Geographically, socially diverse castaways
The most enjoyable part of Survivor Borneo and the early seasons, in general, was that it featured real people from all different walks of life, which isn’t necessarily the case now. Sure, we get some gems every season, but usually, the casts are filled with recruits trying to make it as actors or models.
Season 1 consisted of people from all over the United States. Places like Kansas, Wisconsin, Colorado, Tennessee, and New Hampshire were represented in the very first Survivor season. In current seasons, we see a lot of people from California.
As I mentioned earlier, I don’t want to delve too much into the differences between the year 2000 and the present day, but the show featuring an openly gay man was a big deal back then. Putting him on a tribe with a 72-year-old Navy SEAL and a very religious 23-year-old was considered controversial 19 years ago.
In the present seasons, gay contestants might mention once or twice that they’re gay, but there’s little to no controversy. That shows how far society has come, sure, but it was interesting going back and re-watching those scenes with Richard and Dirk and experiencing how uncomfortable those arguments/conversations were.
There was also a big deal made when Gervase received the announcement of his son being born and how he had all four of his children out of wedlock. The current seasons don’t focus on those types of storylines anymore. It’s nothing but gameplay, strategy, and twists.