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Time to tally the votes to see who will survive

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Times Staff Writer

After 39 days of machinations, accusations and confrontations, “Survivor: Thailand” crowns the series’ latest millionaire from among the final four contestants tonight in a two-hour finale at 8 on CBS.

Will it be Brian, the former soft-porn actor who made the tabloids this week after allegedly getting punched out by his wife? Or maybe Helen, the swim instructor who never met an alliance she didn’t like. Fellow Texans Clay and Jan would seem to be longshots at best.

As in the previous four editions of the globe-trotting “Survivor” franchise, the original 16 contestants will gather after the winner is revealed for a one-hour reunion special at 10 that is always good for some juicy moments. Bryant Gumbel was moderator for the first three reunions and Rosie O’Donnell filled in last year, but series host Jeff Probst will keep the job in-house this time.

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An audience of 52 million was on hand for the first “Survivor” finale on May 31, 2000, helping to jump-start a reality-TV trend that is still spawning imitators. The audience had dwindled to about 25 million for the fourth-edition finale of “Survivor: Marquesas” in February, and tonight’s three-hour block should be in the same neighborhood, enough to keep CBS execs smiling even though the phenom days may be long gone.

For those mourning tonight’s finale, fret not: “Survivor: Amazon” is only a couple months away.

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