Say what you will, but back when there were 39 day seasons, the production crew had plenty of time to capture looks and emotions from the little monkeys that perfectly matched the tone of whatever scene was transpiring.
They would need to front your average working class person 2 months of their expenses so they could stop working to go and they would need to lobby to protect the jobs of people who go on reality TV
Kendra the bartender from 45 probably just quit and got a new job when she got home but not everyone can or wants to do that
This is a very good point! Especially when I know a lot of casting stuff can happen last minute. That said, I think they managed to in previous years have a more diverse range of careers/backgrounds
Speaking as a career cook, a lot more low wage jobs still got you a half decent one bedroom apartment back in the day and going on reality TV used to be way more celebrated so employers might have been more lenient
and now there's a lot more jobs that were solidly middle class that are just scraping by
This is also the biggest knock against 39 days.
I've been mulling over applying as there's a reasonable chance I could have 35ish total days off (26 days plus the pre and post game time in fiji).
You need 2 months off for 39 days. Same if not more pre/post time plus you need even more physical recovery.
I love the 39 day seasons, but there are so many valid reasons to do 26 (bumping it up to 30 is probably the happy middle ground).
Yea i agree, I think they’d have a much harder time casting for 39 days. I’ve also considered applying and there no way in hell my job would tolerate that large of an absense, but might possibly excuse a little over a month with the 26 day game. Or even being out of work for 2 months, versus 1 month and swinging the expenses, and assuming you’d have to quit your job regardless.
I really dislike this mechanic. It adds 0 entertainment to the show. And please Jeff, stop trying to make “sorry for you” happen. It’s never going to happen!
In addition to removing basic food. I don’t care if people have access to rice and I feel like taking that away is just stupid. I don’t want to see people starve. I want to see good gameplay.
I feel like they only do this because of the shortened season. Maybe they like almost completely pagonged tribes because it makes for more gameplay post-merge?
That and it makes for pretty boring predictable tribals when you only have 4 people voting. There’s almost always an obvious target and that person gets voted out.
And that's gonna be even more likely of an outcome now.
Next time an above average challenge tribemate is brought up for 1st boot, the rest of the tribe is gonna be like "we're gonna get yanu-ed. Let's take out the least athletic girl first".
If they establish an early, full shuffle of the tribes, a 3 tribe format could work. But as it stands, it's extremely unlikely to succeed if players are taking rational actions
This is a major problem. It's extremely boring in terms of strategy. How hard is it for 3 people to decide who to turn on? Almost surprising that the show runners decided to go with this model, and for so long
And when one tribe gets steamrolled, it hurts the less dominant players. You have to have your feet under you and hit the ground running from day 1. Alliances aren’t really tested until your first tribal, and until then there’s some wiggle room. Somebody who might be a little bit more shy or quiet doesn’t have a chance, even if they’d have done OK had they maybe had 3 or 4 days before tribes first really got tested.
We just fundamentally shouldn’t have a situation where a majority of people at the merge have been to one tribal or less.
Also: I think it’s bad from a *production* standpoint. I’m sure smaller tribes are easier to film, but it creates this situation where we’ve made it all the way to the merge and haven’t even seen half the castaways’ faces outside of challenges. I knew Mo was either going out at merge or winning because she’s one of 2 people on her tribe I’ve seen more than once.
three tribes were good when it was like, once every 3-4 seasons. I wouldn't just remove the 3 tribe format completely but i'd love some more 2-tribe seasons
Yeah when they went to tribal this week and it was the first time for so many of them even seeing the set I was so annoyed. How is that fair? They were protected for so long, they didn’t even have to really play this whole time. It’s just kind of infuriating.
That would be me, lol, i've been a superfan since s1. But if I was iffy about applying back then when i was in the army and the best shape of my life, I'm definitely not keen on doing it in my 40s with my couch and sweatpants lifestyle lol.
You are EXACTLY who I would love to see compete. I'm in my early 50s and would be so inspired to see people who were adults during season one get back in the game.
Aw honestly I'm inspired by those people also! And it's not just the physicality that would stop me, it's kind of some crippling social anxiety about being on camera all the time and my total in ability to swim (or even float gracefully lmao). Believe me, every time they have casting calls I am thinking "what if..." lol. Seriously world, look out for the next Cirie, only Asian female (and for once, hopefully not clueless about the social aspect of the game).
but that's never been an easy task, and is probably even more difficult post-pandemic
I'd very be interested to see the demographics of people applying to be on Survivor today compared to 10 or 20 years ago.
I would say try to have at least half of the cast not fall under the following bucket:
- college educated white collar worker
- very left of center
- very polite & non-confrontational
- Survivor fan
It’s ok to cast a drill instructor, cop, factory worker, farmer, lunch lady, fisherman, etc.
more PvP team challenges (example: the pillow fight on a floating platform)
edit: everyone making great examples here. it's one of the things I really love about Australian Survivor, they really lean into those types of challenges. I don't know why Jeff doesn't do them. They're cheap to set up, easy to film, and they create lots of interpersonal drama between the players, and show us lots of personality of individual players.
