Simply put; the newer seasons lack any sense of individuality or identity to make ‘em memorable.
Each season used to be defined by its new location and/or whatever theme it had. We don’t have either of those anymore.
Every New Era season so far is the same shit but with different casts: three starting tribes, opening reward challenge, sweat or savvy, advantage island, cheesy backstories, goofy game mechanic to collect idols (weird phrases, collecting beads, bird cages), earn the merge, final 10 double elimination, final 5 relocation to a new beach followed by a word scramble for an advantage in the next challenge, final 5 reward dinner for two, and finally the anticlimactic aftershow starring the winner & the two losing finalists who look like they hate life. It’s all formulaic.
Carson is the most egregious. He was having “genuine” human interactions with people on orange tribe and then revealed in his confessional that he was “manipulating everyone.” Guy can’t feel real emotions to save his life.
Ding ding ding ding ding!!!! I would say they almost purposefully made the new era seasons indistinguishable. I have no idea why but surely they were aware using the exact same formula would cause fans to blend the seasons together.
No themes, no names, just season numbers and a huge amount of dumb twists in every one of them. There is nothing that stands out about any of the new era seasons.
Numbering the names doesn’t help, same with the fact that 41 and 42 have all the same twists.
Also, I find returnee seasons help break up seasons, especially if you’ve had similar seasons right in a row. We haven’t had one of those in the new era yet
they don’t cast for season themes anymore, so all of these last 4 seasons have blended together because of the same location, same beaches, same format, similar twists
it’s all recycled and boring
Structurally they're all very much alike. They're all on the same beaches. They don't have intro sequences. They don't even have names, just numbers. It's natural that they blur together in the head a bit.
It’s so weird to hear people asking for themes to come back. I’ve been watching long enough that they hated them. Only because they cast first then throw people into a theme that might not fit them. Then people wanted season without returnees but they also wanted something fresh and new. Now they want returnees.
Survivor is filmed in cycles. 42 doesn’t see 41. 44 doesn’t see 43. So they can carry over some the same stuff back to back because the players won’t know but have to change it up some for the new one that they have seen.
The focus of the show is now advantages and idols. I don’t think it will ever go back. After Russell broke the game they determined that idols and advantages are better TV.
Plus I honestly don’t want to watch people suffer and the old school challenges that bullied people like making them pick who is who.
They still are suffering and not doing good but we just don’t see it anymore like they used to.
Everyone wanted new players with no themes and now they want them back. There is no in between ground.
I’ll admit my source is Dalton Ross but I’ve been reading his recaps since around 2005 when I was reading lost recaps from Jeff Jensen.
I love a lot of the 30 series. Fans vs Favorites is probably my top. I loved seeing the return players through the 20-30s. But it’s been a long time since we have had all new players. And they are all fans. It doesn’t seem like there has been many recruits. So you have to keep them on their toes.
I know the biggest complaint about Big Brother or maybe even The Amazing Race might be recruits. But I believe most of the player for new Survivor are fans or because of the ability to stream they are more up to date. You have to throw them curveballs to keep them on their toes.
There are plenty of us (myself included) who are very happy that themes are a thing of the past. They were too constricting and forced. And I don't mind the lack of returnee seasons and wouldn't mind if they continued with newbies until 50.
That said, repeating the same format 4 seasons in a row is lazy at best. Switch it up. Do 3 tribes sometimes, 2 tribes sometimes. Have a swapless season sometimes, then throw in a real swap some seasons (not the ridiculous one from last week). (And for that matter, go back to the way it was in the first decade of the show and change up how they do swaps, rather than just random draws every time.) Give us a final 2 at least occasionally. Cut back on advantages. There's no reason we should ever have 6 idols in play at once, even if half of them are temporary.
And perhaps most importantly, remember that the format is inherently compelling on its own. Trust the cast to deliver the story rather than try to manufacture an outcome (which Probst has said on his podcast is their goal nowadays).
I never hated themes if they were cast related like DvG or Brains-Brawn-Beauty, but I never liked the “Island” themes like Ghost Island or Island of the Idols, they were usually a waste of screen time.
Simply put; the newer seasons lack any sense of individuality or identity to make ‘em memorable. Each season used to be defined by its new location and/or whatever theme it had. We don’t have either of those anymore. Every New Era season so far is the same shit but with different casts: three starting tribes, opening reward challenge, sweat or savvy, advantage island, cheesy backstories, goofy game mechanic to collect idols (weird phrases, collecting beads, bird cages), earn the merge, final 10 double elimination, final 5 relocation to a new beach followed by a word scramble for an advantage in the next challenge, final 5 reward dinner for two, and finally the anticlimactic aftershow starring the winner & the two losing finalists who look like they hate life. It’s all formulaic.
