For fans of Survivor, figuring out exactly what is going on in the game can be a challenge. Producers edit the show to try and reflect the story and narrative they aim to portray. They cover the themes that they believe are essential to the plot, almost like a film or a piece of literature would. In turn, we as viewers are not privy to a lot of the extra conversations and strategies that are happening in the game.
One example of this is the tribal council. For viewers, we watch about 10 minutes of conversation between Jeff Probst and the players, which seems to be cut in a way that flows beautifully and smoothly. It gives the appearance that the entire segment is everything that happened throughout the segment of the game, except for slight editing around walking up to vote.
The reality is, though, that the tribal council goes on for far longer than we see it happening. But have you ever been curious about exactly how long it takes? Well, thankfully, Jeff gave us the answer this year.
Jeff Probst has fined tuned tribal council over the years
On episode 10 of On Fire with Jeff Probst, the official Survivor podcast, the end segment involved answering questions from fans who wrote in to the show. Rachel LaMont read out the question, which was as follows: "My question for Jeff is, how long is the average Tribal? I'm always so curious how long it takes to tally the votes and how long you all talk for."
Jeff's answer reflected a change in his personal approach from the first tribal councils to the current era.
"Tribal Councils can vary wildly from one night to the next. In the early seasons, they used to last a lot longer, and looking back, I think [this was] for two reasons. I think I was still learning how to run a Tribal, and I think players were still learning how to deal with Tribal."
Since that start did not really tell us anything, he did finally give us insight into the current average length.
"These days, I'd say, the average is probably about an hour all in from asking questions to reading the votes. Unless, of course, somebody stands up and says, 'I think it's going to be a live Tribal', and then all bets are off for how long it will go."
Truthfully, that is actually a bit shorter than I expected, although it is still substantially longer than what we as viewers see. It makes sense that Jeff would have honed his skills over time to the point where he knows how to dig out the information he needs, and how to really bring out those clever quotes and soundbites that make the producer's job easier.
Thankfully for the players, they are no longer sitting there for hours at a time, in uncomfortable seats, and hyperfocusing on saying something without saying anything at all. To me, it makes me think of being in class, and the anxiety you have waiting for the teacher to call on you, and then they do. Panicked responses lead to some of the best ones, of course. At least an hour is manageable. Though whoever gets voted out would probably take hours more.
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