(Also check that to watch the exclusive deleted scene above and check out ourseason premiere recap.)
I’m not sure I’ve ever seen you that positively ebullient.
JEFF PROBST:Ah, yes.
Jeff Probst on ‘Survivor 41’.Robert Voets/CBS
I can take myself back to that “day one” moment right now.
It may sound corny, but it’s the truth.
Here’s why: The year away really reminded me how much I love everything aboutSurvivor.
Jeff Probst on ‘Survivor 41’.Robert Voets
I love the casting process and the game design.
I love shooting the show with our crew.
I love interacting with the players as they take on this giant adventure.
Jeff Probst on ‘Survivor 41’.Robert Voets
I love the editing process and then ultimately delivering the show to the fans to see their reaction.
I could also feel the same energy from our crew.
Everywhere I looked, I saw smiles of gratitude and appreciation.
We were all so happy to be back together.
They were so pumped to get started that they were nearly levitating.
Why did you decide to give us some footage of the folks who bringSurvivorto life?
We did that in the premiere with the Beware Advantage.
So it will only be occasionally inSurvivor 41,then a bit inSurvivor 42.
And like everything else we do, this too is an experiment.
I always like to think you are talking to me through the screen, Jeff.
Another nutty, risky experiment, for sure!
But I remember exactly where I was standing when this idea birthed itself.
I was in my garage, writing ideas on a whiteboard.
Clearly an absurd way to start an adventure show.
But Matt’s response was instant.
“Why not?!
In fact, where else can you talk to the audience?!”
You keep bouncing back and forth, and the idea starts to take shape.
So from that point forward we looked for opportunities to talk directly to the audience.
We love the idea, but we want it to grow organically from season to season.
And we’ll gauge our fans' reaction and adjust accordingly.
What was the game mechanic you wanted to achieve with this new twist?
It starts with our overall theme forSurvivor 41, which is “dangerous fun.”
This was one of the first ideas to get added into the game design.
Then it just became a matter of formalizing how it plays.
The way it plays now is the bag sits in the voting confessional, so your decision is private.
Nobody else knows what you’re doing.
That’s the dangerous fun element.
So you’re free to’t vote at that Tribal Council.
But nobody else will know until the votes are read.
That’s the risk-vs.-reward dilemma.
The mere threat that someone might reach into the bag is what creates the uncertainty.
For now we are heading in a direction that does not include Fire Tokens.
But what’s great about our new approach is that anything is possible.
It’s the same exact game, but totally different.
What would you do in the prisoner’s dilemma?
Would you protect your vote or risk it?
When we figured out how to simplify it, that is when it came to life.
From a strategy standpoint, my personal default is to take the risk.
One is offense, the other is defense.
If not, then I risk.
I have never believed you might play a zero-sum game from a place of fear.
But hey, I’ve never played a single day ofSurvivor, so my opinion is not worth much.
Plus, there is no playbook forSurvivor.
All types of players have won employing a variety of strategies.
You have to go with what works for you.
So glad you asked.
Yes, I will continue to look at my feet.
And I guess I’ll finally share the reason I do it.
Wow, I didn’t expect to be this open.
I’m a bit emotional, as this is pretty revealing, but here goes.
I was sitting alone on an island enduring a tremendous rainstorm.
Weirdly, he looked a lot like me, only significantly cooler.
He wore animal skins, had much longer hair, a lot of odd tattoos and a feather necklace.
I’ll never forget his first words to me: “Jeff, I am Survivor Guy… We sat for the next six hours as he regaled me with tales from his life of jungle living.
I’ll be honest, I don’t remember a lot of it because I was pretty damn cold.
But it was clear he was very earnest, even though his stories seemed completely implausible.
Then as the sun began to rise, he said, “I must go.
I’m needed somewhere else.”
To this day, Survivor Guy remains mySurvivorspirit animal.
Survivor Guy guides me.
Survivor Guy informs me.
Survivor Guy literally gives me the questions at Tribal Council.
He even gave me a couple of new quips for this season, including “Sorry for you.”
I’m still working on the delivery, but I’m confident it’s a keeper.
I’d be lost without Survivor Guy.