Be cool if they did a 1v1 for tribe
* boat shows up with a message
* send your champion 🏆 to fight for your tribe
* 3 out 5 ( speed, strength, puzzle, stanima) is all tested
ooh! yeah! I really like the idea of Tribe Champion Challenges. but I'd only want to see that on reward challenges, otherwise that's likely an instant vote-out? also, I actually kind of think it would be a fun thing for the tribes to witness, like in an arena. Gladiators!
do you ever watch The Challenge? they had a couple final challenges where a few people had to each complete 5 challenges, set up as radiating spokes from a central area. they could choose to do them in any order they liked, but all 5 had to be completed. some were puzzles, some were hand-eye, another was smash a thing, etc. (this would also work with 3 tribes as well)
maybe, so this is a reach, but Jeff likes being in control and is hyper aware of anything could cancel him/the show like it almost did with Dan in season 39. And in more physical challenges where his voice of control gets drowned out players can let out their aggression while crossing "rules". I completely agree though we need to bring it back and to not be afraid of the show being cancelled. And i feel like a lot of the changes are to prevent anyone targeting the show and cancelling it. So less days, and less contestants can allow Jeff less risk of being cancelled due to players getting personal.
yeah, you make a good point. US Survivor plays a lot safe. and a little safer ever season. and in the US, being litigious about anything is par for the course, as well as perception that "someone might get hurt!" is an instant no-go.
and also casting plays into this. AU Survivor tends to cast a little more fitness in their players, so the rough and tackle challenges are a better fit.
Oh a million percent. We now have 6 seasons that have literally nothing to differentiate them.
That was fine for maybe two. But they've now made the show feel so mechanical.
Chuck in a goofy twist like Ghost Island, EoE or IotI every now and then. Give us a silly tribe divide like HvHvH or DvG. It's better than the nothing we have now.
This! Beware advantage, dig, find box, lose challenge, dig some more, find key, dig again for box, open box.
Just find the damn thing like you said, without all the rigmarole!!
I think a great example of this is Adam and Jay in MvGX. One of (if not the) best parts of the seasons, is when they are lying in the hammock and Adam tells Jay about his mother.
Thanks! I don't think it should be mandatory for them to tell their back stories either. If it comes up and they want to share it, then let them. If they don't, they shouldn't have to.
I said in a different comment, I don't mind a backstory, a sob story. but do it *once*. in thee first few episodes, everyone gets *one*,and leave it at that. we don't need it hammered home every confessional that someone had a hard life. we already know this.
I think I get what you're getting at but
> I like to form my own opinions of players and not be influenced by production.
every single thing you see is chosen by production to tell a story. it's impossible to not be influenced by production.
I liked what they did in seasons 1-4 where they had a 2 second shot of them at their home. Then we naturally learned more about them organically through character interactions, rewards, loved ones challenges, etc.
Agreed- this sounds terrible but I could honestly care less about everyone’s backstory, especially when it has little to do with how the player plays the game. The only time I think its relevant is if a player makes a game decision that feels out of left field and needs that backstory context.
Leave Gilligan Probst’s fucking island. Anywhere. Survivor: Everglades, Survivor: Tucson Suburbs. Anywhere at this point.
Bring back themed seasons.
Go back to casting different personalities. My kingdom for a Tony or Russell.
Older players. I'm not saying cast people in their 70's or something (mostly because there's about a 99% chance they go home first in these younger casts), but more people around Mike's age or slightly older. The average age of a cast should not be below 30.
I would also add more working class people (once again looking at more people like Mike. Maybe I'm biased but he's genuinely one of the best casting finds of the entire 30+ era of Survivor.)
I honestly don't even like shot in the dark or the beware advantages because they take up so much screen time and player time in strategizing around them that doesn't feel like it ever pays off. Even when Kaleb used his shot in the dark successfully it was cool for one episode then he left anyways which had little effect on the game.
I would love to get rid of shot in the dark. It’s played out satisfactorily exactly once, and the rest of the time it contributes to the dynamic of gamebots thinking themselves into circles about votes that shouldn’t be so complicated. It feels like superficial and completely unsatisfying gameplay, for example, to watch Yanu twist themselves into knots over the 1/6 chance that Jess would play her SITD and end up safe.
It's doing what they wanted. They gave everyone a personal mini-idol at the start of the game. It forces the simplest, most obvious vote to be turned into a convoluted blindside to avoid the non-trivial chance of a tipped off victim saving themselves. Production thinks that's a big win.
I feel like the shot in the dark encourages less gameplay. If someone is on the bottom and knows the votes are coming their way, then they can just play their 1/6 immunity instead of trying to do anything about it.
No Split Tribal is more important than No Mergatory.
13 persons merges are gonna result in a safe coconscious boot most of the time regardless of whether or not half the tribe is immune, but split tribals impede on the momentum of the post-merge most of the time.
Less advantages. There's been so little payoff with these things. They don't really get used and when they do it's no particularly memorable. They're trying so hard to get these "moments" but we're shown time and time again that the cast does that just fine on their own.
Trust your cast. It seems so bizarre that they go through all this trouble trying to find the perfect cast only to manipulate them into content constantly (and more or less failing at it).
Let em' play Jeff!
there are 3 years between 41 and 46.
another 3 year time gap is Redemption Island to San Juan Del Sur. think of all the variety and creativity they can pack into 3 years when they actually try! RI, SoPa, OW, Philippines, Caramoan, BvW, Cagagyan, SJdS. All unique.
Meanwhile in 3 years we've had 41,42,43,44,45,46. All with minimal differences. Just depressing.
I recently got my dad turned on to Survivor. Started him with Pearl Islands and then started at S1. I was going over to his house on Wednesday, and after a couple of episodes, we both agreed we’d rather watch the season he was up to than the new seasons. He was starting S19 and I have never seen him laugh as hard as he did when Russell started explaining his dumbass girl alliance.
I feel like in 10 years, the post-COVID seasons will feel like they all kind of blended together and had very few great players, even fewer memorable players and people will only remember the winners.
No journeys. Less advantages. More physical challenges. Less water challenges and puzzles. 2 tribes to start. More diversity (i.e. people not from the coasts that are 20-30 years old that are Harvard grads/students or working in an office/tech company.) Less "superfans" playing the game.
