The upcoming premiere of “Survivor 50: In the Hands of the Fans” marks the first time in six years that the longrunning reality competition series has invited former players to return for a second – or in some cases third, fourth, or even fifth – shot at winning its $1 million prize.
Returning player seasons were once standard fare for the series, which originally kicked off the trend with 2004’s “Survivor: All-Stars.” In the years that followed, during “Survivor”s so-called “middle era,” the vast majority of the show’s seasons featured at least a few returning players, if not full-blown all-star casts.
In fact, from Season 20 (“Heroes vs. Villains”) to Season 34 (“Game Changers”) only five of 15 seasons were composed entirely of first-time players thanks to format twists like “Blood vs. Water,” which invited former castaways to return to the competition alongside their loved ones, and “Fans vs. Favorites,” which pitted experienced players against newcomers in seasons like “Micronesia” and “Caramoan.”
The trend has fallen off in recent years, however, as “Survivor” entered its “New Era” in Season 41. What followed was nine straight seasons of so-called “newbie” casts, barring the return of “Survivor 44” castaway Bruce Perreault, who was invited to return on Season 45 after suffering a head injury mere moments into his first season.
Now, as the franchise prepares to celebrate a return to form with its first all-star cast in ten seasons with the premiere of “Survivor 50,” longtime host Jeff Probst is opening up about why the series moved away from asking players to return to the show in the first place, as well as addressing when the next all-star installment will be after Season 50.
Jeff Probst Reveals Why ‘Survivor’ Waited So Long to Host Another ‘All-Star’ Season
CBS“We haven’t done a returning player season in a long time in part because we haven’t needed to,” Probst told Entertainment Weekly in the days before “Survivor 50” began filming last summer, adding, “I have great faith in our casting team, and I think ‘Survivor’ is typically at its best with new players.”
While fans might have, once upon a time, agreed with the host’s sentiment, others have argued that the franchise has plateaued in recent years, claiming that the New Era’s back-to-back newbie casts and lack of themes have difficult to distinguish and less unique than “old-school” and “middle era” seasons.
Probst similarly suggested that the gap between returning-player seasons was partially motivated by a need to build a larger pool of new contestants to invite back.
“After you get a bunch of new players, then you say, ‘Okay, now we’ve got enough players that it’ll be fun to bring them back,” he said.
Since “Winners at War,” a total of 161 new castaways have joined the franchise as first-time players. Remarkably, only 12 of them were invited to compete in the upcoming golden anniversary season.
Regardless of having plenty of former contestants vying for the chance to return to the competition, Probst stood firm in his stance, telling EW, “I don’t think we needed to do a returning player season any earlier than we did. And we never planned on it. Fifty was always going to be the first time [after ‘WaW’].”
Jeff Probst Says ‘Survivor’ Will Return to ‘Newbie’ Casts After ‘50’
CBSWhile Probst and the casting team were reportedly well aware that they wouldn’t be recruiting former castaways until Season 50, the host doesn’t seem too concerned about doing another all-star installment any time soon.
“I don’t know,” said Probst when asked when the next returning player season will be after “50.”
He continued: “Remember, you have to have new players to have returning players, and you got to let ‘em live a little. Like when we did ‘Survivor: Second Chance’ in Cambodia, the reason that season was so powerful is those players were […] hungry. And they showed up and said, ‘I’ve been waiting a long time for this call and I’m going to kill it out there.’ That’s how it felt.”
Probst added that he’s hopeful Season 50 will inspire the same sort of inner fire from its record-breaking cast of returning players.
“With 50, there’s a little bit more levity here. I do see a real cool sense of humor, but I have zero doubt that every single person wants to win this season,” he said. “They know this will be a big […] season to win.”
In response to fans who might be disappointed to hear that “Survivor” has no standing plans to host another all-star season in the near future, Probst said, “There’s no way to satisfy all of us with all of our ideas. I do remind fans, you do have to trust a little bit…There’s a lot of things going on behind the scenes.”
Fans can catch the historic three-hour premiere of “Survivor 50: In the Hands of the Fans” on Wednesday, February 25 at 8:00pm ET, exclusively on CBS.
