Divide 18 strangers into three “tribes”; drop them on remote islands with little food and no shelter, and have them outwit and outplay one another until the last competitor standing is crowned the winner of a $1 million prize. When the adventure reality game show “Survivor” debuted on CBS in May 2000, nothing like it had been seen on American television before.
Asked to describe the series, “Survivor” host and showrunner Jeff Probst said, “It is a social experiment, in that it takes a group of people who don’t know each other, and forces them to rely on each other, while playing this game where you vote each other out.”
Probst invited “Sunday Morning” to watch this experiment for ourselves, in Fiji, as he began taping Season 48, which premieres on CBS and Paramount+ this Wednesday.
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Asked if he still gets nervous hosting the series for the 48th time, Probst replied, “I don’t get nervous on ‘Survivor.’ It’s weird. I’ve never gotten nervous. I lean into it. I love the uncertainty.”
And it’s this uncertainty that’s made “Survivor” one of the most popular shows on television for a quarter of a century. The show averages around 6 million viewers an episode. In the past 24 years, fans have collectively watched ten-and-a-half billion hours.
“When I knew ‘Survivor’ was going to be interesting was the first day of the first season,” said Probst, “when we abandoned everybody on the beach, and Richard Hatch – who ended up winning the first season – got up in a power position in a tree. And he was looking down on everyone, and he said, ‘I think we should all talk!’ And Sue Hawk, a truck driver from Wisconsin, looked up and said, ‘Where I’m from, we work while we talk.’”
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While Probst had no doubt, “Survivor” almost didn’t happen. Mark Burnett, the British TV producer behind hits like “The Apprentice” and “Shark Tank” (and now President Trump’s newly-appointed special envoy to the United Kingdom), re-imagined a Swedish reality series (“Expedition: Robinson”) and took his idea to just about every U.S. TV network.
“And every network said, ‘No. That’s a crazy idea. We don’t wanna do it,’” said Probst. “But Mark is not easily deterred. So, he went out and got sponsors for the entire show.”
At the time, Probst hosted music shows on cable TV (including VH1’s “Rock & Roll Jeopardy!”). “I was literally the last person hired,” he said. “I heard Mark talking about ‘Survivor’ on a radio interview. And he described the show. I knew when I heard it; I told all my friends, ‘This is my show, this is what I’ve been waiting for.’”
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Today, Probst (now also the showrunner) has his hands in every aspect of production, including combing through more than 15,000 audition tapes that arrive each year. “I know within 30 seconds, honestly, within 30 seconds, I’m pretty sure you’re gonna be on the show or not,” he said. “Some people are compelling immediately.”
People like Stephanie Berger, a technical product manager from New York City, and one of this season’s chosen ones. Asked in Fiji what her strategy for the game will be, Berger replied, “In my, like, day-to-day life, everyone will tell you that I get to be the alpha, like, I like to be in charge. I like control. And I know that I cannot come out here and do that.”
Kyle Fraser is a contestant from Roanoke, Virginia. “When I first started watching ‘Survivor,’ I knew that this game was for me,” he said.
I asked, “Are you willing to lie? Like, where do you draw the line in your game?”
“Listen, I am gonna have to lie,” Fraser said. “You know, I’m not gonna tell people I’m a lawyer.”
Contestants not only need to build trust through any means possible; they have to win mental and physical challenges from the moment they arrive, or risk getting voted off.
Probst says what we see is never staged or scripted, including tribal councils, where he grills contestants off-the-cuff, a skill he’s developed over time.
I said, “You’re a student of psychology and anthropology.”
“Without the degrees!” Probst laughed. “I’ve always loved all of that. I just never formally applied it. I didn’t want to be a psychologist; I wanted to be a storyteller.”
What does make it on television is carefully selected from thousands of hours worth of video shot around the clock for 26 days, in what is one of the largest television productions on Earth. “It’s a great trick, because when you’re watching ‘Survivor’ it does feel intimate, and it is,” Probst said. “When the tribes are on the beaches, there’s just a small handful of crew there and producers. But when you get to a challenge or tribal council, you know, there’s cameras everywhere. We have roughly 400 people that are our international crew. Then we have another 400 Fijians who work with us as well. So, we’re close to 1,000 people.”
Each season films in the summer, with crews arriving months in advance, turning a resort into a production village.
Roberta Limjap, who works in the art department, said, “It’s not only work, it’s family.”
All of the materials, equipment and props are produced here. “Everything is made from scratch,” she said. “You can’t buy this.”
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Dozens of young production assistants test every detail of the challenges while crews plot camera angles.
I had my chance. And yes, it’s much harder than it looks. And tribal members often compete exhausted and hungry. They are not fed when the cameras are off.
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I tried my hand at survival. Opening up a coconut is not easy. “You know what I’m afraid of? Taking off my thumb,” I laughed.
Co-executive producer Jimmy Quigley coached me through starting a fire, while on my first try with a spear gun, I caught a fish. Beginner’s luck!
What isn’t luck is “Survivor”‘s staying power. “That freedom to play is what keeps us out here in the middle of Fiji,” said Probst, who – after 47 seasons – is the ultimate survivor.
“It sounds like you’re in this until the end?” I asked.
“I’m in it now,” Probst replied. “I don’t have any thoughts of not being in it. But I mean, yeah, if you’re saying at 86, I mean, maybe I’m too old then! But I never really look at it that way. I feel like I’m a part of a team. And I’ve said to the people I work with, ‘As long as you all keep showing up, I’ll keep showin’ up.’”
Watch an extended interview with Jeff Probst:
To watch a preview of the new season of “Survivor” click on the video player below:
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Story produced by Jay Kernis. Editor: Lauren Barnello.
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