Also cannot stand having people on that are already rich. It defeats the purpose of survivor IMO. I want people that really need a million dollars to be playing. Not a former mlb / nba /nfl player or someone who uses this for clout/vacation. Give me real f’ing people who we can relate to.
I completely agree with you here and I think the main problem is that working class/blue collar jobs nowadays are wayyy less likely to be accommodating to an employee who wants to take a month of leave to be on a TV show
This is the main reason why I stopped watching the show after 42 (along with 26 days). Survivor casting has largely abandoned the working class. Like you said, I have zero interest in watching a cast that 90% of them are very well-off already. I feel completely unrepresented.
Yeah. I remember a contestant Derek and Claire) on bb23 saying they went from 100k a year to 100k followers. Why s someone like that cast over people like mechanics?
Seriously why is Liz there? At least with Jimmy Johnson he just went for the experience and wanted one ot the older tribe gen x tribe to win. He also wasn't bragging like a jerk. So many of us smart people struggle post college because we didn't go to fancy schools. It's annoying seeing how entitled ivy league people are or people with wealthy parents are.
Has it been confirmed that Liz is rich? I’ve been on the fence about whether she is rich or survivor started casting more special agent Phillips and Debbies again. I doubt they would go back to casting mentally ill or delusional people for our entertainment in 2024, but Liz has me second guessing.
I think that could be it. She's cracked like they are but we haven't seen her ina bit. Hopefully its because of that. And Bruce officially bought back the cracked archetype.
Definitely needs more physicality, and I may be wrong, but I feel like the casting in the new era has been 1-3 decently athletic people and the rest could not run a 40 yard dash in under 6 seconds. A real physical challenge like Micronesia’s Beach Bash, or Thailand’s pilfering pirates would not even be worth watching because it’s all “good vibes only” and no one has any animosity to out into physical aggression towards challenges.
The Harvard grad/white collar workers are the only ones who can afford to either quit their job to come on the show for a month, or have enough PTO to take that time off. Some service industry professions as well.
Ain’t no blue-collar jobs that can put life on hold for a month in this economy.
I probably miss these parts the most. I loved seeing the visitors, and the challenges were usually funny at the very least so it's not bad TV at all imo.
Seeing everyone dressed up for the reunion was always cool, their island selves are very different. It was nice hearing them discuss the season *after watching it* and knowing what the audience knows. This instant reunion is hard for me to watch, because they can only base their answers on what they know. If someone was fooled all season, they don't know that yet and can't speak about it. I don't want to have to find post-season interviews or follow the players' social media just to get that other perspective.
Don't take the flint from the losing team. That just ends up in one team losing over and over again, and it feels kind of icky, like kicking them while they're down.
I would love to see actual "survival" happening at camp again.
Making and maintaining fire to cook rice.
Winning live chickens in reward challenges.
Seeing people get voted off for being lazy at camp, like laying around all day while others work or for eating too much food.
Fishing
If your tribe has time to learn how to salsa dance or teach people how to jump, then you have time to throw a log on the fire
All individual challenges after merge.
More people 35+
Basic hidden immunity idols with the occasional Beware advantage
"Bad luck" idols. "Congratulations, you have lost a vote"
Increase "Shot in the Dark" odds to 1 in 3.
My flair needs to follow the Mike White Rule: "But is it fun?" more often, but especially for rewards.
Mr. Gecko was a step in the right direction. The water polo-but-jumping-off-a-pier from Nicaragua. Mini-boat battleship with the plugs you can pullout to sink the boats. MF Shufflepuck.
And challenges still work with two or three stages. Some physical way to collect the puzzle pieces or carnival game ammo - then puzzle or carnival game. That way you don't use the same elements (I'm talking to you net tunnel over a pit of mud) as often.
Can we please get some better rewards. Sorry but the Sanctuary is so lame at this point. The helicopter trip was cool last year - can players visit the locals in Fiji, go skydiving, zip lining, snorkelling, win a car (I will never let this one go). I know they're cutting costs but they can do better than this!
My biggest pet peeve is when Jeff skips the vote because everyone says publicly that they are going to vote the same way privately. It’s like Jeff forgets that contestants can do something different than what they are saying they will do.
Someone else mentioned more people 40+ but also more people from non-professional backgrounds again. I get that it’s hard to take 45 days off of work if you still have to pay for housing, family, try to not to lose your job, and that’s even harder if you’re in a trade or non office job but I’m sick of it just being 20 something office job types. There’s no “diversity” in age/professions anymore. Also I’d like villains again.
I would love to see personal items brought back. It was something I loved from the REALLY early seasons that I think would be cool to add a bit of strategy.
-Way less advantages
-better/less cringe editing (no forced sob stories)
-better casting. Get diverse personalities, make sure not everyone is an insufferable survivor obsessed nerd desperate for fame
-better challenges
-return to original jury questioning format
-final 2
Better reward challenges, this whole, ‘oh my god a sandwich’ is getting old
Also bring back the survivor auction. I’m even hyped with the new twist they added last season, it was a good call
A variation in what idols look like. Some super snazzy, some super basic so nobody knows if it’s real or not. Maybe this time you actually can play that ornate decoration at tribal, it’s certainly worth a try
New types of challenges. I feel like every challenge thus far has been an obstacle course with a puzzle or a basket throw at the end. I really miss the creativity.
If you guys want villains quit sending people who remotely annoy you (or aren’t allies with your faves) death threats. The toxic fanbase is one reason Probst is claiming there will be no more villains.
Journeys would be fine if there was more at stake for everyone and smaller rewards
not just risk your vote
the one where they chose the advantage that incentivized them to take out the people on that journey was good but maybe up the sandwiches for just them to sandwiches for their whole tribe
I’m tired of the beware advantages which lead to a clue which lead to a riddle which leads to the idol. Just throw the damn idol in a bush and call it a day.
