Survivorwill wrap up its 36th season Wednesday evening with the finale ofSurvivor: Ghost Island.
How has the show changed over the years?
Do they ever look to the many foreign versions ofSurvivorfor inspiration?
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Will there be a big blowout for season 40 (which would film next year)?
How much longer does Jeff want to continue hosting and can the show continue on without him?
And what happens when the two of them disagree on something?
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(Click through all four pages to read the entire interview.)
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY:Here we are at the end of season 36.
The show has evolved so much over the years.
Robert Voets/CBS
Great answer.BURNETT: And very much gameplay.
People are really, really smart in the social game.
And it takes deep thought.
CBS
If you watch it over time, the people have become much, much better.
It’s a really, really deep-thinking game with consequences at every move.
And people think almost like multi-level chess.
One of the greatest things about the format is that it is of the moment.
What about in terms of the creative from your end?
And there have been many that we said, “We’re not ready for that yet.
Let’s wait on that.
And we keep getting lucky that we get to come back and play again.
We just have 36 seasons of history now to look back on and steal from.
But when it comes to twists and advantages, we tend to go to our own.
We have our own idea of howSurvivorshould play and what we think is fair and appropriate.
And we kind of have a saying, which is: What is the invoice?
That’s a question I’m always asking.
If you’re gonna find an idol, what’s the invoice?
There has to be some peril or some tension or you have to risk something or risk your vote.
Whatever it is, you have to pay some price to get in that door.
And if you’re really successful, you get away with it.
And if you’re not as good, you might get caught.
That’s what makes it fun to watch and worthy when you finally achieve it.
How long can the show continue?BURNETT: The longevity is dependent upon viewers.
But we’ve got the consistency of the same leadership of Jeff and Jeff’s team around him.
And, you know, the audience is tough.
You take a look around, and there are things that don’t go forward which is most things.
This not only goes forward over and over, but tends to dominate.
And we didn’t know.
We’re actually in the middle of our 19th year.
We’ve already shot our 37th season.
We’re about to shoot our 38th starting in five days.
I’m talking to the people who are watching our show.
And they’ll take a big ride with us.
You don’t get many misses, but I think we have permission to try big ideas.
And once you nail the idea, then you’re off and running.
NEXT PAGE:Can the show continue without Probst?
The title just can’t beSurvivorand then the name of the country.
It has to be something else.BURNETT: I think the opposite.
And as I said at the beginning, really the big thing aboutSurvivoris Jeff.
I probably look back and wonder: Was it the right move to have changed country names every year?
Maybe it wasn’t.
Right at the minute we’re about to go shoot season 38.
So it’s a hypothetical.
It’s not me runningSurvivor.
Find brilliant people and recognize why they’re brilliant and let them continue to be brilliant.
Like, do you think someone’s trying to tell LeBron James how to dunk?
I don’t think so.
I’m not trying to tell Jeff how to do his job that’d be ridiculous.
I’d like to see Jeff make a run at dunk.
Jeff, can you dunk?PROBST: Uh, no.
But I want to just tell you something we’ve probably told you before.
I have other shows.
I’m going to give this show to you guys.”
And then he gives it to you!
He gives you the show!
And he lets you do your thing, right or wrong it’s not a judgment he’s making.
So go, have fun.
He didn’t say any of that.
And we just did it.
And CBS has been the same way.
They rarely say no to anything and they continue to trust us.
And that’s what it’s been.
And so we have this incredible gift that we all refer to as the glass ball.
And if you ask any of the small team, none of us wants to drop the ball.
We all carry it and cradle it like this beautiful gift because it is.
It’s a one-word answer.
And Mark knew that about me from the beginning.
Mark gave me a voice from day one.
And this is what he imagined would happen on this show.
And whether he second-guessed me or not along the way, he never let me know.
And that allowed my instinct to continue to blossom and I thought I was doing a good job.
What appealed aboutSurvivorwas the organic nature of studying humans and their behavior.
NEXT PAGE: Could there be changes to the Reunion show format?
I mean, what we talk about in downloads is really big picture stuff.
Even with the producers, because so much is happening.
And so we don’t spend much time in the minutia.
Like, I had a revelation about how to tell a season 37 story five days ago!
That’s all we need is their truth.
And we’re going to continue to do this.
And then we had this beautiful opportunity and our editors just destroyed it.
Can we have a peace treaty?"
And Chris says no.
And Wendell says, “Fine, we’re going to war.”
Three guys going at it, but only two are going to survive because somebody’s going home tonight.
Obviously the big finale is coming up Wednesday night.
There’s still a big decision to be made on Ghost Island.
There’s still so much gameplay left.
That leads me to ask about the reunion show.
We just want the most entertaining night we can have."
And CBS is good with that.
What we have to balance is, how late can the vote be?
NEXT PAGE:What’s in store for season 40?
It’s only now 36, so we’ve only had a few seasons since then.
But the idea of a live vote, definitely want to do it again, it’s very exciting.
But you just have to be patient when you’re producing a show likeSurvivor.
If we did all-stars all the time, it wouldn’t be as special.
What are we due for?
What haven’t we done lately?
Oh, maybe it’s time for a live vote and then we do it.
And just like withGhost Island, when people say, “Would you ever doGhost Island 2?”
But before we get to that, Ghost Island is now an advantage in the game.
It’s now in our wheelhouse.
Finally, season 40 is around the corner now.
You guys would be filming that next year.
Do you think you will do a big blowout for that one?
And again, who knows what it will be, but I do have to agree with you.
I mean, it was such fun.
Jeff would want to, the team would want to.
Right, so what I’m hearing then is an all-winners edition for season 40.
Whether it’s true or not, that’s my takeaway and I’m sticking with it.
An all-winnersSurvivor: Championsedition for season 40.PROBST[Laughs] We’ll see!
For moreSurvivorscoop, follow Dalton on Twitter@DaltonRoss.
