As a fan who has enjoyed Survivor ever since the show premiered in the year 2000, I have a great deal of respect for the reality show's host, Jeff Probst. I believe that Probst is continuing to play a huge role in why I would argue that Survivor is the greatest reality show ever made.
Despite how much respect I have for Probst, I am certainly willing to criticize some of the decisions he has made and the things he has had to say.
When Probst recently gave one of the most useless interviews I have ever read, I called him out. Additionally, I have to express my opinion that Probst is making me incredibly annoyed by the way he has been handling a recurring element of Survivor episodes.
Jeff Probst's sanctuary talk makes me cringe with annoyance every time
When Survivor used to be filmed all over the world, that allowed the show to present a myriad of different rewards that played into the locations where seasons were taking place. Rewards could take place near a volcano, and players could be allowed to swim near the Great Barrier Reef. Now that every season is filmed in Fiji, that has limited the reward format severely.
Seemingly in an attempt to turn that weakness into a strength, recent seasons of Survivor have tried to brand the fact that most rewards that take place away from the tribes' beaches now take place in the same location. As Probst has been explaining the stakes before reward challenges begin, he has stated that the winner(s) will be allowed to go to the sanctuary to enjoy the fruits of their labor. If Probst left it there, I wouldn't have any complaints, because in truth, I never really cared that much about the locations where rewards take place.
Unfortunately, Probst doesn't stop there. Instead, the Survivor host has added a quote, that feels like an obvious attempt at branding to every description of rewards that involve the sanctuary. “Where good things happen.” Probst has even gone further than that by prompting the players to say that phrase with him.
Throughout Survivor history, many of the things that Probst says repeatedly have become catchphrases over time. In most of those cases, that has been fine, as even though the repetition clearly was an intentional attempt to create catchphrases on those occasions, it still felt like fans caught on to them in an organic way. In this case, the overemphasis that Probst has and continues to give this attempt at a catchphrase makes it feel like he is practically begging fans to embrace it.
As a result of the over-the-top way that the catchphrase has been shoved onto viewers, I cringe and roll my eyes every time Jeff utters those words. “Where good things happen.” Worse yet, for me at least, it has had the opposite effect of its obvious purpose. Now, instead of valuing sanctuary rewards more, I've grown to hate them.