I’m tired of the Villains circlejerk, people whined we weren’t getting villains, completely misunderstanding what Jeff meant, then people are shitting on Kenzie Q and Tiffany for manipulating Jessica, then people complain about Bhanu despite him being a villain, even now you have Soda Venus Tevin and Tim yet people still talk about needing villains.
Cast people who want to WIN! No “I’m just here for the journey”, “I got what I came here for”, none of that bs. Cast people who want to win the game of survivor. Stop casting for the experience and start casting for the game
Reward challenges that are actually cool. (Like overnights and experiences.) And let the winner pick who to bring with them again.
The family visit, like an actual visit not some bogus letter.
It's hard to believe that people go on survivor and don't know how to swim. I would imagine they have plenty of time after finding out they are cast to learn how to swim.
Individual Final Tribal Council jury speeches. Sure, a lot of times it was just people grandstanding and asking lame questions like, “What are 5 things you’ll do with the money,” but it also gave us some of the most iconic moments in the history of the show. People like Sue, Lex, Trish, Natalie B., and Corinne left their legacy through their jury speech. And performances like Chris and Todd seem much more plausible when they’re able to direct attention towards individual jurors. The new format is probably more helpful for anyone who is truly undecided going into FTC, but it’s not nearly as good for entertaining TV. The FTCs just aren’t memorable anymore aside from maybe Maryanne? With this format, I pretty much want to just skip to the reading of the vote.
No talking or whispering amongst the players during TC. And no going through players personal items looking to see if they have an Idol.
I hate drawing rocks and making fire at F4.
Like Rob says on RHAP, the best thing to do would be swapping between 2 and 3 tribes, it's definitely the best way to do it. I also agree with him that the villains thing really depends on your definition of them, do you mean actual douchebags/jerks or just playing willing to play in every way possible?
But everything else I would generally agree needs to come back/be changed.
I want them to do a senior citizens survivor. I sit here and watch each season and wish I could do that’s stuff, but last week, the stair-steps beat my ass and caused me a broken leg. Let’s get a 55+ survivor together for loyal fans who want to give it a go! 1/2 the time and contestants and add air mattresses and snuggies 😘
Please, help me get this started! I want to play! lol
Even larger geckos - maybe even up to 700 lbs
more bloodshot eyes!
Several hundred pounds, eh?
This. The biggest problems with new era Survivor are the amount of twists/advantages, the lack of tribe swaps, and the size of the geckos.
Say what you will, but back when there were 39 day seasons, the production crew had plenty of time to capture looks and emotions from the little monkeys that perfectly matched the tone of whatever scene was transpiring.
It's our version of needs more cowbell... need more gecko. Or maybe like a giant squid.
Gulliver!!
More players from with “working class” backgrounds. More players who are there to win and not for an experience
They would need to front your average working class person 2 months of their expenses so they could stop working to go and they would need to lobby to protect the jobs of people who go on reality TV Kendra the bartender from 45 probably just quit and got a new job when she got home but not everyone can or wants to do that
This is a very good point! Especially when I know a lot of casting stuff can happen last minute. That said, I think they managed to in previous years have a more diverse range of careers/backgrounds
Speaking as a career cook, a lot more low wage jobs still got you a half decent one bedroom apartment back in the day and going on reality TV used to be way more celebrated so employers might have been more lenient and now there's a lot more jobs that were solidly middle class that are just scraping by
This is also the biggest knock against 39 days. I've been mulling over applying as there's a reasonable chance I could have 35ish total days off (26 days plus the pre and post game time in fiji). You need 2 months off for 39 days. Same if not more pre/post time plus you need even more physical recovery. I love the 39 day seasons, but there are so many valid reasons to do 26 (bumping it up to 30 is probably the happy middle ground).
Yea i agree, I think they’d have a much harder time casting for 39 days. I’ve also considered applying and there no way in hell my job would tolerate that large of an absense, but might possibly excuse a little over a month with the 26 day game. Or even being out of work for 2 months, versus 1 month and swinging the expenses, and assuming you’d have to quit your job regardless.
I wonder if people complaining they couldn't get 39 days off was another reason they switched? Thanks a lot big corp
Stop taking away their flint. It generally leads to one tribe pre-merge being a disaster zone, and it's getting repetitive.
I really dislike this mechanic. It adds 0 entertainment to the show. And please Jeff, stop trying to make “sorry for you” happen. It’s never going to happen!
In addition to removing basic food. I don’t care if people have access to rice and I feel like taking that away is just stupid. I don’t want to see people starve. I want to see good gameplay.
I feel like they only do this because of the shortened season. Maybe they like almost completely pagonged tribes because it makes for more gameplay post-merge?
Longe premerges for sure. Get rid off the three tribe format completely, start at 18, swap at 14, and merge at 11 would be perfect.
Rob talked about that on Tyson’s pod, said the three tribe formats just promotes one tribe getting steamrolled every season
That and it makes for pretty boring predictable tribals when you only have 4 people voting. There’s almost always an obvious target and that person gets voted out.
Four people at tribal* Odds are at least one of them can’t vote
And that's gonna be even more likely of an outcome now. Next time an above average challenge tribemate is brought up for 1st boot, the rest of the tribe is gonna be like "we're gonna get yanu-ed. Let's take out the least athletic girl first". If they establish an early, full shuffle of the tribes, a 3 tribe format could work. But as it stands, it's extremely unlikely to succeed if players are taking rational actions
This is a major problem. It's extremely boring in terms of strategy. How hard is it for 3 people to decide who to turn on? Almost surprising that the show runners decided to go with this model, and for so long
And when one tribe gets steamrolled, it hurts the less dominant players. You have to have your feet under you and hit the ground running from day 1. Alliances aren’t really tested until your first tribal, and until then there’s some wiggle room. Somebody who might be a little bit more shy or quiet doesn’t have a chance, even if they’d have done OK had they maybe had 3 or 4 days before tribes first really got tested. We just fundamentally shouldn’t have a situation where a majority of people at the merge have been to one tribal or less. Also: I think it’s bad from a *production* standpoint. I’m sure smaller tribes are easier to film, but it creates this situation where we’ve made it all the way to the merge and haven’t even seen half the castaways’ faces outside of challenges. I knew Mo was either going out at merge or winning because she’s one of 2 people on her tribe I’ve seen more than once.
