WRAL Hosts A Survivor

Radio listeners, TV viewers and Internet surfers in the Triangle all got a chance to see CBS Survivor's Gervase Petersen yesterday. The YMCA basketball coach was slated for a full day of activities at WRAL-TV and WRAL-FM, including an Online chat at WRAL OnLine.

Bill and Gervase on WRAL-FM Morning Show

Gervase started the day trading quips with Angela, Bill & Schatze and answering viewer call-in questions on the WRAL-FM Morning Show. He spent lunch with the morning show cast at Playmakers, signing autographs and meeting fans. For the afternoon and evening, Gervase moved on to the TV building. He participated in a live

one-hour chat on WRAL OnLine at 1:00pm, and then appeared on the 5:00pm news on WRAL-TV for a "challenge" of wits with anchor Renee McCoy. Originally from Philadelphia, the 30-year-old Petersen received the ax from fellow castaways two weeks ago in the 10th episode of the hit reality series. Donning a t-shirt with a homemade "target" logo, Gervase became the second to the last Pagong tribe member to fall to the Tagi alliance. Colleen, the last of their kind, had her torch doused the week immediately following.

WRAL OnLine chat with Gervase

Gervase was best known on the program for choosing to bring a deck of cards as his luxury item and for lasting to the final eight by keeping a low profile, a profile which some described as lazy. He has been on a tour of public appearances since the episode on which he received his walking papers aired on August 2.

The brainchild of Executive Producer Mark Burnett, Survivor has been more than surviving the ratings wars between the networks; it has been sweeping its time slot and breaking ratings records. Sixteen castaways were placed on a remote tropical island and voted one of its members off every three days, with the last remaining member winning $1 million.

Because the show was taped in the early spring, unlike counterpart "Big Brother" which is taking place live, the frenzy to uncover the identity of the last survivor before the final telecast has become the most coveted bit of information since the "Who Shot J.R." days of the '80s. Although asked, Gervase remained tight-lipped about the winner during his visit to Raleigh.

Only five of the sixteen cast members remain. One will be voted off tonight at 8:00pm, and the final four will whittle down to one on the three-hour final episode next Wednesday, August 23. The final episode will include a one-hour live town hall with all sixteen castaways, bringing to a close one of the most popular television series ever. Survivor II, to be set in Australia, is set to debut immediately after the Super Bowl in January 2001.