This note will be long and will no doubt only be read by those who already agree with its contents (the myth that Jeff Probst actually cares about, let alone reads what we have to say, is just that-—a myth), but as someone who has been faithful to the Survivor brand for 11 years now, I just feel I have to speak out.

Judging from the preview for Survivor: South Pacific—-a generic name selected to mask the fact that this season (and season 24) will be the third and fourth of the last six to be filmed in Samoa—-CBS, Jeff Probst and the producers of Survivor are so out of touch with what fans want out of this show that I have to assume that they are deliberately trying to kill it off. That's the only logical conclusion, because the evidence that fans find the show to be in complete shambles is right in front of them in a multitude of places but no effort is being made to fix what was once the gold standard of reality TV. Survivor has strayed so far from its roots that it's entirely unrecognizable from the phenomenon that transfixed us for a decade.

Survivor 22 was one of, if not the single least popular and least enjoyable installments in the history of the show for me and many other fans, but not only are the producers not trying to fix the many, many problems that exist with the show, next season is basically just repeating this past one (16 new + 2 old contestants, Redemption Island) in an old location. At the reunion every year, Jeff comments that they continue doing the show because of the fans...so why are we constantly ignored? It's not like this is just a passionate minority of fans at SurvivorSucks.com or something. At CBS.com, EW.com, Jeff's blog, Twitter and countless other sites—-the reaction to this season has been intensely negative. All of these form into what is essentially a free, worldwide focus group; something you would think the producers would kill for. Instead, they operate under the mentality of, "We're right; the thousands of fans that speak up are wrong."

The Redemption Island format is one of the most controversial and game-changing elements ever brought into the show. Before this season began, Jeff told fans to give it a chance—-we would love it after six episodes, he promised. In an early blog he stated that, as much as he personally loved Redemption Island, it was ultimately in fans' hands to determine whether or not it would be repeated in future seasons. It quickly became apparent that fans were not responding to it as Jeff had hoped-—in fact, we flat-out hated Redemption Island. Jeff acknowledged this—-barely-—by conceding that some fans were "on the fence" about Redemption Island.

Of course, nobody was on the fence; barely anyone saw any value to it at all: Redemption Island robbed us of the drama of the finality of Tribal Council. It waters down the impact of blindsides (not that there were many to speak of this past season). It deprived us of separate reward challenges, which is particularly an issue post-merge, especially in this season where we really needed some people to get out of camp and have an opportunity to strategize, because the dynamics of the game literally never shifted from week 2. The uselessness of Redemption Island was only affirmed by how it played out on the show—-both of the players who came back from Redemption Island were immediately voted out. It did not change strategy or drive drama one bit.

This is not even a case of a semi-decent idea being poorly implemented (such as the too-powerful idols held by Terry and Yul in Panama and Cook Islands respectively), but an awful concept that went against everything the show was about, and was handled in an incredibly stupid way (you don't even have to win multi-person duels to stay alive?). Yet the preview for next season didn't acknowledge any of this; instead, the producers facetiously tooted their own horns and had the audacity to pretend that Redemption Island was a successful evolution to the game of Survivor. This isn't just patently ignoring fans' requests to remove this horrifically bad format; it rubs Redemption Island's maddening failure in our faces with a blatant lie that amounts to, "Yeah, we really don't care what you think."

The preview for next season continued by announcing that two past contestants will be joining the new players once again. Bringing back returning players every once in a while can be fun. The occasional All-Star season is exciting and, in moderation, can hype fans up to a major degree. But bringing back people all the time and sprinkling them in with new contestants takes away the thrill of seeing past players come back and play against each other. It's also an insult to the new contestants, who are basically told from day one, "Even though we're the ones that cast you, we don't think you're exciting enough to drive the season, so let's bring in a couple of ringers to provide the entertainment."

