Survivor snubbed in the FanSided 250 list as 20th anniversary looms

The FanSided 250 ranks the top 250 buzz-worthy fandoms across all of pop culture, but Survivor didn’t move the needle enough to crack the list.

Every time I tell people I write about Survivor, I inevitably hear one of two things. The first thing I often hear is some note of support about how cool it is to write about things online that others will read. Among strangers I tell, however, I hear the second thing far more often; “Is that show still on?”

Yes, Survivor has been airing seasons on television twice a year since its May 31, 2000 introduction, and though it hasn’t been nearly as popular as back then, it’s still the top-rated CBS show this television cycle (outside of sports and news). What it doesn’t do, outside of the most notable events that highlight what’s wrong with the show, is capture the hearts and minds of the young and become appointment television.

It is for that reason alone, I believe, that Survivor was snubbed from the 2019 list of the FanSided 250; a time capsule that reflects our parent network’s look into the biggest movers and shakers in pop culture for the year. You can check the full list here, as it covers entities like sports teams, celebrities, video games, television, movies, and even musicals in one master list.

If you’re like me and wanted to know what was on the list for television fandoms, you can check that filter here. Survivor wasn’t snubbed from the list because it’s a reality television show if that’s what you were thinking, as RuPaul’s Drag Race, Queer Eye, Love Island, and Bachelor Nation ranked as high as just outside the top 50.

If there was ever an opportunity for Survivor to make it to an annual list of the FanSided 250, it’s next year. May 31, 2020, will mark 20 years of the show on the air, and if history serves right, the show goes hard in the paint with its seasons every ten years. Heroes vs. Villains brought back many of the show’s greatest heroes (and Candice) as well as their top villains (and Parvati) to create one of the best seasons ever.

The kinds of seasons we hope to hear about in just over a week (at the Island of the Idols reunion) include bringing back all the winners, the show’s all-time legends, or perhaps a mixture of both. Additionally, the cultural impact on reality television Survivor has brought, as well as the many think pieces likely to be crafted by pop culture critics this Spring, should make the show a buzz-worthy topic worthy of next year’s top fandom list.