Original: http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/TorontoSun/Entertainment/2004/01/19/317450.html

(And this time I beat LePew to it.)

The axes are out

SURVIVOR: Tension between Burnett and Moonves a slice of the television wars

By BILL BRIOUX

HOLLYWOOD -- As reported in yesterday's Toronto Sun, Survivor boss Mark Burnett dropped the biggest bomb of press tour Saturday by suggesting he might be prepared to snuff out Survivor's Tiki torch. "Who said there'd be a next time?" Burnett responded when asked how he planned to top the Survivor: All-Stars format, which begins Feb. 1. "It's not been ordered or discussed."

CBS CEO Les Moonves sprang into spin mode, telling any reporter who had not already fled the session for a phone that, of course, there'll be a Survivor 9.

Clearly, a rift has developed between the two men.

Burnett may have been stung by Moonves' surprise jab at his new NBC series, The Apprentice. When that show debuted, Moonves threw a fresh CSI against it to try and stunt NBC's ratings. It didn't work -- The Apprentice bowed to over 27 million U.S. viewers -- but Burnett clearly felt betrayed.

For once, he was on the receiving end of a broken alliance.

Burnett was a constant on this press tour, working sessions for NBC, Fox and CBS. He also has shows in development at The WB.

His 10-year-old son joined him at most sessions. The two were boarding and skiing in Whistler, B.C. over the holidays.

Last Saturday, the morning of the Survivor session, father and son had come straight from an editing suite, where they had began cutting together Survivor: All-Stars at 6 a.m.

That might explain why he was a little testy when I asked him why Michael Skupin failed to make the All-Star cut. Skupin was the Australian Outback participant who looked like a final four shoe-in until he fell in a fire pit and had to be airlifted to a hospital and out of the game. Burnett prides himself on being TV's ultimate reality storyteller. Surely, if anyone deserved a second shot, it was Skupin, right?

"Can I hire you in casting?" Burnett said, "Because, obviously, you know more than I do."

I was near the back of the room. He may have mistook me for Moonves.

Burnett did eventually concede that, sure, maybe Skupin should have been there. Ultimately, he chose people he thought would best "drive the drama."

"I got a yellow legal pad and wrote down 24 names and cut it down to 18," he said. "It was that quick."

He consulted with host Jeff Probst and Moonves on the final selections but Burnett had last call.

Winning a past game didn't automatically get you an All-Star berth. Four past champs, Richard Hatch, Tina Wesson, Ethan Zohn and Jenna Morasca, are in. Absent are Survivor: Pearl Islands winner Sandra (briefly considered), along with past champs Brian and Vecepia (who just had a baby).

"It really didn't have anything to do with ... whether you won or whether you were first off," said Probst. "It was who were the most memorable people. And there was another 18 we probably could have taken if it had been a bigger show."

Critics were shown a 10-minute clip from the new series. Original champ Hatch grumps around in a kilt. There's Rudy, the former Navy SEAL who turned 76 yesterday, drinking deadly well water like it was Perrier.

The 18 players were divided into three tribes and had to completely fend for themselves in the Panamanian islands. They had no food, no fire, no shelter, no nothing.

"This was the hardest Survivor ever," said Probst. "Even harder than Africa. It's an ass kicker out there."

Since the castaways all knew this game, nobody trusted anyone. They were sure Burnett would throw them a curve and shake things up good.

Instead, Burnett just stuck to the basics.

"They'll never expect nothing," said Probst.

Burnett said none of the returning castaways received any appearance fees. He refused to discuss whether the prize money was adjusted for the winner or the runnersup.

Two former players declined to participate. Elisabeth Filarski, who now works as a co-host on The View, and Colleen Haskel, the Season One cutie who "just genuinely didn't want to go through it again," said Burnett.

For the others, it was come on and come strong.

As Burnett said, "If they couldn't clear their decks for this, I guess it's not important enough."