Game shows have been around since the dawn of television. From Press Your Luck to Jeopardy, viewers have tuned in religiously to watch contestants test their knowledge in the hopes of winning cash and prizes. Now that we have entered the 21st Century, it seems that game shows have reached an entirely new level that seems to have attracted the attention and appeal of everyone – everyone that is – except me.

These days, instead of the typical game show that places contestants in front of a screen to try and answer tough questions – the current game show removes contestants from their everyday lives and places them on a deserted island for months at a time with no food, water, shelter, communication or supplies forcing them to build their own homes and eat beetle larvae and rats in the hopes of winning a million dollars – while the whole world watches their every move.

To me, this is nothing more than The Running Man meets The Truman Show meets Gilligan’s Island. I don’t see the excitement of watching a group of people living on an island trying to exist with nothing but starvation and the hope of a million bucks as their driving force. Yet, the world seems to think this is the neatest thing since peanut butter. Am I wrong? I mean, what’s the draw? What excitement am I supposed to get from Survivor? A sick stomach from watching people eat bugs and rats? A voyeuristic thrill because they can’t see me and I can see them? A hint of giddy anticipation as I wonder who will be next to be “thrown off the island” at “the Tribal Council”? The only thing I do get from Survivor is a sense of bewilderment as to how this is supposed to be entertaining – and why the whole world thinks it is?

The fact that the world thinks Survivor is a hit is no secret. This week, Survivor was the number one prime time show with 24.22 million viewers, beating out Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? – another show I don’t get. I don’t understand how this recycled version of The 64,000 Question has captivated the entire world. All they did was take The 64,000 Question, up the purse and add a few phone calls – So? And? How has that become one of the most popular shows on TV? Maybe it’s me, but I prefer Jeopardy, at least I get to give my brain a workout while watching some good competition between intelligent people who had to pass a test for the opportunity to be a contestant – instead of just be willing to be thrown on an island for a few months away from everything and everyone they know.

If you think this is the end of these new “game shows” – think again – this is only the beginning. The next “game show” to hit the airwaves this summer is Big Brother. This time, viewers get to, as CBS puts it, “follow the daily lives of 10 strangers living together under 24-hour surveillance for three months. At stake is a $500,000 grand prize and a lifetime of notoriety.” – I can hardly wait.

Maybe I’m just a sucker for an old-fashioned quiz show, or maybe I just don’t see the excitement of these new “put people in life threatening situations for the thrill of the audience” type shows – but I do know one thing for sure – the only people that are being played by these new shows are the viewers, and the only ones that are winning cash and prizes are the networks who are raking in millions of dollars in advertising revenues while turning innocent, hopeful contestants into castaways and hermits only to give one of them a fraction of the money that their sacrifices are making for the networks.

And that’s my final answer.