By DAVE MASON, Scripps Howard News Service

Ahoy, matey.

"Survivor: Pearl Islands" is going with a pirate theme, and that's the latest twist for the reality show, which starts its seventh season Sept. 18 on CBS. The tribes are named after pirates — Drake and Morgan. And it's fitting since the Pearl Islands are off the coast of Panama, where those pirates did their looting. The participants will even get to set sail on a big ship.

The reality genre is all about finding new twists for familiar formats, and even "Survivor," which inspired many copycats, has had to find new ways of voting people off the island.

But while "Survivor" has remained popular, totally new ideas can be ratings powerhouses. Just when reality shows seem to be at the start of a slump, another series rises that proves the genre, like it or not, remains strong.

Never mind that "The Osbournes" saw its ratings fall, and never mind those earlier news reports saying that the popularity of reality shows had fallen. It takes just one show to build excitement again.

Last winter, it was "American Idol 2," which knocked over established, scripted shows such as "ER" in the ratings. This summer, it was the unexpected hit "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy," in which gay men improve a straight man's home and appearance.

The trouble is that once a novel idea is born, everyone has to copy it.

Look at what "The Bachelor" started.

It led to Fox's "Joe Millionaire," which added a twist of deception to the mix of a man or woman trying to choose a potential mate from contestants. Evan Marriott wasn't really a millionaire, but the women didn't know that.

This fall, the Spanish-language network Telemundo is airing "La Cenicienta," which is similar to "The Bachelorette" except for the twist that the guys don't know the woman actually is the single mom of a young daughter.

And NBC has added different twists this summer to its two versions of "For Love or Money," in which the participants choose romance or a million bucks. (Take the money!)

In another twist on romance, Bravo recently concluded "Boy Meets Boy," in which James, who's gay, had to choose from a mixed group of gay suitors and straight men pretending to be gay. The straight men knew they would win $25,000 if James picked them.

Sometimes it's just a matter of changing around the characters. The Aug. 11 finale "Who Wants to Marry My Dad?," a spinoff of NBC's "Meet My Parents," was the highest-rated show on TV for its week.

And in light of its success with "American Idol," Fox is presenting "Performing As ...," a reality show features everyday people imitating celebrities from Barbra Streisand to Tina Turner and Elton John.

The reality genre is continuing this fall with the return of "Survivor" and another past favorite: "Temptation Island 3." It was Fox's highest-rated series during its first season, but the second version did poorly. Host Mark L. Walberg attributes that to the series premiering around 9/11; he said it was a bad time for any show to debut.

"People always ask me about a new twist," Walberg said. "The show pretty much doesn't have a lot of rules and constraints. It depends on the couples."

Fox, which found a ratings powerhouse in "Joe Millionaire" last year, is bringing back a second version this fall at 8 p.m. Mondays.

Meanwhile, "The Jamie Kennedy Experiment" is back for another season at 8:30 p.m. Thursdays beginning Sept. 18 on The WB.

The hidden-camera show features Kennedy disguised as various, outrageous characters that the unsuspecting "marks" believe are real.

Not every reality show and not every twist on past successful reality shows does well in the ratings. Fox has bumped "American Juniors 2" off its fall schedule; this summer's "American Juniors" didn't match the ratings of the show that inspired it, "American Idol."

Despite the twists, the reality genre follows such predictable formulas that it's ripe for parody, and to its credit, Spike TV has presented a good spoof with "The Joe Schmo Show."

Spike TV recently launched the series in which "contestant" Matt Kennedy Gould thinks he's on a reality show, "The Lap of Luxury." But all the other participants are actors pretending to be reality show participants. So far, Gould still hasn't caught on this is all fake. "The Joe Schmo Show" airs at 9 p.m. Tuesdays.

A less clever spoof of reality shows is Comedy Central's "Reno 911!," in which actors star in a fictional parody of "Cops." It airs at 10:30 p.m. Wednesdays.

The test of a good parody is to be close to the truth while exaggerating things slightly. "Reno 911!" goes too far over the top to be effective. The reality genre isn't that bad.

At least not yet.