Throughout Survivor’s history, fans have been treated to multiple seasons with a theme attached to it, with subtitles like “Heroes vs. Villains,” “Fans vs. Favorites,” and “Blood vs. Water” among the most popular. However, since the New Era of Survivor began in 2021, every season has been traditional, with no returning players being featured or new concepts being introduced. Although producing classic seasons of Survivor is important to build new stars, having recurring seasons with no changes from year-to-year has hurt the program from an entertainment standpoint.
‘Survivor’s Recurring Format Is Growing Stale
From Seasons 30 to 39, it was rare for Survivor not to introduce a theme at least once a year, with ideas like “Second Chance” and “David vs. Goliath” being well received by the fans. Survivor sometimes went overboard with gimmicks like “Hustlers vs. Healers vs. Heroes,” but viewers still felt inclined to tune-in because of the uncertainty and spontaneity of the themes. Watching the same layout for eight consecutive seasons has made the show feel bland, with anticipation for each season being low due to the lack of surprises or new approaches.
Last year, Survivor host Jeff Probst commented on the lack of themes throughout the New Era, explaining to Entertainment Weekly that he started to struggle with creating different concepts. “The issue I was having – because I came up with most of those themes – is they’re hard to come up with. It’s hard to come up with a theme that rolls off the tongue … and is something you can sustain all the way to the final three and the decision of who wins.” Probst also explained that following Survivor 40: Winners at War, he already had intentions of going back to basics in the New Era. That said, with the level of excitement growing for Season 50, hopefully Survivor realizes that themes create conversation around the show and will develop some new ideas in the future.
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Themes That ‘Survivor’ Should Consider Bringing Back
With Survivor 50 featuring a cast of returning players only, it’s unlikely the program will announce another season with fan-favorites right away, but there are several themes that have been absent from the show for too long. “Brains vs. Brawn vs. Beauty” has only been tried twice in Survivor history, and it’s arguably one of the best themes the show ever created. Three tribes were split between smarts, strength, and looks, with each of the traits playing a role in every alliance in the game. The theme also managed to deliver one of the best seasons in the history of reality TV, with Survivor: Cagayan being widely regarded as some of the show’s best work. With the gimmick proving to produce entertaining television, it would be wise for Survivor to bring back “Brains vs. Brawn vs. Beauty” with a cast of New Era players.
Similarly to the previous theme, “Blood vs. Water” has only occurred twice throughout Survivor’s 25 years on the air, with the first installment taking place in Season 27, and then again one year later in Season 29. Although “Blood vs. Water” is one of Survivor’s most chaotic themes, watching eight castaways paired with their loved ones to compete alongside or against each other always made for binge-worthy reality TV. That said, usually half of the cast consists of returning players for this theme, and would likely be a gimmick that would be explored years after Season 50.
Nobody is asking for every season of Survivor to have a novelty premise behind it, but with Season 50 featuring returning players, fans will only crave more innovative seasons afterward, rather than another five years of the same authentic format. When Probst felt the audience was falling out of love with Survivor, he began introducing themes that have now become fan favorites. Reverting to the basic version of the show for an extended period of time following Season 50 would not only fail to intrigue fans of the older generation, but could cause New Era viewers to lose interest as well.
Survivor is available to stream on Paramount+.
