If you heard a some sort of noise around 8:00 tonight, don’t worry. It was me. Shrieking with joy at the start of Survivor: Exile Island. I told you I was a reality television addict. You should have believed me from the start.

I am so excited about Survivor, I don’t even know where to start. Ok, how about the teams. I love the concept of dividing by age and gender. First, it riled people up from the start. There’s nothing quite like thinking you’re young & strong & and a player, and then being placed on the “older” team. And dividing people initially into smaller teams changes the voting for the entire game. Even when the teams are mixed up (which looks like will happen quickly – maybe even next week) it will change the alliances.

Then there’s Exile Island. I don’t know which part of being there is worse – the fact that you are stuck on an island by yourself, or the fact that you aren’t with the rest of your tribe. You know that they’re talking about you back at camp. And it looks like you will be stuck there without food or water for a day or two.

Of course, there’s the hidden immunity idol. I loved the hidden immunity idol in Guatemala. But this one is even better. The fact that you can keep it until after you’ve been voted off changes everyone’s voting strategy. There’s so many ways it could play out. Knowing that a person has been on Exile Island, and has the possibility of having that idol, I think I would think twice about sending a vote that person’s way. And if you had the idol, you could swing votes your way, send a vote or two a different person, and end up getting them voted off. I love Mark Burnett.

Before I continue to gush about how excited I am, you might not know how the schedule for shooting Survivor works. The season that airs in the spring is shot in the previous fall – usually while the fall season of Survivor is airing. The upshot of this is that this seasons survivors most likely did not see Survivor: Guatemala, and don’t know about any of the twists from that season. This is important mostly because they don’t know about the hidden immunity idol from last season.

Ok, so there were a couple of stand outs on this season’s cast. First, the younger men’s team – when you thought that people would make fun of you because you couldn’t make fire, well, you were right. Come on – when you knew you were going on Survivor, why on earth didn’t you practice making fire? And what on earth was the problem getting your raft untied? There’s no reason, other than your egos, that you shouldn’t have come in first in that challenge.

And what about the older men’s team? You’ve got an astronaut and a navy fighter pilot (and how cool is that?), and Shane. Did he really say that he smoked 3 packs a day for 20 years, and is now cold turkey on Survivor? What made that sound like a good idea? He’s going to crack…and it’s going to be great television.

Over on the younger women’s beach, they’re not really making a statement about the state of women today. Did they get anything done? I know they don’t have flint, but they should have at least tried to get shelter started. They do seem like they are a force to be reckoned with on the challenges, in spite of losing the first reward challenge (which was really more about luck than anything else).

And Daniela, who spent the first night on Exile Island did remarkably well. I’m shocked that she ate worms (she must have REALLY been hungry), but I loved how she came back into the game. Just leaving everyone with a hint that she might have found the idol was enough to ensure her an extra day or two when it comes down to it.

And then there’s the older women. I am not an outdoors woman. I don’t camp. In fact, I won’t even stay at an Econo Lodge. And that’s ok. I know my limits. But it doesn’t appear that Cirie has that same ability. She’s scared of leaves? Wow. But I don’t think she’s even the one on her team with the worst judgment. Why would they vote off the one person who has some actual survival skills. Sure, Tina was a bit strange. But she knew what she was doing. And when it’s a team game, the best strategy is to vote off your weakest link. They better hope that a team shakeup happens sooner rather than later.

So who do I like early on? It’s hard to say, since I barely know their names. But I like Sally on the younger women’s team (the one who couldn’t fake love of a dead turtle), and Dan (the astronaut) and Terry (the fighter pilot) on the older men’s team.

One last word – if you’ve never watched “Survivor Live” – the internet talk show that’s on cbs.com on Friday’s, you should give it a look. I think it comes on at 2, but you can watch it later in the day in the archives. If you’re as into Survivor as I am, it’s a pretty good show, and a neat look into what life was like for the Survivors.