Survivor: The Australian Outback, which concludes with a live broadcast ofthe winning vote today (8-10 p.m., Channels 12, 2), has surpassed last summer's Survivor by all measures.

        I'm not saying that because we had a local contestant, teacher-farmer Rodger Bingham from Crittenden, to root for in the $1 million adventure game show.

        Survivor captivated American viewers again because it has all the elements of a great television show — drama, suspense, mystery and a terrific cast. That's how it snuffed out NBC's torch on Thursday nights.

THE FINAL THREE

Tina Tina Wesson, 40, nurse from Knoxville, Tenn.    Highlight: Withdrew from endurance immunity challenge so Keith could win after tribes merged.    Quote: “I want the good guys to win.”    Outcome: Played a fair and square game. Deserves to win. Colby Colby Donaldson, 27, auto detailer from Dallas, Texas.    Highlight: Won immunity weekly down the stretch, plus a new car and two big meals.    Quote: “(Keith) is a fool. The guy's a bozo. My game with Keith is over.”    Outcome: Played a shrewd game, lying to Jeri, clashing with Keith and deceiving Kucha. Could ride hot streak all the way to the bank. Keith Keith Famie, 41, chef from Farmington Hills, Mich.    Highlight: Nobody hit him with the frying pan, despite his lack of skill cooking rice.    Quote: “Ding dong the witch is dead,” after Jeri was voted out.    Outcome: Either finalist wants to be paired with this sap at the end, knowing he'll never win. But that's what we said about Richard Hatch.

        While the first Survivor handily beat summer reruns, this one has knocked off TV's habitually highest-rated drama (ER), comedy (Friends) and game show (Who Wants to be a Millionaire).
       

Rooting for Rodger

        Having a Tristate man on the show helped make Cincinnati CBS' top-rated Survivor city.

        Mr. Bingham, 53, the oldest of the 16 contestants, outlasted many castaways half his age. Then the southern gentleman volunteered for expulsion so Kucha tribe teammate Elisabeth Filarski, 23, could have a shot at the million bucks to help pay for her mother's medical bills. (Elisabeth's mother had breast cancer.)

        “I'd gone about as far as I could have,” the Grant County High School industrial arts teacher told the Enquirer after he was the 12th person voted out of the game in an episode broadcast two weeks ago.

        “(Mr. Bingham) was such a nice fellow. Rodger made it easy for us to cheer for him,” says Susan Wenner of Norwood, who describes herself as “addicted to Survivor with no end in sight.”

        The Outback tested the castaways with raging floods, starvation, wild fires, searing heat, bitter cold, rocky cliffs, dangerous crocodiles and poisonous snakes.

        Forget the rats of Paula Tiga island. These 16 people — now down to the final three — really had to survive.
       

More difficult adventure

        “This adventure is much better than the first,” says Amy Grace Shelton of Cherry Grove, who also is hopelessly hooked on the show. “It looks so hard with the cold, the wet, the sleeplessness and the hunger.”

        When the Survivors ran out of rice, theytraded their tarpaulins and shelter coverings for more food and fishhooks. A few days later, a flood swept away their rice cannister, temporary shelter and fishing rods.

        Perhaps the most intense scene was Michigan chef Keith Famie, 41, and Tennessee nurse Tina Wesson, 40, rescuing the rice container from the rushing waters. They went to bed hungry anyway because Mr. Famie had lost the tribe's matches needed to light a campfire.

        “It was all very real,” Mr. Bingham says about his 36 days in the game. He lost 24 pounds and two pants sizes during the competition.
       

The turning point

        Another dramatic moment was Kucha's Michael Skupin, 38, the Michigan software publisher, falling into a campfire and badly burning his hands. His hospitalization in the March 1 episode changed everything.

        Instead of Mr. Bingham's well-fed Kucha tribe having a 6-4 advantage at the merger with the struggling Ogakor tribe, the sides were even. The former Ogakor members quickly seized the advantage, and have controlled the game ever since. The three remaining players — Colby Donaldson, Tina and Keith — were Ogakor tribe members.

        The Survivor success also can be attributed to a few new wrinkles that creator Mark Burnett added:

        • When the tribes combined in the sixth episode, the players were forced to build a new Barramundi camp in a neutral location instead of moving into an existing spot. The dominant Kucha tribe, which had feasted on fish, pig, chickens (and chicken feed), lost its edge.

        • All of the contestants stayed on the continent for the 42-day production. Nobody came home early, like last year, which fueled speculation on which castaways wiped out early.

        “I was continually surprised. I have had a tough time guessing who was going to get kicked off each week this year,” says Erin Fahey of Clifton.

        • Mr. Burnett assured the secrecy of the $1 million winner by locking away the ballots cast in Australia on Dec. 3. They will be opened on live TV tonight — contrary to what he told TV critics at the January press tour. He bluntly told TV critics: “Yes, they (contestants) know who won.”

        Survivor fans — and TV critics — can forgive the transgression, considering that this is one of the few TV sequels that by far exceeded the original. (That can't be said for AfterMASH, Phyllis, Time of Your Life, Baywatch Nights, The Brady Brides, Beverly Hills Buntz, Joanie Loves Chachi or The Colbys).
       

More attractive cast

        Speaking of Colby: Survivor 2 fans say they enjoy this cast more than the first. These contestants were evenly distributed between ages 22-53, while the first show had older players (three aged 62-72) and none in their 40s or 50s.

        Survivor 2 participants “were more photogenic and less real-looking than last year, but they were more genuine,” Ms. Fahey says. “There were people that you could become attached to and root for and not feel too guilty about it, because they weren't horrible schemers.”

        Mr. Bingham, who brought a Bible along, admits he lost out because he was a horrible schemer. He could hunt, fish, find firewood, build shelters, slaughter and pluck chickens to survive — but he couldn't play the mind games.

        “When I first went into it, I thought I could play the game,” he told the Enquirer. “The game involved back stabbing and lying, forming alliances and scheming; and after I got out there and got to know some of the people, I found out I wasn't very good at that.”
       

Changed his life

        Although he won't win the million, our homespun hero could well become the most memorable character from Survivor 2.

        In the past two weeks, Mr. Bingham has been overwhelmed at how a top-rated TV show can change someone's life. First came a whirlwind week of TV appearances with David Letterman, Bryant Gumbel, Rosie O'Donnell and Craig Kilborn.

        People recognized him on New York streets and asked for his autograph. Ms. O'Donnell presented Mr. Bingham a free one-week family vacation at the Hyatt Regency Kauai in Hawaii. The Cincinnati Zoo has invited him to open the Australian Walkabout exhibit May 12. Hundreds of churches and schools from across America have invited him to speak, so many he says he might not return to teaching this fall.

        Who knows how many more requests will come in after he's seen on tonight's live telecast and on Friday's CBS' Early Show.

        Northern Kentucky's biggest TV star since George Clooney soon may find solace only on his Crittenden farm.

        “When I go out to feed them cattle, they look at me the same way,” he says.

        The tribe has spoken. But not the cows. At least not yet.

        E-mail: jkiesewetter@enquirer.com

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