u/NothingnessUD

I am a life-long fan of Survivor and have watched every season, with my family growing up and now with a family of my own. It’s a show near and dear to my heart and I wanted to be sure to say this up front because now I’m going to complain.

I’ve been catching up on some of the newer seasons and it feels like so much of the original magic of the show has been lost. The cynic in me thinks everything I’m about to list was done for cost-savings, or efforts to make the show easier to produce. I’m wondering if others agree or have an opinion on this.

1. Shooting Exclusively in Fiji - why did the show move from exciting, exotic locations around the world to just shooting in Fiji? The show feels more and more like its filmed on a set and I miss the excitement of hearing about the new exciting locale for an upcoming season. I’m giving up on my dream of a cold-weather season…

2. Shortening the length to <39 Days - I just finished watching Season 49 and Jeff went on and on about hoe grueling and exhausting it was. Why did they condense the season? It feels like there’s no downtime anymore or time spent exploring.

3. Lame Rewards - it seems like every reward now is some variation of coffee/tacos/pizza at a shack they built in the jungle. The “Sanctuary” couldn’t be more boring. What happened to visiting local villages, or picnics on a mountain, or snorkeling in jellyfish lake. Its like every reward now is just cheap takeout from whatever resort they share the island with.

More and more it feels like they’re making the show easier to shoot at the expense of the original Survivor magic that made the show special. Am I alone in thinking this? I’m not super active on Reddit so I’d love any insight into why people think the show has moved in this direction.

Thanks for reading!

Edit: apologies for asking something that appears to be a frequent topic of discussion here. I tend to avoid this subreddit for fear of spoilers (I’m always behind). Glad to hear I’m not alone in thinking this though!