're right. He will be -- on your television. CBS News Richard Schlesinger reports.

This summer, CBS will drop 16 castaways on a deserted tropical island in the South China Sea. There, they'll fend off deadly coral snakes, construct shelters, forage for food, and set up their own miniature society and government, all while you watch comfortably from home. It's called Survivor.

It may sound a little like the classic hidden-camera show, Candid Camera. Only on Survivor, the cameras won't be hidden. All the participants agree ahead of time to broadcast their entire lives for 100 days. It's designed to be part real-life drama and part game show.

One by one, people will be voted off the island by their housemates and viewers. As they outwit their fellow island inhabitants, they win little prizes. The last one standing wins $1 million.

"We're calling it 'reality-variety,'" says Ben Silverman of the William Morris Agency, "because it's putting these people within a context and an environment and then letting them go."

Survivor is based on a Dutch show called Big Brother. CBS has paid big bucks to bring a version of Big Brother to the U.S., hoping it will be the next big thing.

Why would viewers want to see strangers fight for their lives on prime time? Robert Thompson, a professor at Syracuse University's Center for the Study of Popular Television, suggested, "This appeals to a part of us that I don't think we really want to admit is there.

"For all of the problems, ethical and everything else, there's something that's a little bit exciting," said Thompson.

Besides, foreign shows are all the rage in American network TV these days, especially after the success of ABC's Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, which is based on a British program.