If there’s one person who’s helped define the state of reality TV, it’sMark Burnett. Burnett produced a fleet of reality shows, some of which continue to this day, likeSurvivor, which is about tohit its 47th season.Survivor’s tagline of “Outwit, Outplay, Outlast” helped shape contestants' cutthroat approach to competition, especially when they’re on an island where the general rules of society might not apply. But long beforeSurvivorhit television screens,Burnett created another series that served as the template for which it and other reality shows would follow. That series isEco-Challenge: The Expedition Race.
Mark Burnett Wanted ‘Eco-Challenge’ To Mirror a Longstanding Adventure Race
Burnett first came up with the idea forEco-Challengeafter hearing about the Raid Gauloises, or as it’s simply known to contestants, the Raid. The Raid is an adventure race that was launched in New Zealand; teams of five participate in endurance events like whitewater rafting, mountain biking, and even horse riding! Burnett would participate in the Raidduring its 1993 edition in Los Angeles; though he didn’t win, the experience convinced himto launch his own televised version.In 1995, the first Eco-Challenge was launched, and the race lasted until 2002. It was also hosted on a variety of networks, including MTV and the Discovery Channel.
What madeEco-Challengestand out wasthat it kept the team aspect of the Raid, meaning that all team members had to work together to get on top. There wasn’t any of the usual backstabbing or insultsbehind a person’s back; athletic skill is the key to winning. In the same way thatSurvivorinspired other reality shows likeThe Amazing RaceandBig Brother,Eco-Challengehad its own successor inPrimal Quest.Primal Questwas coincidentally launched in 2002, the same year that the last Eco-Challenge race was broadcast on the USA channel. It features more intense challenges, but it’s a testament to Burnett’s influence that it managed to last for roughly the same time as the originalEco-Challenge.
Prime Video Relaunched ‘Eco-Challenge’ in 2019
The growing mass of reality television that Burnett was producing in the late ’90s and early 2000s led toEco-Challengegoing off the air, but it wasn’t long before the series made a comeback in the form ofWorld’s Toughest Race: Eco-Challenge Fiji. This time, Prime Video was behind the revival, withBear Gryllsas the host.Eco-Challenge Fijiwas the biggest Eco-Challenge to date, with 66 teams embarking on a race that took them from Fiji’s oceans to its jungles. Even the prize was supersized — the New Zealand team, who wound up as the winners, took home $100,000 in cash. “I knew word would leak about what we were doing,”Burnett toldOutside Onlineabout revivingEco-Challenge. “Once it did, distributors started calling.”
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Putting togetherEco-Challenge Fijiturned out to be just as much of a challenge as actually undergoing it. According to directorKevin Hodder, the race had to be structured in a way that wasn’t constantly pummeling contestants and would give everyone a fair chance, as there were actual athletes. “We’ve got the LeBron James of the sport competing against high-school players, on the same course,”he said during an interview. “The NBA doesn’t have that challenge.”It’s this type of challenge that separatesEco-ChallengefromSurvivor, as skill meets the raw will to win.
Mark Burnett Launched Another Show to Re-Capture ‘Eco-Challenge’s Glory
Eco-Challenge Fijiwasn’t the first time that Mark Burnett had tried to recreate the glory of the originalEco-Challenge. In 2011, he launchedExpedition Impossibleon ABC.Expedition Impossiblewould consist of 10 different stages involving puzzle solving, physical challenges, and harsh terrain, including the Sahara Desert.Comparisons were drawn toThe Amazing Race, but Burnett was quick to shoot those down, saying thatExpedition Impossiblewould put its contestants through far tougher challenges. “There’s no taxis. There’s no hotels. This is very, very different,”he toldThe Hollywood Reporter. “Here, you actually need to put yourself on the line, really be willing to cross the deserts and the mountains and use the camels and the horses. So, it’s a very, very much more difficult competition.”
The rest of America didn’t seem to agree, asExpedition Impossibledrew tepid reviewsand was canceled after a single season. Still, it shows thatEco-Challengewas a show that was ahead of its time. The physical challenge and the determination to win has given birth to other reality shows, and whileEco-Challengecontestants aren’t nearly as bloodthirsty as the ones onSurvivor,it’s still a thrill to watch them.
World’s Toughest Race: Eco-Challenge Fijiis available to stream on Prime Video in the U.S.
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