It was never going to be a legends season.
Much of the initial uproar over the Survivor 50 cast has gone away over the past few months. Fans have mostly come to terms with who was chosen and started to get excited, but that doesn’t mean there’s not still some lingering confusion. Even if they’re not actively mad anymore, plenty of the beloved reality show’s fans still feel befuddled about some of the decisions casting made. Fortunately, longtime host Jeff Probst finally offered some clarity as to why we didn’t get more legends.
The clarification happened during a recent interview with TV Insider. Probst was there to hype up Survivor 49, which is about to start airing, when he was asked about the two players from that cast being chosen for the milestone season. During his extended answer, he talked about what he was looking for from players on Season 50, and his answer reveals a ton about why everything went down as it did. Here’s a portion of his quote…
When Survivor 50 was first announced and fans were told that it would include returning players, it was widely referred to by Probst and CBS as a celebration of the show’s history. That led many fans to believe that the cast would consist of the most famous and beloved former players. Fans expected to see winners like Boston Rob, Parv, Tony and Sandra, as well as other memorable legends like Coach, Cirie, Rupert, Russell, Jerri, Abi-Maria and Malcolm.
That’s not exactly what we got though. Coach and Cirie made the final cut, as well as other favorites like Ozzy, Colby and Stephenie, but many of the spots went to one-time players and more recent notables from the so-called New Era. They could turn into legends in time, but for now, they didn’t fit the formula most fans assumed the show was going for.
These comments by Probst, however, clarify that he never viewed it as a legends season. Instead, it seems like he viewed it as an exercise in trying to create a cast that collectively feels like Survivor. That probably means he actively stayed away from a lot of the legends, as their mere presence has tended to give their returning seasons a very different vibe.
I was initially frustrated like many fans, but I’ve since come around to the mix we did get. That being said, I think we can still acknowledge that the messaging here initially wasn’t great. Clearly, based on the comments people working on the show made, almost everyone had the sense that we were in for a legends season. If that wasn’t going to be the case, Probst and the producers should have articulated that better. That would have prevented a lot of the backlash, and it probably would have prevented some of the anger from former players, many of whom have spoken out over their own confusion and hard feelings.
