The Survivor off-season is almost over. This week sees the premiere of the landmark reality competition’s 33rd season, called Survivor: Millennials vs Gen X, and as the title suggests, the latest iteration of the cutthroat social strategy game sees two generations clashing against one another.
Ahead of the season premiere (and months after the season’s taping), I spoke with host Jeff Probst about how the season’s theme came together, how he feels the differing generational philosophies impacted the game, an extensive rundown on both tribes, clarity on the season’s idol twist, and more.
How did the Survivor team arrive at this year’s theme, Millennials vs Gen X?
Well, if you’re a deep dive Survivor fan, you might know that we typically create our theme based on the people that we’re going to put on the show that season. So it’s kind of a reverse engineering situation. This year, one of the things that [casting director Lynne Spillman] and I talked about was making a concerted effort to get more young people on the show. It’s never been easy, simply due to the fact that young people, by virtue of being young, don’t have a lot of life experience. Typically on Survivor, the more life experience you have, the more interesting it’s going to be to watch you, because you have more experiences to draw on. But Lynne and her team really took it on, full-tilt boogie, and we got into our first casting session with all of these great 18, 19, 21 and 22 year-olds. Their energy was so intoxicating that another would leave the room, and we went, “Man, we gotta find more room for more young people.” In our normal structure, we have some young people, some medium-aged, some older, some moms, some students — we have a cross-section. And we weren’t going to be able to have a bunch of young people if we stayed with a similar structure.
The turning point is that we saw five really great young people, and then a guy in his mid-40s came in and said, “Wow, what’s with all the kids?” And we started thinking, “Oh my god, this is a generational thing. That guy who just said, ‘What’s with all the kids?’ Not that long ago, he was probably saying, ‘What’s with all the old people?'” It really bloomed right there. We started interviewing people differently. When we brought Millennials in, we would talk with them about their approach to life and how they viewed Generation X. When Generation X people walked in, we would interview them and ask, “What do you think about these… I guess they’re called Millennials? Question mark?” We just saw the show really laying out in front of us.
The energy that the audience is going to feel during the show is the same thing we felt during casting, which is, very much a battle of culture in which you’re either going to say, “Those young people have no idea what they’re doing,” or, “God, those old people are very stuck in their ways.” And that’s what happens. It’s this collision. And the game forces both sides to see what they can draw on from the other. You can’t do it without working with other people. That’s when it got really interesting.
What did the theme reveal about Survivor to you, while you were watching it take place in real time? Did it reveal anything about the game, seeing these generations clash — whether it’s how a Millennial approaches Survivor versus how a Gen X-er approaches Survivor?
Yeah, that’s a good question. I think there was something revealed this season. To me, it would say that the game tends to favor a more Millennial approach right now, which is, “Let’s see what tomorrow brings,” versus the attitude of a typical Gen X-er: “I have a pretty good plan, I’m going to stick with it.” Either can work, but there was some flexibility with the Millennials, simply because that’s how they look at life. “Yeah, it might rain tomorrow, and I’ll be sorry I didn’t build a shelter… but right now? These waves are great, so I’m going for a surf.”
So I did notice it. It’s a great question, because I do think the game has evolved to a place now where if you’re saying, “Let’s just get an alliance of five and stick with it,” it’s like reading the encyclopedia. You want to say, “There’s this thing called Wikipedia, and it changes all the time. You should check it out.”
I think Survivor has always been a really fun way to look at our culture — to get a macro view at our culture through a very specific experience, this 39 day adventure. Regardless of whether a Gen X-er or a Millennial wins, I think there’s something very attractive and very relevant about staying open to new ideas. That’s what it is. I found myself at Tribal Council when I was interviewing Millennials drawn to their energy, even though they were getting ready to vote somebody out. When I was at Tribal Council with Gen X, I thought: “Eh… I hope I’m not like you guys. You feel a little stuck in the mud.”
But as the game progresses, then the flip starts to happen. The Millennials start to realize: “Oh, wow. There is something to be said for having a plan.” And the Gen X-ers say, “Yeah. It’s called having experience!” (Laughs.) So it’s not like the Millennials just walk in and take over the game, but also it’s not like Gen X can just stick to the plan. You have to work together. Sooner or later, you’re going to merge or switch tribes and you’re going to have to work together. The Millennials are going to have realize: “There is something to what the Gen X-ers are saying, and we should probably finish our shelter.” And the Gen X-ers are going to have to say: “I need to be open to changing my alliance.”
KEEP READING: Jeff previews the Generation X tribe
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