Survivor host Jeff Probst explains the 'blistering attack of advantages'

Ask Jeff Probst the word he would use to describe Survivor 46 (which premieres tonight on CBS) and the word you get back is… “Gameplay.” The host and showrunner says that is partly a result of the 18 people selected for this round of reality TV glory, but also may be due to the simple evolution of the game.

“This is the sixth iteration of this new era,” says Probst. “And I think players are starting to figure out, ‘Okay, here are the elements that are in this game. How can I use them to my advantage? How should I be prepared in case one befalls me?’ And that really goes back to the grand design of the new era, which was to create so much uncertainty that even if we never put an idol or a twist in the game, it would still have the impact that they were in the game because you don't know if they are in the game or not, so you have to play as though they are, and that makes you make a move.”

Probst knows there has been some criticism from the fanbase about there being too many different advantages floating around in the new era of the game, but says there was a method to the madness, and that dividends from that approach are about to be paid.

“That's the idea behind creating this blistering attack of advantages and all these changes that everybody said, ‘Oh my God! It's too much! It's too much!’” says the host. “Well, now I think we're going to start to see the reason we were doing that is to create this world, and the ultimate idea is that it will give the player permission to play because you have to play. You can't be idle in this version of Survivor. You won't win even if you get to the end.”

To hear that Survivor 46 has a collection of huge gamers is interesting because while that may not have been evident during pre-game interviews, it was clear that there were a lot of huge personalities in the cast, and Probst says that will play out during the season.

“It’s weird to say that this is a unique group or an eclectic group because that's the idea with every season,” says the host. “But this group in particular has some very big personalities and some fun personalities. I think fans are going to laugh a lot this season because there's a sense of humor. There's also weirdly a sense of music this season, either because somebody plays an instrument, or somebody sings, or somebody's really into something about music and they end up talking about it. It's not a huge thing, but there is this sort of underbelly of music coming in throughout.”

As far as what the huge thing is, “I think the biggest overall takeaway is when this season is over, you're going to feel like that was a season of gameplay,” Probst predicts. “I really believe what's happening in 46 is it's the first time players went ‘I think maybe I'm going to play a little harder. I don't think I'm still worried about what's up Probst’s sleeve anymore.’”

Of course, we all know what happens once people get too comfortable on Survivor.           

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