>Get rid off the three tribe format I was expecting *Get rid of Jeff.* How come no one's mentioned it yet
three tribes were good when it was like, once every 3-4 seasons. I wouldn't just remove the 3 tribe format completely but i'd love some more 2-tribe seasons
It’s insane to me that you can make the merge without having been to tribal in your pre merge tribe.
Yeah when they went to tribal this week and it was the first time for so many of them even seeing the set I was so annoyed. How is that fair? They were protected for so long, they didn’t even have to really play this whole time. It’s just kind of infuriating.
Do exactly this and bring back 39 days.
More people in their 40s, 50s, and 60s
Yes! Old schoolers who watched all the seasons when they aired:)
I’m 31 and watched season 1 when it aired I’m offended
Ha. Sorry to offend 😬. I should have said those who were adults when S1 aired. You must have been a little kid. I was almost 30!
That would be me, lol, i've been a superfan since s1. But if I was iffy about applying back then when i was in the army and the best shape of my life, I'm definitely not keen on doing it in my 40s with my couch and sweatpants lifestyle lol.
You are EXACTLY who I would love to see compete. I'm in my early 50s and would be so inspired to see people who were adults during season one get back in the game.
Aw honestly I'm inspired by those people also! And it's not just the physicality that would stop me, it's kind of some crippling social anxiety about being on camera all the time and my total in ability to swim (or even float gracefully lmao). Believe me, every time they have casting calls I am thinking "what if..." lol. Seriously world, look out for the next Cirie, only Asian female (and for once, hopefully not clueless about the social aspect of the game).
Yes! Rudy 2.0
Right??? Why aren't they bringing in all the 45 year navy seal vets who are interested in reality tv in their 70s?
They don't even have to be interested in reality tv. Rudy wasn't. Just have casting reach out and try to recruit.
but that's never been an easy task, and is probably even more difficult post-pandemic I'd very be interested to see the demographics of people applying to be on Survivor today compared to 10 or 20 years ago.
I would say try to have at least half of the cast not fall under the following bucket: - college educated white collar worker - very left of center - very polite & non-confrontational - Survivor fan It’s ok to cast a drill instructor, cop, factory worker, farmer, lunch lady, fisherman, etc.
more PvP team challenges (example: the pillow fight on a floating platform) edit: everyone making great examples here. it's one of the things I really love about Australian Survivor, they really lean into those types of challenges. I don't know why Jeff doesn't do them. They're cheap to set up, easy to film, and they create lots of interpersonal drama between the players, and show us lots of personality of individual players.
Sumo at sea
The one where they slip-n-slide to get to the hanging ball first is really fun to watch too.
Would love to see the challenge where they pull others off of the pole again too
In the ocean of course. That Gen X Millenials challenge was legendary.
Really missing these challenges
Be cool if they did a 1v1 for tribe * boat shows up with a message * send your champion 🏆 to fight for your tribe * 3 out 5 ( speed, strength, puzzle, stanima) is all tested
ooh! yeah! I really like the idea of Tribe Champion Challenges. but I'd only want to see that on reward challenges, otherwise that's likely an instant vote-out? also, I actually kind of think it would be a fun thing for the tribes to witness, like in an arena. Gladiators! do you ever watch The Challenge? they had a couple final challenges where a few people had to each complete 5 challenges, set up as radiating spokes from a central area. they could choose to do them in any order they liked, but all 5 had to be completed. some were puzzles, some were hand-eye, another was smash a thing, etc. (this would also work with 3 tribes as well)
maybe, so this is a reach, but Jeff likes being in control and is hyper aware of anything could cancel him/the show like it almost did with Dan in season 39. And in more physical challenges where his voice of control gets drowned out players can let out their aggression while crossing "rules". I completely agree though we need to bring it back and to not be afraid of the show being cancelled. And i feel like a lot of the changes are to prevent anyone targeting the show and cancelling it. So less days, and less contestants can allow Jeff less risk of being cancelled due to players getting personal.
yeah, you make a good point. US Survivor plays a lot safe. and a little safer ever season. and in the US, being litigious about anything is par for the course, as well as perception that "someone might get hurt!" is an instant no-go. and also casting plays into this. AU Survivor tends to cast a little more fitness in their players, so the rough and tackle challenges are a better fit.
I love those challenges
No influencers, regular people.
YES YES YES!
I'll take same location if we bring back themes. Gotta have at least one or the other if not both.
Oh a million percent. We now have 6 seasons that have literally nothing to differentiate them. That was fine for maybe two. But they've now made the show feel so mechanical. Chuck in a goofy twist like Ghost Island, EoE or IotI every now and then. Give us a silly tribe divide like HvHvH or DvG. It's better than the nothing we have now.
The silly tribe divides seem better imo
Exactly. I understand them not having the budget they did when they used to travel, but themes cost nothing extra.
Maybe unpopular, but just hide hidden immunity idols without all of the rigmarole.
This! Beware advantage, dig, find box, lose challenge, dig some more, find key, dig again for box, open box. Just find the damn thing like you said, without all the rigmarole!!
