Survivor: Cook Islands

Future appearances

Ozzy Lusth, Jonathan Penner, and Parvati Shallow were selected to compete again in Survivor: Micronesia. Penner was medically evacuated from the game in 15th place, Lusth finished in 9th, and Shallow won the season. Shallow would again return for Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains along with Candice Woodcock where they placed 2nd and 8th, respectively. Lusth would also return for a third time in Survivor: South Pacific, finishing in 4th place, and again for a fourth time in Survivor: Game Changers. Penner returned for his third time in Survivor: Philippines where he placed 7th. Woodcock, now using her husband's surname of Cody, returned for her third time in Survivor: Blood vs. Water, alongside her husband, John, finishing in 16th place.

Season summary

According to a local guidebook, pre-production began in the spring of 2006 and principal filming ran from July 3, 2006 until August 11, 2006.

The 20 players were initially divided into four tribes based on race for the first six days of the competition, but later merged into two tribes. An early visit to Exile island resulted in Yul discovering the hidden immunity idol. With the tribes equal at six members each on Day 19, the castaways were given the choice to mutiny and join the other tribe; Candice and Jonathan opted to do so, leaving the Aitutaki tribe at four members, consisting of Yul, Ozzy, Becky, and Sundra, against an eight-strong Rarotonga tribe. However, this served to only increase the determination of the Aitutaki tribe; between strong teamwork, Yul's intelligence, and Ozzy's swimming skills, Aitutaki defeated Rarotonga at every subsequent challenge, leaving Rarotonga with only five members at the merge.

While the Aitu Four merged in the minority, Yul cemented his Aitutaki alliance by showing them the idol, and convinced Jonathan to vote along with them to tip the scales. The Aitu Four quickly took control of the game and were the final four players remaining. With Yul holding the hidden immunity idol and Ozzy winning the final challenge, the four agreed to let a fire-making challenge decide who would join them at the Final Tribal Council; despite this taking more than an hour to complete, Becky emerged victorious. The jury, seeing Becky's coat-tailing of Yul and poor performance at the fire-making challenge, did not consider any votes for her, and Yul's brains edged out Ozzy's brawn, five votes to four.

Filming locations

The tribal camps, Exile Island, and many challenges of Survivor: Cook Islands were filmed on small "motu" (Polynesian word for "islet") in the Aituaki lagoon. The Rarotonga (later Aitutonga) tribe's camp was on Moturakau. The Aitutaki tribe lived on Motukitiu. The short-lived tribes of Manihiki and Puka Puka lived on Rapota and Muritapua, respectively. Most challenges were filmed on Tekopua and Tapuaetai (One Foot Island). Exile Island is a small sand cay south of Tapuaetai, and the bow of the wooden ship was brought in for the show. Just to the West of Tapuaetai is another sand cay called "Nude Island" by locals in reference to its lack of vegetation. The third challenge was played in the shallow waters just off the shore of Nude Island. Akaiami hosted challenges and also "The Ponderosa," where eliminated contestants were sequestered until the end of the game. Tribal Council, the production camp, and a few challenges were located on the main island of Aitutaki. There were three reward trips to the neighboring islands of Atiu, Mitiaro, and Rarotonga.

Diversity and controversy

The decision to divide the teams by race and ethnicity has made this series of Survivor controversial even before airing. Members of the New York City Council's Black, Latino and Asian Caucus have called on CBS to dump Survivor. Those who work with the show indicate that as divisions by age, gender, or gender and age combined, have been accepted this should not be treated much different or it would set race apart. Host Jeff Probst conceded, by implication, a small difference in that racial segregation had actually been practiced in US history.

Conversely, previous seasons have been criticized for not having many non-white contestants. Probst has since pointed out that over 80% of Survivor's applicants are white.

According to Advertising Age Magazine, more than a half dozen major advertisers such as General Motors and Coca-Cola withdrew their advertising after hearing about the teams' division. However, a New York Times report indicates that the decision by several advertisers not to advertise for the current season, including General Motors, Coca-Cola, Home Depot, United Parcel Service, and Campbell Soup, was made three months prior to the start of the show and unrelated to the show's racial format.

The early advertisements for the season also attracted some criticism, as they all coyly hinted at how the tribes would be divided, despite the producers having completely revealed the racial divide some time earlier.

Possibly in response to the criticism, Jeff asked the contestants on the reunion show how they felt about the racial divide, and they said that it helped to disprove the stereotypes about them.

MADtv parodied Cook Islands in its twelfth-season premiere episode, which aired September 16, 2006. The parody involved giving the white challengers significantly easier tasks, such as a swimming challenge which allowed the white challengers to use a canoe, or building a fire with a fire building kit that consisted of gasoline and a DVD on how to build fire, the Hispanic contestants received flint, the Asians received a matchstick, and the African-Americans were given a glass of water.