When Survivor first came on, it was soundly panned by the critics, but it did have a certain appeal to the lowest common denominator viewers, at least compared to the shows on at the same time on other channels. It was a sort of hybrid cross between the reality of a live sporting event and the authenticity of professional wrestling. But as bad as it was, and it was really bad, when compared to the later reality shows that came along in its wake, like Big Brother or anything that has any Kardashian involved, it looks good in comparison.