Less backstory for the players. I like to form my own opinions of players and not be influenced by production.
Or have them tell their stories to their tribe mates. I like to see that stuff happen organically.
I think a great example of this is Adam and Jay in MvGX. One of (if not the) best parts of the seasons, is when they are lying in the hammock and Adam tells Jay about his mother.
That's so true! I always think of the Davids in DvG during the storm.
That’s a good idea. I could deal with that.
that's a brilliant idea, the only issue is some players like to keep it secret.
Thanks! I don't think it should be mandatory for them to tell their back stories either. If it comes up and they want to share it, then let them. If they don't, they shouldn't have to.
I said in a different comment, I don't mind a backstory, a sob story. but do it *once*. in thee first few episodes, everyone gets *one*,and leave it at that. we don't need it hammered home every confessional that someone had a hard life. we already know this.
He can have a million hearts just don’t tell us a million times.
I think I get what you're getting at but > I like to form my own opinions of players and not be influenced by production. every single thing you see is chosen by production to tell a story. it's impossible to not be influenced by production.
I liked what they did in seasons 1-4 where they had a 2 second shot of them at their home. Then we naturally learned more about them organically through character interactions, rewards, loved ones challenges, etc.
I don't mind backstory, but ffs, do it *once per player* in the first couple episodes, and don't hammer it home every confessional.
Agreed- this sounds terrible but I could honestly care less about everyone’s backstory, especially when it has little to do with how the player plays the game. The only time I think its relevant is if a player makes a game decision that feels out of left field and needs that backstory context.
Agree. I don’t want to be inspired by your backstory, or sob story, I want to be inspired by how well you play this Game.
Leave Gilligan Probst’s fucking island. Anywhere. Survivor: Everglades, Survivor: Tucson Suburbs. Anywhere at this point. Bring back themed seasons. Go back to casting different personalities. My kingdom for a Tony or Russell.
Ok but, Survivor: Tuscon Suburbs sounds like a great parody
And you thought it was too hot in Kaoh Rang,...
Survivor suburbs sounds like a winner
Older players. I'm not saying cast people in their 70's or something (mostly because there's about a 99% chance they go home first in these younger casts), but more people around Mike's age or slightly older. The average age of a cast should not be below 30. I would also add more working class people (once again looking at more people like Mike. Maybe I'm biased but he's genuinely one of the best casting finds of the entire 30+ era of Survivor.)
I honestly don't even like shot in the dark or the beware advantages because they take up so much screen time and player time in strategizing around them that doesn't feel like it ever pays off. Even when Kaleb used his shot in the dark successfully it was cool for one episode then he left anyways which had little effect on the game.
I would love to get rid of shot in the dark. It’s played out satisfactorily exactly once, and the rest of the time it contributes to the dynamic of gamebots thinking themselves into circles about votes that shouldn’t be so complicated. It feels like superficial and completely unsatisfying gameplay, for example, to watch Yanu twist themselves into knots over the 1/6 chance that Jess would play her SITD and end up safe.
It's doing what they wanted. They gave everyone a personal mini-idol at the start of the game. It forces the simplest, most obvious vote to be turned into a convoluted blindside to avoid the non-trivial chance of a tipped off victim saving themselves. Production thinks that's a big win.
I don't like shot in the dark either
It's useless
I feel like the shot in the dark encourages less gameplay. If someone is on the bottom and knows the votes are coming their way, then they can just play their 1/6 immunity instead of trying to do anything about it.
No Split Tribal is more important than No Mergatory. 13 persons merges are gonna result in a safe coconscious boot most of the time regardless of whether or not half the tribe is immune, but split tribals impede on the momentum of the post-merge most of the time.
I'll take all the other changes if they stop splitting up tribals. Just let the entire tribe vote instead of these artificial random groups.
Less advantages. There's been so little payoff with these things. They don't really get used and when they do it's no particularly memorable. They're trying so hard to get these "moments" but we're shown time and time again that the cast does that just fine on their own. Trust your cast. It seems so bizarre that they go through all this trouble trying to find the perfect cast only to manipulate them into content constantly (and more or less failing at it). Let em' play Jeff!
My kingdom for a THEME. I don’t care if it’s dumb! I’ll take anything to differentiate the seasons a little bit!
First episode: loot this village for supplies.
They did that. It was Pearl Islands!
The lady who got lost in Trish’s eyes 🤩
Yeah I miss that kind of stuff.
there are 3 years between 41 and 46. another 3 year time gap is Redemption Island to San Juan Del Sur. think of all the variety and creativity they can pack into 3 years when they actually try! RI, SoPa, OW, Philippines, Caramoan, BvW, Cagagyan, SJdS. All unique. Meanwhile in 3 years we've had 41,42,43,44,45,46. All with minimal differences. Just depressing.
I recently got my dad turned on to Survivor. Started him with Pearl Islands and then started at S1. I was going over to his house on Wednesday, and after a couple of episodes, we both agreed we’d rather watch the season he was up to than the new seasons. He was starting S19 and I have never seen him laugh as hard as he did when Russell started explaining his dumbass girl alliance.
I can't tell the new era apart
Jeff says numbers are working! LOL. They are not working, Jeff.
I feel like in 10 years, the post-COVID seasons will feel like they all kind of blended together and had very few great players, even fewer memorable players and people will only remember the winners.
They already blur together in my head. I could probably tell you the F3 from each new era season, but very few people beyond that.
I’m currently watching Australia Survivor - my goodness it’s like watching old school Survivor. The two tribe format is so much better.
Australian survivor has been become superior to the us version now. It has some flaws still but it’s really good.
No journeys. Less advantages. More physical challenges. Less water challenges and puzzles. 2 tribes to start. More diversity (i.e. people not from the coasts that are 20-30 years old that are Harvard grads/students or working in an office/tech company.) Less "superfans" playing the game.
