Latest “Survivor” uses a pirate theme, but it’s no “Treasure Island”

Survivor: Pearl Island

CBS

Thursdays

8 p.m. EST.

What happens when you put a bunch… Survivor: Pearl Island

CBS

Thursdays

8 p.m. EST.

What happens when you put a bunch of “survivors” together and pretend they’re playing in a greater scheme involving pirates?

Nothing new.

“Survivor: Pearl Island” premiered last Thursday in a television event that seemed promising. Instead of the usual “Survivor,” where contestants vie for a million dollars by living in the wild for a month and a week, this one would, ideally, be a pirate-themed “Survivor” gala where contestants would sing “Yo ho-ro-ho, the pirate’s life for me,” while ransacking each other’s camps and stealing stuff from host Jeff Probst. And why not? Pirates seem to be in this year, what with the success of “Pirates of the Caribbean: the Curse of the Black Pearl.” But that’s not what this “Survivor” delivers.

The problem is that the pirate theme takes a back seat to the show itself.

And even the pirate theme is questionable. Each “tribe” is named after a pirate captain – Morgan and Drake. The “immunity” thing is a giant axe with a skull through it, and in one of the eyes of the skull is some sort of medallion. The winning tribe of the first competition was allowed to loot the other tribe’s camp – which isn’t really looting, considering they’re allowed to do it. That’s about it. The only thing that seems to be genuinely pirate-themed is the island, where pirate captains once looted the pearls of the island from right under the nose of the Spanish fleets that guarded and claimed the land.

The show, itself, doesn’t have much to be proud of after the first episode. The first challenge was for both tribes to break apart and reassemble their respective wooden cannons in order to get them through some obstacles in a race to the finish line. The result was similar to other competitions in the “Survivor” history – some men ditch their clothes, and one tribe beats the other in a close race.

If you like “Survivor,” you’ll probably like “Pearl Island.” But don’t look for the pirate theme to add more spice.