The highest-rated television show on Wednesday nights, Survivor, did not make the list of the top 250 fandoms in pop culture with the Fandom 250.
Each year, FanSided.com (our parent site) brings its writers, editors and executives together to deliberate and discuss what pop culture brands have the biggest followings and most diehard fanatics to create their fandom. A list of 250 different sports, television, film, gaming, media properties and entertainment brands is born from those discussions each year, creating the Fandom 250. Survivor has never been on such a list.
That tradition will continue into the end of 2018, as Survivor did not break into the top 250 list this year. Considering that for the first eight months of the year the team had to base their collective focus of the show’s content based on the linear, predictable Ghost Island season, I’m not surprised.
However, it does mean that one of the show’s greatest seasons, David vs. Goliath, will be overlooked greatly by the Fandom 250 committee. Not only has it brought entertainment properties together such as wrestling’s Johnny Impact and film/television’s Mike White, but it has thrown them and 18 others into a competitive arena befitting a Greek tragedy.
Survivor continues to be one of the most-watched and highest-rated television shows on Wednesday nights, and no show makes it to 37 seasons (!) without a diehard, fanatical audience. With season 38 aired, it will take a miracle in 2019 for season 39 to compel the Fandom 250 list-writers to include the show next year.
For the record, here’s the list of all the top television brands listed in the Fandom 250 list for 2018:
- No. 234: Breaking Bad / Better Call Saul
- No. 233: Westworld
- No. 228: Power
- No. 227: Outlander
- No. 200: American Horror Story
- No. 199: Queer Eye
- No. 188: Riverdale (which features a Survivor fan)
- No. 187: Atlanta
- No. 173: The Simpsons
- No. 158: RuPaul’s Drag Race
- No. 157: CW Superhero Shows
- No. 156: Orange is the New Black
- No. 143: This Is Us
- No. 142: The Bachelor
- No. 141: Supernatural
- No. 140: Saturday Night Live
- No. 129: Grey’s Anatomy
- No. 128: Friends
- No. 113: Rick and Morty
- No. 95: The Walking Dead
- No. 94: The Office
- No. 93: WWE
- No. 79: Stranger Things
- No. 42: Doctor Who
- No. 11: Game of Thrones
With Survivor season 40 airing in 2020, perhaps the show can wrangle back some of its best winners and legends together (including Richard Hatch, Russell Hantz and Kim Spradlin) in order to create enough buzz to get on the list. Whether or not it’s good for the show itself remains to be seen.