Survivor has learned from casting mishaps

Although Survivor’s format makes it pretty resilient, not all casts are equal, and that can impact the show but it seems that lesson has been learned.

Part of the reason that Survivor has turned Sandra Diaz-Twine, “Boston” Rob Mariano, and more into legends within the community is that these people have personalities and provoke reactions. Richard Hatch, in the very first season, stirred up opinions. In other words, who ends up on the show actually matters quite a bit.

Of course, what fans want and what production wants can also differ greatly. However, it appears that one might become more in line with the other.

Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, here’s what Matt Van Wagenen, an executive producer, had to say when asked about fan response to seasons running contrary to what production expects:

"“If I’m going to be totally candid, I think season 30. We were kind of jazzed about season 30 and we went out there and watched Mike Holloway […] and we thought it was a real fun story to watch. And he was fighting against some people who a lot of fans didn’t love, and I think that we realized in that case maybe that’s not what they’re looking for.”"

Let’s take a look at Worlds Apart, shall we? Surviving Tribal ranked it as the 27th best season of Survivor not counting Game Changers, which was airing at the time. It’s right behind All Stars, which pretty accurately conveys how we felt about it. My colleague even noted that Mike Holloway’s immunity run was the best thing about the season.

It’s telling that since season 30, two of the four seasons since have featured returnees. One has to wonder if casting fell back on familiarity to help improve fans’ responses. It doesn’t always work. Anecdotally, with Game Changers, one of my other colleagues felt he couldn’t support any of the finalists. Additionally, Second Chance, which featured a cast fans voted on, had Worlds Apart returnees. However, Game Changers, set by the producers, did not.

Survivor has to strike a delicate balance between positivity and negativity. It’s something I’ve discussed before in talking about possibilities for season 36. (A brief aside: the EW article also confirms that Survivor has moved to filming season 36, which shouldn’t come as a surprise considering that they were filming Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers in April.)

Watching a cast entirely made up of unlikable or one-dimensional people doesn’t make the show as compelling as it could be. Of course, edgic means that we can also spot how the edit is working to make us find people interesting, but the editors have to have material in the first place.

However, having one person riding his way to the end like Mike can also be too boring. In the case of Worlds Apart, the edit made it more and more obvious that that’s where the season was heading. Kim Spradlin’s also a good example of this from One World, another season that doesn’t rank too highly overall but also (spoilers) is our best winner. The format’s always interesting — but the cast takes any given season from good to great.

Take a look at our top three seasons: Pearl Islands, China, and Heroes vs. Villains. My colleague, Cody Williams, notes something about the cast or at least one player in all three entries.

The fact that Survivor production has noticed that casting matters and that how fans respond to the cast also matters is good. Presumably, this isn’t the first realization. However, it’s important that it’s continuously noticed. As the fanbase evolves, the production needs to as well to keep its audience. Survivor had strong ratings this past season.

Next: Who should return from Game Changers?

It needs strong casts in order to continue the trend.