Let’s take them! All eyes are on “Survivor” ahead of its 50th season. This season, the biggest cast to date, 24 former players, return to Fiji for a $1 million prize.
And on any season of “Survivor” (and any reality show, really), not everyone is happy with the chosen returning members. Showrunner and host Jeff Probst and executive producer Matt Van Wagenen spoke to Variety on set on the 18th day of the milestone season, highlighting the herculean process of narrowing down the cast and catering to unexcited fans and former castaways.
“It was a labor of love and involved many voices. Without exaggeration, more than 100 names were considered. We are talking about 751 players,” says Van Wagenen. And this time, the casting “felt more personal” thanks to the staff’s long-standing relationships with the cast. Moreover, it wasn’t just the producers and casting team that were involved.
“Casting was very difficult, and (CBS) was a part of it. There were a lot of voices weighing in,” Probst says. When Probst learned that the list had been narrowed down to 50 and still had 24 to cut, he seriously realized how upset people would be.
“The players who end up not being on the show are hurt, disappointed and frustrated. I understand all that. I probably feel the same way,” he says. “I wish I could convince them, but it’s nothing personal and it’s not like you weren’t good enough. We just had too many spots and went in a different direction. And if we were to do 50 people again and start over, we might have a different cast today. Who knows?”
Robert Votes/CBS
Carolyn Wigger (Season 44) and Jerry Manthey (Seasons 2, 8, 20) are two former players who have been vocal about their disappointment, but Probst wants to remind everyone that there are many unseen factors in this decision.
“I understand the feeling of players who haven’t reached 50 points and are unhappy with us. I really do too. If they read this or hear that, they’ll get back to me with comments about why we should have gotten them. My dad worked at a lower-level job. “When I was in that position, I would never make the same stupid decisions that my boss would make,” he said, “and I realized that I didn’t have all the information that they had.” “I think the only thing that people who are frustrated about not being picked for the show don’t have is all the information. We don’t know what we were watching, we don’t know what we were thinking. So I feel like it’s personal. It’s not personal. I don’t have any animosity or ill will, so I hope those fences get mended. But I understand that.”
Probst is no stranger to annoyance from viewers and past players over the past 25 years. So he tells himself, “If you try to please everyone, you end up pleasing no one.”
“We have to satisfy ourselves. We are the producers of the show. We have to have trust that we know what we’re doing. We may get it right, we may get it wrong, but we have a point of view and there’s an intention behind everyone here. Nobody’s here because they have a name. Nobody’s here because they’re a certain era. You’re here because of the very specific qualities you bring to this tapestry.” To capture the essence of 50 seasons.”
When the 50-person plan first began more than a year ago, several “heavyweights” were not named, including Boston’s Rob Mariano, Sandra Diaz-Twine and Parvati Sharrow.
“They don’t want to play anymore, and they don’t know if they should play anymore. They got a lot out of ‘Survivor,’ and we got a lot out of them,” Probst said. That’s especially true in Mariano’s case, he says. “Rob epitomizes the perfect relationship between us and our players. I asked him if he wanted to be part of the 50 and he said, ‘No, but if you need me then absolutely yes. I’ll do whatever you need me to do because you’ve been so good to me.’ And I said, ‘Rob, that’s the only answer I’ve ever needed.’ I don’t need anything from you. You have given us so much! What if I called Rob, who is still shooting 50 rounds, and said, “I’m desperate, I have an idea.” Could you please take a flight tonight? ‘He’s scheduled to take a flight tonight. ”
After the team decided to exclude past winners who had competed in the 40 as well as the “20 Great Names,” the puzzle began, as did the question of how to balance New Era and Old Era players.
“It’s not just the Old Era and New Era lines that separate the types of players. There’s Old Era, then there’s Middle Era, then there’s New Era,” Probst said. “(Rick) Devens had a very different game than Jenna (Lewis-Doherty), and the games that Kyle (Fraser) and Dee (Validares) played are very different than the games that Devens played. So it’s not as pretty as just old era, new era. There’s a lot of little eras in between. So it’s a combination of so many factors.”
Even now, midway through the season, he says the process is complicated to explain. There was a “very large list” containing various combinations of different types of players. Several people were then removed from the list and added to another list as the team tried to figure out what was missing and what was good about each combination.
“Eventually, you start to move the pieces, you start to narrow it down, and eventually you start to get a consensus, and it starts to feel like this is good for all of us,” Probst says. “That’s where we ended up with this cast.”
mike white in season 37
CBS
Was there one person on every list? Mike White. White first played the game in Season 37, nearly three years before creating “White Lotus.” But his relationship with Probst began 10 years ago.
“We met through friends, and we went to dinner and he said, ‘I want to be on Survivor,’ and I said, ‘Because you don’t hate it that much. You want that novelty. And when that novelty wears off, you’re going to get voted out and go home,'” Probst recalls. Then, one night, something felt different, so White said he was ready.
“So he went to CBS, and we went through the exact same casting process. His storytelling ability is obvious, but he’s incredible in the room. You can ask him anything and he’ll give you interesting answers. So we put him on the show, and after it was over, it was Mike who called us and said, ‘If we end up doing something where we need a returning player, I’ll just say I’d love to play again,'” Probst says. “That was before ‘White Lotus’ was a hit. And I thought, ‘Well, that’s never going to happen.'” And then when we started talking about 50, Mike texted me and said, “If you’re going to bring back players for 50, please consider me.” So, just to be clear, we didn’t go to Mike White and ask him to reschedule White Lotus. He said, “If you don’t mind, I’ll reschedule ‘White Lotus.'” And it was the fastest. ”
And just to be clear, while there are some Survivor favorites in the background of “The White Lotus,” Probst says it’s not time to join the select few at the hotel bar on the HBO hit.
Ultimately, “Survivor” 50 found faith. The producers trusted each other’s instincts, and once filming began, they trusted their intuition that they had chosen the right group to honor the past 25 years.
“I thought, ‘It’s impossible to make everyone happy,’ and I really hope that once we get started, everything goes well,” Van Wagenen recalls. “After the first night, I thought, ‘We did it right,’ because the producers came out glowing. I’ve never seen them so excited and happy about the season. And all the work that went into the casting, which was the most important decision we made throughout the season, everything. I feel like the effort was worth it. We’ve been together enough that we trust each other, and if someone has great feelings about something, they’re working on it. And I think it’s the best cast we’ve ever had, with so many different perspectives, so many different voices, so many different experiences.”
“Survivor” 50 will debut with a three-hour premiere on Wednesday, February 25th at 8pm ET on CBS’ Paramount+.
