Expedition: Robinson (Part I)

In part one, 16 men and women are marooned on an uninhabited paradisiacal island. Their tasks are to erect sleeping facilities, find food and get along with each other in their fantastic wilderness setting. Casting its shadow ever everything is the fact that this is an elimination competition lasting seven weeks. The one person remaining is declared “Robinson” and wins 30,000 USD. After the first round, the losing team gathers as an “island council” together with the program host to reduce the team by one person. Each participant cast his vote by secret ballot –with motivation- in front of an unmanned camera. The blackballed person now has to leave the island. After 46 days, there is only one contestant left. The first episode of the adventure-entertainment program “Expedition Robinson” precipitated the greatest storm of adverse viewer and media opinion against the Swedish public televisions ervice in the 1990´s. More than 100 press notices declared it a terrible program, not at all public-service, and even went so far as to say it should be cancelled forthwith. SVT´s top management, which shared the ballottings were far too predominant and drawn-out, stopped the series for two weeks for re-editing of the balloting sequences. The sweeping adverse remarks the participants made about each other were deleted. Whether the reason, though, more and more favorable comments began to be heard about the series, even in the press. By the time episode 11 was broadcast, the scandal was transformed into a success. The final episode was seen by 28% of the population. But critics continue to speak of “humiliation” TV.