‘Survivor’ Fans Urged CBS to Make Rule Changes in the ‘New Era’
Survivor has undergone many changes over its 43 seasons on CBS. If someone were to watch the first season in Borneo and then season 43, which is currently airing, the differences would be stark. Producers have implemented and retired many rules throughout the years, and now that Survivor has entered a “new era” of the game, fans would like to see more rule changes.
Host Jeff Probst announced ‘Survivor’ Season 41 would begin a ‘new era’ of the CBS series
Survivor went on a hiatus after season 40 because of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Due to restrictions and safety measures, producers and contestants could not return to Fiji for almost a year. And when they were given the green light to film in Fiji, host Jeff Probst and the other producers masterminded a few changes for their next season.
When Survivor Season 41 premiered on CBS, Probst announced to the cast and the audience that a “new era” of the game had begun. The changes included a shortened season — 26 days instead of 39 — limited food, and numerous new advantages and twists.
Some of these elements, including the reduced number of days, were because everyone had to quarantine for two weeks upon arriving in Fiji. Plus, for the first time since Survivor: Borneo, Probst announced the winner during the Final Tribal Council. This was also a COVID-19 measure since they were unsure whether they could produce a live reunion.
Fans have had mixed opinions about these changes. They believe that some were exciting additions to the game and others — we’re looking at you, Hourglass — were unfair to the castaways.
Fans share which rules they would change
While Survivor Season 41 was airing on CBS, fans jumped on Reddit to discuss other rule changes they would like to see in the show.
One Reddit user wrote, “I think looking through someone’s personal bag at camp should be illegal. It’s never come across as smart, and it’s always looked like weak gameplay.” They didn’t know it then, but searching through someone’s bag would later become a major storyline in Survivor Season 43.
“No one can sit out of a tribal Immunity Challenge if they sat out the previous tribal challenge, regardless of what kind of challenge the previous tribal challenge was,” a fan added. “One-person-per-tribe challenges are not considered tribal challenges for the purposes of this rule.”
Another person commented, “Put walls up between sets for every puzzle challenge. Don’t let players copy off others ahead of them, and don’t give whoever is in the middle an inherent advantage. Also, no more of those three-number combination lock boxes. They’re completely luck-dependent, and it’s ridiculous that they have somehow become a staple of Survivor challenges.”
“All advantages die at [final six],” a Reddit user proposed. “Have them have at least one round of social prowess. You need to make good deals and alliances to survive.”
Finally, a rule that should be popular among most Survivor fans is, “Everyone who makes the merge should be on the jury. So no more post-merge pre-jurors like Jessica Johnston [from Survivor: Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers].”
And those are only a handful of the rules that Survivor fans want CBS to implement in future seasons.
Jeff Probst teases the future of ‘Survivor’ on CBS
During an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Jeff Probst discussed future seasons of Survivor. And it sounds like not much will change from its current state.
“From a big picture point of view, this new era is here to stay,” Probst shared. “Twenty-six days, no food, meager supplies, penalties for losing, risky advantages, fast pace, small tribes. We like this version, and we think it has legs, so we’re going to work within that format and see where it goes.”
Survivor Season 43 airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET on CBS.
