I am – Hercules!!

SURVIVOR.

The cool new twist is nobody gets to pack, according to a story in Thursday’s Variety. The castaways will be whisked off to remote Central American islands without warning, and find themselves swimming to shore in the clothes they wore to a meeting with show producers. Expect no luxury items, and the only bikinis we’ll see are the ones they fashion out of underwear and tree bark. One contestant was reportedly wearing no underwear at all when the game started.

Taking a cue perhaps from similar reality hits like “Big Brother” and “Paradise Hotel,” the cast of “Survivor continues to grow younger. 10 of the 16 contestants are in their twenties, and all but one are younger than 45.

BIG BROTHER.

Reflecting the track record of older corporate cousin “The Real World,” “Big Brother’s” ratings have grown steadily with each succeeding season, and Friday’s Entertainment Weekly reports that the fourth edition has proven such a huge hit that CBS has renewed the show through 2006.

The network is so enthusiastic with the show’s performance, especially in key demographics, that it just added two episodes to the end of the fourth season -- so “Brother’s” season finale will now unfold opposite premiering regular season shows.

Oh, and the show is coming to DVD for the first time. The entire third U.S. season (the one won by Lisa, the absurdly hot bartender) hits shelves Nov. 4.

AMAZING RACE.

Word of “Amazing Race’s” demise was, as suspected, premature. It’s not on CBS’s fall slate, but the network has not yet ruled out a fifth edition farther down the road.

FEAR FACTOR.

NBC this week picked up Joe Rogan’s prime-time gameshow for three more seasons (!) as well.

DOG EAT DOG.

AICN usually isn’t too interested in celebrities’ personal lives, but get this: Amazonian mistress of ceremonies Brooke Burns has a new boyfriend: “Moonlighting” vet Bruce Willis.

Fresh episodes of “Survivor” (starting with a special 90-minute opener) return to CBS Sept. 18. Fresh episodes of NBC’s “Fear Factor” arrive Sept. 22.

I am – Hercules!!