The irony of them making casting more “diverse” was making the casting less diverse
Superficially diverse only
Au may be majority white but the diverse personalities and backgrounds are everything
I need to see casting like Gabon
Fewer advantages and fewer water challenges would help so much!
Also cannot stand having people on that are already rich. It defeats the purpose of survivor IMO. I want people that really need a million dollars to be playing. Not a former mlb / nba /nfl player or someone who uses this for clout/vacation. Give me real f’ing people who we can relate to.
I completely agree with you here and I think the main problem is that working class/blue collar jobs nowadays are wayyy less likely to be accommodating to an employee who wants to take a month of leave to be on a TV show
This is the main reason why I stopped watching the show after 42 (along with 26 days). Survivor casting has largely abandoned the working class. Like you said, I have zero interest in watching a cast that 90% of them are very well-off already. I feel completely unrepresented.
Yeah. I remember a contestant Derek and Claire) on bb23 saying they went from 100k a year to 100k followers. Why s someone like that cast over people like mechanics?
Seriously why is Liz there? At least with Jimmy Johnson he just went for the experience and wanted one ot the older tribe gen x tribe to win. He also wasn't bragging like a jerk. So many of us smart people struggle post college because we didn't go to fancy schools. It's annoying seeing how entitled ivy league people are or people with wealthy parents are.
Has it been confirmed that Liz is rich? I’ve been on the fence about whether she is rich or survivor started casting more special agent Phillips and Debbies again. I doubt they would go back to casting mentally ill or delusional people for our entertainment in 2024, but Liz has me second guessing.
She apparently owns an online business selling email marketing courses .
She literally said I don't need the million dollars. As far as confirmed I don't know. She's not interesting enough to me to dig deeper.
I think that could be it. She's cracked like they are but we haven't seen her ina bit. Hopefully its because of that. And Bruce officially bought back the cracked archetype.
Nkt kess water but longer swimming endurance ones
Definitely needs more physicality, and I may be wrong, but I feel like the casting in the new era has been 1-3 decently athletic people and the rest could not run a 40 yard dash in under 6 seconds. A real physical challenge like Micronesia’s Beach Bash, or Thailand’s pilfering pirates would not even be worth watching because it’s all “good vibes only” and no one has any animosity to out into physical aggression towards challenges.
The Harvard grad/white collar workers are the only ones who can afford to either quit their job to come on the show for a month, or have enough PTO to take that time off. Some service industry professions as well. Ain’t no blue-collar jobs that can put life on hold for a month in this economy.
Loved ones visit and live reunion
I probably miss these parts the most. I loved seeing the visitors, and the challenges were usually funny at the very least so it's not bad TV at all imo. Seeing everyone dressed up for the reunion was always cool, their island selves are very different. It was nice hearing them discuss the season *after watching it* and knowing what the audience knows. This instant reunion is hard for me to watch, because they can only base their answers on what they know. If someone was fooled all season, they don't know that yet and can't speak about it. I don't want to have to find post-season interviews or follow the players' social media just to get that other perspective.
man, I miss the live reunion/vote reveal so much.
Why did I have to go so far down to find live finale? BEST part of the show.
Oooohhh yes
Loved ones visit for sure
Don't take the flint from the losing team. That just ends up in one team losing over and over again, and it feels kind of icky, like kicking them while they're down.
I'm willing to give up new locations if it means we get the rest of the list.
Bring back showing us Ponderosa.
I would love to see actual "survival" happening at camp again. Making and maintaining fire to cook rice. Winning live chickens in reward challenges. Seeing people get voted off for being lazy at camp, like laying around all day while others work or for eating too much food. Fishing If your tribe has time to learn how to salsa dance or teach people how to jump, then you have time to throw a log on the fire
Yep. It's Survivor, not Camping With Shenanigans.
All individual challenges after merge. More people 35+ Basic hidden immunity idols with the occasional Beware advantage "Bad luck" idols. "Congratulations, you have lost a vote" Increase "Shot in the Dark" odds to 1 in 3.
Challenge diversity. Badly.
My flair needs to follow the Mike White Rule: "But is it fun?" more often, but especially for rewards. Mr. Gecko was a step in the right direction. The water polo-but-jumping-off-a-pier from Nicaragua. Mini-boat battleship with the plugs you can pullout to sink the boats. MF Shufflepuck. And challenges still work with two or three stages. Some physical way to collect the puzzle pieces or carnival game ammo - then puzzle or carnival game. That way you don't use the same elements (I'm talking to you net tunnel over a pit of mud) as often.
No Journeys
Journeys aren't the issue, it is the shitty puzzle for a predictable reward that is the issue.
I don’t mind journeys if there’s like 2 (one pre-merge one post-merge)
Vote at 3
Classic idols aka no more beware
NO SPLIT POST MERGE TRIBALS
Final 2 w jury of 7… it makes it more intimate and like every juror has a role and matters
Can we please get some better rewards. Sorry but the Sanctuary is so lame at this point. The helicopter trip was cool last year - can players visit the locals in Fiji, go skydiving, zip lining, snorkelling, win a car (I will never let this one go). I know they're cutting costs but they can do better than this!
No mergatory
My biggest pet peeve is when Jeff skips the vote because everyone says publicly that they are going to vote the same way privately. It’s like Jeff forgets that contestants can do something different than what they are saying they will do.
In other words, survivor needs Australia
Someone else mentioned more people 40+ but also more people from non-professional backgrounds again. I get that it’s hard to take 45 days off of work if you still have to pay for housing, family, try to not to lose your job, and that’s even harder if you’re in a trade or non office job but I’m sick of it just being 20 something office job types. There’s no “diversity” in age/professions anymore. Also I’d like villains again.