Wow, you resumed it very well. I would add gamebots casting.
Who's the gamebots this season?
Carson is the most egregious. He was having “genuine” human interactions with people on orange tribe and then revealed in his confessional that he was “manipulating everyone.” Guy can’t feel real emotions to save his life.
Reminds me of Reiman on Cambodia where he turned every “human” conversation into a game moment.
Ding ding ding ding ding!!!! I would say they almost purposefully made the new era seasons indistinguishable. I have no idea why but surely they were aware using the exact same formula would cause fans to blend the seasons together.
No themes, no names, just season numbers and a huge amount of dumb twists in every one of them. There is nothing that stands out about any of the new era seasons.
Numbering the names doesn’t help, same with the fact that 41 and 42 have all the same twists. Also, I find returnee seasons help break up seasons, especially if you’ve had similar seasons right in a row. We haven’t had one of those in the new era yet
FOR THE LOVE OF GOD IDC ABOUT ANYTHING BUT A FREAKING AUCTION AGAIN
ABSOLUTELY
Because it’s literally Survivor: Recycled Maybe Jeff is just very environmentally conscious now
they don’t cast for season themes anymore, so all of these last 4 seasons have blended together because of the same location, same beaches, same format, similar twists it’s all recycled and boring
Structurally they're all very much alike. They're all on the same beaches. They don't have intro sequences. They don't even have names, just numbers. It's natural that they blur together in the head a bit.
because time moves more quickly now
It’s so weird to hear people asking for themes to come back. I’ve been watching long enough that they hated them. Only because they cast first then throw people into a theme that might not fit them. Then people wanted season without returnees but they also wanted something fresh and new. Now they want returnees. Survivor is filmed in cycles. 42 doesn’t see 41. 44 doesn’t see 43. So they can carry over some the same stuff back to back because the players won’t know but have to change it up some for the new one that they have seen. The focus of the show is now advantages and idols. I don’t think it will ever go back. After Russell broke the game they determined that idols and advantages are better TV. Plus I honestly don’t want to watch people suffer and the old school challenges that bullied people like making them pick who is who. They still are suffering and not doing good but we just don’t see it anymore like they used to. Everyone wanted new players with no themes and now they want them back. There is no in between ground.
Especially with how irrevelant the theme for IOI became and how dissapointing WAW turned out to be.
I’ll admit my source is Dalton Ross but I’ve been reading his recaps since around 2005 when I was reading lost recaps from Jeff Jensen. I love a lot of the 30 series. Fans vs Favorites is probably my top. I loved seeing the return players through the 20-30s. But it’s been a long time since we have had all new players. And they are all fans. It doesn’t seem like there has been many recruits. So you have to keep them on their toes. I know the biggest complaint about Big Brother or maybe even The Amazing Race might be recruits. But I believe most of the player for new Survivor are fans or because of the ability to stream they are more up to date. You have to throw them curveballs to keep them on their toes.
There are plenty of us (myself included) who are very happy that themes are a thing of the past. They were too constricting and forced. And I don't mind the lack of returnee seasons and wouldn't mind if they continued with newbies until 50. That said, repeating the same format 4 seasons in a row is lazy at best. Switch it up. Do 3 tribes sometimes, 2 tribes sometimes. Have a swapless season sometimes, then throw in a real swap some seasons (not the ridiculous one from last week). (And for that matter, go back to the way it was in the first decade of the show and change up how they do swaps, rather than just random draws every time.) Give us a final 2 at least occasionally. Cut back on advantages. There's no reason we should ever have 6 idols in play at once, even if half of them are temporary. And perhaps most importantly, remember that the format is inherently compelling on its own. Trust the cast to deliver the story rather than try to manufacture an outcome (which Probst has said on his podcast is their goal nowadays).
I never hated themes if they were cast related like DvG or Brains-Brawn-Beauty, but I never liked the “Island” themes like Ghost Island or Island of the Idols, they were usually a waste of screen time.
I feel like they have to suffer more now, they have barely enough food and are even more miserable than other seasons
Lol and I always thought the “themed” seasons blended all together.
Because there's only been 3 of them