The fact is, the Rob and Russell return was a large factor in why this season was such a letdown. People say that without Rob, this season would have been a total dud. But it was his presence that caused Ometepe to be a bunch of zombies who refused to have minds of their own. It was Russell's presence that caused Zapatera to divide so quickly and never be able to recover to serve as adequate competition. Bringing back Rob for a fourth stint (why are people touting this statistic as though it were impressive? It only serves as a reminder that he couldn't pull it off the first three times) and Russell for a third time in four seasons was far too much. Both promised they would never play again...I give it two years, tops, before we see at least one of them back, if not both.

Speaking of which, whatever happened to the so-called "Russell factor" of not-so-hidden immunity idols? After the back-to-back fiasco of a whopping ten idols being found and/or played in Samoa and Heroes vs. Villains, Jeff said it was important that they change things up and make idols more difficult to find. He credited Russell with outsmarting the producers by tracking down multiple idols without clues. In Nicaragua, the players had to solve a complex visual puzzle to uncover the idol. This season, when Russell returned, idols were once again in plain sight. Two of season 22's three idols were discovered without clues; one on the very first day and the other was stumbled upon accidentally. It's a wonder the producers didn't just take it out of Ralph's hands and say, "Sorry, that one was intended for Russell. Yoink."

Anyway, one of the recurring comments this season from fans on Jeff's blog has been that mixing new and returning players is a bad idea. Even Parvati, the winner of "Fans vs. Favorites," has admitted that when newbies play against veterans, they are too star struck to think straight. Boston Rob may finally have the title, but is it really that much of an accomplishment considering how complacent the bulk of his competition was? There were literally no roadblocks in the way of his million-dollar quests besides the early and easily ejected Francesca and Kristina (thanks for ignoring them, along with Krista, Stephanie, Sarita and Steve, at the reunion by the way—-we really hadn't had enough of Rob, Russell, Matt and Phillip all season long). Redemption Island was a dud that made no impact. The tribes were never shuffled to create new dynamics. Rob's cult followers never even had the opportunity to leave his sight by going on rewards that would take them out of camp and potentially reveal the pecking order and create new strategies.

Now this gimmick of mixing new players with predictable old blood-—and it cannot be classified as anything but a gimmick-—is being repeated for seemingly no reason whatsoever. The Rob/Russell rematch was apparently devised because the two challenged each other at the Heroes vs. Villains reunion—which is a stupid idea to build part of a season around, but Jeff wanted it to happen, so it happened. Now what? Are we going to see a kook-off between Coach and Phillip? We want new people and new stories. We don't need to see regurgitated characters getting a second...or third...or fourth (really?) chance to win the money and suck up airtime.

The star of Survivor has always been the game. Obviously, personalities and characters emerge, but the main appeal of the show was (alas, I cannot say "is") the concept itself. Yet the producers and CBS no longer seem to have any faith in that deliciously simple concept, now resorting to ideas that completely change the fabric of the show (remember when fire represented life?) and lazily opting to pull out the same old retreads over and over in the hopes that it will attract viewers. The fact that nearly every episode of season 22 pulled in a new record-low rating each week is proof that that is the opposite of true.

Here's the thing: this past season, for the first time, Survivor faced off against American Idol, the #1 show in the country, on a weekly basis. Obviously that's the main catalyst behind the dwindling ratings. But when they cater the season to the casual audience and flat-out ignore the hardcore fans (who they know will be watching anyway), what you're going to end up with is that those hardcore fans are going to tune in, be absolutely irritated by the direction the show is headed in and then head to the blogs and Twitter to voice their complaints. It creates an environment of jaded fans sharing their disgust, futilely wondering when-—or if-—they'll ever be heard. Meanwhile, the rest of the audience, the viewers that producers actually tried to attract, is watching American Idol and doesn't really care that Boston Rob and Russell are back, or that there's some major game modification like Redemption Island.

