Surviving Tribal
Fansided

Survivor’s Jeff Probst shuts down Republican vs. Democrat season

By Daniel George

LOS ANGELES, CA - OCTOBER 29: TV personality Jeff Probst speaks onstage during the “Survivor” panel at Entertainment Weekly's PopFest at The Reef on October 29, 2016 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for Entertainment Weekly)
LOS ANGELES, CA - OCTOBER 29: TV personality Jeff Probst speaks onstage during the “Survivor” panel at Entertainment Weekly's PopFest at The Reef on October 29, 2016 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for Entertainment Weekly) /
facebooktwitterreddit

Considering the current political climate, it seems like any idea that Survivor will split beginning tribes by Republican and Democrat will not fly with Jeff Probst.

Survivor has not been afraid to push the button and go past the comfort zone when it comes to their season themes. More than a decade ago, production split up tribes by ethnicity with Cook Islands, and since players have played in tribes designated by age, gender, social status and economic status. The one area of interest production won’t touch seems to be politics; at least, Jeff Probst doesn’t want anything to do with it.

In an interview with the Survivor Ghost Island producers for Variety, Jeff Probst puts a real emphasis on keeping things fresh and changing the dynamics of their social experiment game. However, he notes that a Democrat vs. Republican season doesn’t seem right at this time, stating “a Hillary Clinton supporter would never align with a Donald Trump supporter. People are so entrenched in their political philosophies.”

While before the 2016 election I thought a season of this political nature could make it to air (perhaps as a Republican vs. Democrat vs. Undecided split), because of the rocky, divisive nature that comes with the 45th presidency, I agree that it should not be done at this time. Survivor players have come from all walks of political life, but players wouldn’t be pressured to act with grace to players of opposing political climates the way a race-divided season shows the coming together of races to achieve a common goal.

Another noteworthy aspect of this interview came the fact that CBS CEO and President Leslie Moonves still has the final say on that cast, approving and nixing final prospective players on the qualifier of if he finds them interesting. No matter how hard the Survivor executive producers want to keep a player on the cast, the decision still comes down to one powerful man.

Next: Survivor: Ranking 34 seasons

What do you think, Survivor fans? Would a season based on political affiliation turn you off of watching completely, would you like to see it happen, or are you indifferent?

Home/Survivor News