"Survivor" Mastermind Spills Sequel Secrets, DVD Plans

He's Mark Burnett, the mastermind behind CBS' summer TV smash (which returned Friday in reruns), the purveyor of a new book dishing behind-the-scenes Survivor juice--and now the guy who wants to shoot some regular American schmuck into the heavens for a televised rendezvous with Russia's space station Mir.

The 40-year-old executive producer is currently consumed with promoting his island chronicles--Survivor hit book stores Tuesday--and finishing casting for the highly anticipated sequel Survivor: The Australian Outback. ("I'm back to casting at nine o'clock, and we'll probably go through the night," he tells E! Online, on his way to another book signing in Los Angeles.)

Burnett also confirms that a Survivor DVD is in the works. A VHS edition of the Survivor series is expected to hit stores after the Olympics, but given the lengthy turnaround time for DVDs (at least three months), a souped-up digital version, complete with unseen footage, most likely wouldn't appear until Survivor's sequel debuts January 28 after the Super Bowl. Viacom-owned Paramount Home Video has yet to make an official announcement.

As for current casting efforts, Burnett says the most difficult part of the process--narrowing the applicant pool down from 49,000 to 50--is behind him, and final casting should be wrapped up in about a week. Next up for the 50 Survivor hopefuls: written, seven-hour physical and psychological testing.

"They're the same exams given to law-enforcement officers," Burnett says. "We want to find out, 'Are they too fragile? Are they too aggressive and may pick fights?' We have a huge obligation to make sure we don't put people on who shouldn't be there.

"But we're down to 50 great people," he adds. "I think with what we've really gathered, everybody believes that the way the game was played [the first time] won't work the second time around. No one is going to be naïve enough to let a small alliance take over."

Not only that, but this time around, Burnett believes the conditions of the Australian Outback will add a new element to the game. He acknowledges there are indeed dangers to Outback living, not the least of which is sweltering 100-degree weather and rugged terrain that could make Pulau Tiga look like a Caribbean health spa.

There's little doubt the game will differ from the original, and Burnett says he's not trying to recreate or rehash what occurred over 39 days last spring. Viewers have become well-acquainted with the 16 castaways, perhaps even more so thanks to Burnett's new book (written with Martin Dugard).

Among the revelations in Burnett's 230-page diary: Host Jeff Probst clashed with castaway Greg when he mocked the sober sanctity of Tribal Council; the production crew loved Gretchen and was convinced the island was haunted; and the Tagi tribe tried to fool crew members by discussing fake strategies.

But Burnett says readers shouldn't expect a tell-all trashing of his infamous castaways. "I actually allowed some of them to read certain things I thought were on the edge, because I have a commitment with these people not to burn them," he says, adding that, despite the talk of island rivalries or venomous back-stabbing, everyone who participated feels like an extended family.

"It's because nobody screwed anybody else over," he adds. "There was no reason to resort to low blows."

Meanwhile, the reality-show guru soon will have another daunting task on his hands--Destination Mir, the Russian space-camp adventure picked up by NBC this week for a reported $40 million and scheduled to blast off in late 2001/early 2002.

But Burnett bristles at speculation surrounding the safety of sending a Regular Joe into space--let alone to Mir. While the antiquated Russian space station has experienced its share of problems, some astronauts who have flown aboard Mir say the dangers are exaggerated. "Anybody who knows anything about space knows it's one of the safest space programs in the world," Burnett insists.

And if that's not enough to get your rocket boosters charged up, Burnett says he would even consider crusty, lovable ex-Navy SEAL Rudy Boesch for a spot on the launch pad, if the former castaway applies for the show (as he's suggested).

In fact, we can almost see it now: "I consider that cosmonaut my comrade...but not in a homosexual way, that's for sure."