‘Survivor 41’: Jeff Probst Says Castaways Start With No Food for Shorter Season, Fans React
Survivor is back, but it will be shorter. Jeff Probst promised the short season will still be intense with changes that will make things harder on the castaways. This is what fans have to say about the change that might stay for good.
‘Survivor 41’ will last 26 days
Survivor typically lasts 39 days, but season 41 will take just 26 days. This is because the season will be back to filming during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. There needed to be two weeks for the cast and crew to quarantine beforehand.
There will be 18 new players toughing it out in Fiji with the hopes of winning $1 million. The host explained how a shorter season can still be intense.
Jeff Probst says castaways start with ‘no food, very limited camp supplies, and very few rewards’
This season of Survivor will be shorter, but Probst promises the game will still be challenging for the castaways. “The conditions were very tough because they started with no food, very limited camp supplies, and very few rewards,” he told Entertainment Weekly.
“So their cognitive abilities are diminished much faster than in the past,” he continued. “After only a handful of days with no food, they started to struggle to form clear thoughts. You’ll see it. They struggle in all areas of the game. Nobody was complaining that 26 days was not enough!”
The game will also move faster to compensate for the shorter season. “There is no time to sit back and contemplate even for a moment,” the host said. “You have to be assessing and reassessing your options on an hourly basis because you have no idea what is coming next. The game design has never been so dangerous.”
Probst went on to say there hasn’t been a decision made on whether the show will return to 39 days. He claimed he loved the new version of the show and didn’t think fans will miss it.
Fans react to ‘Survivor’ possibly sticking to shorter seasons
This interview with Probst was shared on Reddit. Fans are sharing their predictions on whether the show will keep this change.
“Once any company starts spending less money they’re never going to go back to spending more money,” one fan wrote.
“Bingo. Not unless there’s a huge ratings hit. Which we know there isn’t going to be. Survivor fans will watch anything as long it has the word Survivor on it,” another fan wrote.
“Jeff Probst’s problem is that it feels like, as a producer, he cares more about intense gameplay than character moments. For him it’s more fun to see idols and advantages everywhere than what you get in earlier seasons and with seasons like DvG. I couldn’t give a sh-t about gameplay, personally. While it’s fun and is a core pillar of Survivor, I don’t wanna watch Chess the tv show over and over again. I wanna be compelled by the people, not their strategy,” another fan wrote.
“This happened in the early seasons of Survivor. I quit watching until the 20s because it was too depressing. Reaffirming the struggle got me worried,” another fan noted.
It looks like fans are torn over shorter seasons staying for multiple reasons. Soon we’ll see how season 41 plays out with the new length.