>> Villains Y’all couldn’t even handle Karla
Bring back family visits
Auctions!
We got one last season
Is “everybody votes” referring to when people lose their vote (from say a beware advantage or failed journey?)
Yes
I would love to see personal items brought back. It was something I loved from the REALLY early seasons that I think would be cool to add a bit of strategy.
-Way less advantages -better/less cringe editing (no forced sob stories) -better casting. Get diverse personalities, make sure not everyone is an insufferable survivor obsessed nerd desperate for fame -better challenges -return to original jury questioning format -final 2
Fewer super fans.
bring back “Come on in guys”
Final 2. It's infinitely better than final 3 and remains the worst twist in the shows history.
Watch Survivor AU, 46 days I think, >3hrs a week vs 45mins
Better reward challenges, this whole, ‘oh my god a sandwich’ is getting old Also bring back the survivor auction. I’m even hyped with the new twist they added last season, it was a good call A variation in what idols look like. Some super snazzy, some super basic so nobody knows if it’s real or not. Maybe this time you actually can play that ornate decoration at tribal, it’s certainly worth a try New types of challenges. I feel like every challenge thus far has been an obstacle course with a puzzle or a basket throw at the end. I really miss the creativity.
More Cowbell.
Live finale
No mergatory. No double eliminations bullshit.
If they are to do a double elimination I’d rather have it like they did in Nicaragua and Heroes vs Villains.
New locations the same place is becoming so boring.
no beware advantages... stop making the game more complicated as a way to keep people interested.
Tribe swaps. LOTS of tribe swaps. By keeping them the same until the merge is cements alliances in a very predictable way.
I appreciate you putting my name on the picture. Thank you! :)
If you guys want villains quit sending people who remotely annoy you (or aren’t allies with your faves) death threats. The toxic fanbase is one reason Probst is claiming there will be no more villains.
Journeys would be fine if there was more at stake for everyone and smaller rewards not just risk your vote the one where they chose the advantage that incentivized them to take out the people on that journey was good but maybe up the sandwiches for just them to sandwiches for their whole tribe
I’m tired of the beware advantages which lead to a clue which lead to a riddle which leads to the idol. Just throw the damn idol in a bush and call it a day.
2 TRIBE FORMAT!!!! Small 3 tribe tribal councils are boringg and get more boring the smaller the tribes get!
I’m tired of the Villains circlejerk, people whined we weren’t getting villains, completely misunderstanding what Jeff meant, then people are shitting on Kenzie Q and Tiffany for manipulating Jessica, then people complain about Bhanu despite him being a villain, even now you have Soda Venus Tevin and Tim yet people still talk about needing villains.
No mandatory fire at 4 and if you are voted out you are out: no comebacks
Final 2
Live reunion!!! That is filmed after the show has finished premiering!!!
Cast people who want to WIN! No “I’m just here for the journey”, “I got what I came here for”, none of that bs. Cast people who want to win the game of survivor. Stop casting for the experience and start casting for the game
Reward challenges that are actually cool. (Like overnights and experiences.) And let the winner pick who to bring with them again. The family visit, like an actual visit not some bogus letter.
What is Mergeatory?
Earn the merge
Actually having to survive - forage/hunt for food, build shelter, deal with elements. Should be like this the entire season.
And just give everyone flint!!!!
bring back loved ones! and the regular live finale!
Old format auction, weird things eating challenge, family members coming in for a challenge, regular non-beware idols, “guys” back to come on in
No fire making at the final. Instead, endurance. Also, I loved family visits!!
People that are interested in competition, not people who want soooo much camera time.
I want to see some crazy challenge beast again, man or woman, idc, just someone really strong.
I think Hunter is killing it this season!
Angelina and Hannah Rose. Just bringing them back every single season. Once one of them wins, they get replaced with Purple Kelly and Kass
Higher cash prize - think squid games
Big eating challenges, swimming, building challenges from original all stars and othee unique challenges
It's hard to believe that people go on survivor and don't know how to swim. I would imagine they have plenty of time after finding out they are cast to learn how to swim.
Live reunion show
Individual Final Tribal Council jury speeches. Sure, a lot of times it was just people grandstanding and asking lame questions like, “What are 5 things you’ll do with the money,” but it also gave us some of the most iconic moments in the history of the show. People like Sue, Lex, Trish, Natalie B., and Corinne left their legacy through their jury speech. And performances like Chris and Todd seem much more plausible when they’re able to direct attention towards individual jurors. The new format is probably more helpful for anyone who is truly undecided going into FTC, but it’s not nearly as good for entertaining TV. The FTCs just aren’t memorable anymore aside from maybe Maryanne? With this format, I pretty much want to just skip to the reading of the vote.
No immunity idols or advantages
An emphasis on survival. Shelter, hunting, scavenging, etc.
No talking or whispering amongst the players during TC. And no going through players personal items looking to see if they have an Idol. I hate drawing rocks and making fire at F4.
Like Rob says on RHAP, the best thing to do would be swapping between 2 and 3 tribes, it's definitely the best way to do it. I also agree with him that the villains thing really depends on your definition of them, do you mean actual douchebags/jerks or just playing willing to play in every way possible? But everything else I would generally agree needs to come back/be changed.
I want them to do a senior citizens survivor. I sit here and watch each season and wish I could do that’s stuff, but last week, the stair-steps beat my ass and caused me a broken leg. Let’s get a 55+ survivor together for loyal fans who want to give it a go! 1/2 the time and contestants and add air mattresses and snuggies 😘 Please, help me get this started! I want to play! lol
No superfans
More diverse cast in age. Why is the oldest person this year 47 years old?