Jeff Probst Spills Some Beans on ‘Survivor: Micronesia – Fans vs. Favorites’

Survivor may be an elder statesman of reality TV, but it’s still going strong coming into its sixteenth season on the air. CBS recently announced that Survivor has been picked up for another two seasons in the 2008-2009 schedule. Jeff Probst will remain the host.

The latest season kicks off this Thursday, February 7th. Probst says the new season is physically brutal on the players. The tribes even meet for the first time during a driving rainstorm. The fans discover they’ll be playing against players from previous seasons. When the favorites come out, Probst says the fans can’t believe it. “It’s like they’re at a rock concert.”

But what sort of dynamic were the producers hoping to achieve with this format? “We wanted people that would be enamored when they discovered they were playing against some of the favorite people to ever play Survivor. And then we hoped what would happen is that idolatry would turn into animosity. And it did.”

Probst says that there are advantages and disadvantages to being on either side of the dynamic. The favorites have close to 300 days of experience at playing the game and dealing with the environment, but on the other hand, everyone knows how they’ve played the game. “And, if you’re a target, you have a big target on your back. There’s nowhere to hide,” continued Probst, while the fans are an unknown quantity. No one knows their skills or how they’ll play. They also don’t know just how bad things will get out there. “They’re going on pure adrenaline.”

As to picking the favorites, Probst says they “did something interesting.” The producers wanted to keep the favorites on their toes, so they told the favorites there would be 20 players in the season – and the old players assumed all 20 slots would be taken up by former players.

To play into this assumption, and keep the old pros guessing, the producers told 20 former Survivors that they wanted them on the show… when they really only planned on using ten. This undoubtedly put a crimp in some of the pre-show scheming. Probst says most players were up for another try at the game, but a couple turned them down – including Courtney from the most recent season. There were only six weeks between Survivor: China and the new season, so her refusal doesn’t seem too surprising – Although both James and Amanda signed on for the season, and Amanda had to go through the whole Fans vs. Favorites season without knowing how she’d finished her first time around, not to mention after completely falling apart in her last few days out there (as she discussed in her interview with RealityNewsOnline).

One other person who refused to go on the show again was Tom Westman, the winner of Survivor: Palau. According to Probst, Westman said, “Look how the game came out for me? Everything went my way. I’m the nice guy, the firefighter who won it all. All I would do is tarnish that image.” But, says Probst, “for the most part it was a feeding frenzy of favorites,” wanting to get on the show.

When asked how he felt about the infamous Jonny “my grandma’s dead!” Fairplay returning, Probst admits, “he’s not my favorite person in the world.” But Fairplay is someone many fans love to hate. However, Probst still doesn’t know what to make of the bizarre man. “I cannot tell you if Fairplay is coming or going, honest or a liar, straight or bent… I have no idea. “ At first, Probst didn’t even want Fairplay back, but “wiser heads prevailed and I realized how could you do this season without Fairplay? He’s your most notorious figure ever. I can tell you we got exactly what we expected – and deserved – putting Fairplay on the show.”

Probst also let slip a few tidbits about the upcoming season’s action. “It’s amazing how many blindsides happen in a row. My jaw dropped at so many votes.” He also says that the conditions were particularly brutal this season. “The Survivors took a physical beating like we’ve never had before.”

Probst also promises some really physical challenges this season. He says the second challenge is, “basically, tackle the dummy.” He also says that James managed to pack on another ten pounds of muscle in the short down time he had and that “Ozzy comes out on day one and is just as good as he ever was.”

Exile Island also returns this season – in a new form. This time, each week, one person from each tribe will always have to go to Exile Island. This will cause people from different tribes to interact – and possibly affect post-merge play.

There is also one idol on the island with two people able to go after it. Choosing how to play that situation could be very interesting. “What do you do if you both find it? Who will own it?” asks Probst. “I can tell you that the idols play a major part in this season. They have more impact this season than ever before,” he promises. Probst also tells us that someone takes James’ crown away from him for committing “the biggest blunder in Survivor history.”

So, get ready to see some old favorites and new fans take on each other – and the elements – in the sixteenth season of Survivor. RealityNewsOnline will have its usual complete coverage of all the action, including its interviews recognized by Entertainment Weekly, starting with Thursday’s premiere!

Teeuwynn is a professional puzzle, game and event designer. You can check out Teeuwynn's company, Lone Shark Games, at www.lonesharkgames.com. One of Teeuwynn's essays also appears in “Hobby Games: The 100 Best.” To take a peek go to http://www.greenronin.com/store/grr4001/. You can reach Teeuwynn at Teeuwynn@gmail.com

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