There are long-running reality competition shows, and then there’s Survivor. The groundbreaking CBS series is about to premiere with a new season, to the delight of its generations of fans. Host/producer Jeff Probst recently talked about all those recent twists, and if they’re sticking around for Season 44. Well… as much as he could say without spoiling what’s coming in the next chapter of the show.
Survivor has never been lacking in twists, but things really got wild in the last few years. Final tribal goes down differently, there’s automatic fire making challenge at Top 4, and there’s typically a ton of different advantages floating around. Jeff Probst was recently asked by EW if new concepts like the “Choose Your Champion” twist will be sticking around for Season 44. He responded carefully, saying:
Well, of course, I won't go into specific details because that would spoil the fun! But I will share that we view this new era of Survivor game design as something we can work with for a while. We spent a lot of time redesigning the entire game, and now we want to let the players evolve it and take it where they think it should go. We always like to toss in a new wrinkle or two, but we feel there is plenty here for the players to chew on!
Interesting. While Jeff Probst was keeping his cards close to the chest regarding what’s going down in Season 44 of Survivor, his comments seem to indicate that some of the recent twists are going to be carried over. Conversely there are others that might need to be scrapped, as the surprise of the twist is out once the season airs for viewers//future contestants. The suspense is killing me, so good thing we’re just one day away from the two-hour premiere
One of the recent twists that’s been really fun to watch play out is when Survivor contestants have to collect items from other players in order to create an immunity idol. Last season castaways like Karla had to convince her tribemates to give up beads that were attached to their bags. But if the cast of Season 44 was able to watch that season before leaving for filming, then it would presumably no longer be viable.
With Survivor season going from 39 days to just 26 thanks to new Covid protocols, the gameplay is now accelerated as well. And that includes a ton of advantages that are available to the castaways thanks to various excursions.
Then there’s the game changing twist that debuted in Survivor Season 41: “Change History” aka the hourglass. This allowed Erika (who ended up winning the whole season) to reverse which castaways were safe and which was up for elimination. I have to assume “Choose Your Champion” will make its sophomore effort, which sees a contestant trying to predict who will win Immunity. There’s really so many possibilities and twists that could go into the next chapter of the series.
Survivor 44 will debut March 1st on CBS. In the meantime, check out the TV premiere list to plan your next movie experience.