And for years, perhaps the biggest issue that fans have had with the show was the incorporation of the final three contestants facing the jury rather than the final two. This has remained overwhelmingly unpopular, as an incredible majority of fans feel the final two makes for a much more dramatic and enjoyable (and sensible) finish. For some inane, unexplainable reason, the show has continued to conclude with a final three, and now more than a third of the seasons have ended with this awful, universally hated format. I don't think Jeff and the producers understand how much goodwill they would earn from fans if the show brought back the final two. I could post an even longer rant purely just about how frustrating and unsatisfying the final three is, but all I'll say for right now is that it truly is a slap in the face to fans that this huge mistake has not been rectified.

On a smaller scale, one of the complaints lobbied at recent seasons is the lack of water challenges, which Jeff has explained is because the waters in both Samoa and Nicaragua were far too dangerous to shoot in. Okay, that makes sense. So why on earth are they returning to Samoa for another year of puzzle challenges and a goofy-looking pool that will be used maybe twice?

The funny thing is, Jeff Probst actually agrees with us. He used to really be a stickler for the integrity of Survivor, long refusing to even consider a celebrity edition (now, of course, he's obsessed with the idea) and speaking out against the stunts he regretted the show attempting. Witness these comments he made back in 2005:
"I hated the Outcasts. I felt it went against everything we say the show is about — that if you are voted out, you are out of the game."
"Much like the Outcasts, I would hope we never do All-Stars again, because Survivor is a game about strangers living together. Once they have had that experience and have spent time together socially, it's a completely different game. It's stunt casting."
http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20354695_1024612,00.html

But now Jeff seems to actively be trying to turn Survivor into the kind of garbage that gives reality television such a bad reputation. He's all about stunt casting. His pet twist is a replica of the Outcasts (albeit in a much more boring and time-consuming fashion). And to give an idea of just how out of touch he is and how little he cares about the show's integrity nowadays: at this past season's reunion, he did everything but get down on his knees and beg for Russell Hantz to play again. Mind you, not only is Russell Hantz an incredibly polarizing player whose presence in three seasons in less than two years has alienated countless fans, he also spoiled his original two seasons to an unprecedented degree. If the people who create this show had any self-respect, Hantz would be persona non grata. Instead, they're rolling out the red carpet in a desperate attempt to convince a one-note character who has played the same predictable way every single time that it's absolutely vital that he return to the show.

Now, the host of our favorite show has become our greatest enemy in the battle to make Survivor good again. Jeff seems to have a few stock answers in place for the rare occasions where he actually responds to (let alone acknowledges) fan criticism. There's the always-charming middle school retort of "Get over it!" There's the enormously condescending, "If we got rid of [unpopular twist/player], you'd miss it!" And of course, who could forget the classic, "If you don't like [unpopular twist/player], you're not a true Survivor fan"? I don't know which of these Jeff would levy at me if he reads this, but just to be prepared for anything:
"No, you get over it! Stop ruining the show!"
"The audience is smart enough to know what we like and dislike, more so than you do."
"A true Survivor fan is not going to blindly accept whatever gimmicks you choose to throw into the game and show. On the contrary, true fans are passionate enough to speak up when we don't like what's happening to our favorite show."
That should cover me.

The producers are relying on the idea that hardcore fans will watch the show no matter what...and sadly, they are exactly right. I've stuck with this show out of loyalty and the hopes that we'll have another great season like Borneo, Marquesas, Amazon, etc. But honestly, at this point I would settle for a Thailand or Gabon. Ultimately, I know that by continuing to watch, I'm part of the problem. But having been there since the third episode of the first season, I feel like I've been on this ship too long to jump off now. It's quickly sinking anyway; there won't be too many more seasons at this rate. Besides, it's way beyond the point of going out with dignity and leaving the audience wanting more, although I'd love nothing more than to be proven wrong with a back-to-basics season that actually makes me enthusiastic about Survivor again.

Thanks for 21 mostly enjoyable seasons, Jeff. It was a fun ride before you decided the fans didn't matter.

Sincerely,
A (former?) fan

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