Australian Survivor: Champions vs. Contenders debuts on August 1

The third season of the new-look Australian Survivor debuts on August 1. That is when you can expect a divisive figure from the CBS show to compete.

The American version of Survivor has lacked excitement during the past television year. A middling Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers ramped up in the final hours, yet was hampered by a terrible end-game twist. Ghost Island was a predictable slog that became unpredictable in the final ten minutes. Advantages and twists have taken precedence over good storytelling.

Perhaps that will be fixed in David vs. Goliath, but there is another Survivor show that will debut almost two months earlier. Australian Survivor will debut on August 1 per the show’s official Instagram account, bringing forth both the dominant successes of physical prowess Australia has to offer with the meager aiming to contend with them.

As previously reported, this will likely be the next (and perhaps final) time we see the controversial Russell Hantz grace our screens as a Survivor contestant. Though he hasn’t been officially revealed as a castaway yet, a huge chunk of the cast hasn’t been identified, either. We’re just a few weeks away from the season premiere, so it should come out in the days ahead.

The second season of Australian Survivor received high marks from those watching within the country and abroad. One of the reasons why is that the broadcasting network, TEN, provides 90-minute episodes, more days competing on the island and more episodes, allowing to get a more rounded, robust narrative that covers all the bases.

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One of modern Survivor’s weaknesses is burying some of its lesser interesting characters completely, having the audience question who they even are. Considering that Russell Hantz was such a screen hog when Somoa was airing that some are convinced players like Brett were CGI’d in afterward, it’ll be interesting to see the Australian Survivor season 3 narrative unfold.