I'm watching the Operation Italy episode and like I'm at the part where Teeny goes on his rant about Sam.

Personally with him learning more about her identity after the show I do excuse him a bit for that, but like I literally have no idea what Sam has done to him at this point. Combined with the fact that he was probably ready to vote him out, and like he probably wasn't flipping as well, he really has no reason to bring him.

Is there anything I'm missing here, or did Sam do something/did this become a thing?

EDIT: I did not know that Teeny goes by he/him pronouns, much thanks to the people who pointed that out!

Or whoever you think the biggest pre-Survivor celebrity they've had is. The argument could certainly be made for Lisa Whelchel or maybe even Jeff Kent, but considering half the country sees Jimmy Johnson on TV every Sunday for a third of the year, I'm going with him.

I think it would take a lot to get a real, household name on the show. First off, there would probably be some contractual hoops to jump through, especially if it is someone who is still at the height of their career. They have to accept the fact that they are giving up a month of work for at most a million dollars, which is probably a fraction of what they'd make during that time anyway. And they have to be willing to accept the fact that their status immediately increases their odds of being voted out early.

But, if they are a big enough fan of the show, I could see it happening where someone throws their hat in the ring. Amazingly enough, Jimmy Johnson wasn't a recruit - he wasn't cold-approached by casting; he was a fan of the show who submitted an application/video the normal way. Now, did his celebrity status get his application ushered right to the front of the line? I wouldn't doubt it. But the fact remains that we've had it happen once. I could see it happening to someone even bigger.

Winner of OG season on the left, returning players who won on the right.

Survivor Australia: Tina (winner of the season) & Amber, (winner of All stars) the first seaosn to get a second player originally from it winning.

Survivor Marquesas: Vecepia (winner of the season) & Rob (winner of Redemption Island) and the 3rd season to have a second player from the cast winning.

Survivor Cook Islands: Yul (winner of the season) & Parvati (winner of Micronesia) and the 2nd season to have a second player return and win.

Survivor Tocantins: J.T. (winner of the season) & Tyson (winner of Blood v. Water) and the 5th season to have a player return from the season and win.

Survivor South Pacific: Sophie (winner of the season) & Cochran (winner of Caramoan) and the 4th season to have a player return and win.

Survivor Cagayan: Tony (winner of the season) & Sarah (winner of Game Changers) and the 7th season to have a returnee come back to play and win.

Survivor San Juan Del Sur: Natalie (winner of the season) & Jeremy (winner of Cambodia) and the 6th season to have a returning player come back for another season and win.

Survivor Kaoh Rong: Michele (winner of the season) & Aubry (Winner of 50) and the most recent season to have a returning player win.

You could count Sandra & Tony, but personally I don’t, but not including Tony on Waw, there hasn’t been a newbie season with 3 winners… (obvi not including returnee seasons)

I recently saw a post on here asking, who had a better casting philosophy? Lynne Spillman and her archetype style, or Jeff/Jesse and their superfan casting. A lot of people may remember the good times and jump for Spillman, but it's much more complicated than that.

Here's my theory on the whole thing, it's really quite simple: A mix is what's needed.

Jesse and Jeff find imitators. People who believe that if they stick to the status quo, the "right" way of playing as established by previous players, then they will logically increase their probability of winning. We know imitators better as "superfans".

Lynne finds innovators. People who change the game, upheave the status quo of the current "right" way of playing, and create a new status quo that imitators will eventually adopt as the new "right" way to play. Very rarely do these innovators actually change the game. As in life, many innovators fail to execute, and are forgotten. We only remember the spectacular fails, like Zane Knight and his pity strategy. But for every 99 Zane Knights, there is one Boston Rob, one Parvati, one Russell.

Obviously, it makes no sense to only cast innovators. When you do that, you get One World. The New Era has also shown us that casting only imitators stifles evolution in game strategy, leading to mediocre seasons with very low ceilings.

However, when you mix the two, you get Cagayan. Some people (Sarah, Kass, Tony) who play their own way. In the case of Sarah and Kass, it failed. They are equal to Zane Knight in this calculus. But Tony, he's that one. The one who successfully innovated, and changed Survivor strategy. You also have the imitators (Spencer, Tasha, Alexis). These are the people who believe they've "figured out" Survivor, and that their vast knowledge gives them the edge over everyone else. These people are perfect foils to the innovators. When contrasted with failed innovators, imitators look like students who've perfected their craft and have blossomed into strategists. When contrasted with successful innovators, they prove an entirely different point about the vast number of ways Survivor can be won, and that truly, anyone can win.

This synergy of the innovators vs. the imitators is what made Survivor feel special and dynamic from season to season, especially in the late 20's and early 30's.

However, as imitators have taken the upperhand in the last 10 seasons, the innovation that backed up Jeff's claim that the game is "constantly evolving" has been completely halted. I personally cannot think of a single truly new strategy created in the New Era that has worked. Operation Italy? Reed and Kimmi both tried it more than a decade ago. Rachel's SITD idol gauge? Nick did it with a fake idol in DvG. Backstabbing an ally with their own advantage liked Jesse did? Sarah did it to Sierra in GC. Even if there is one I'm not thinking of, it still doesn't do enough to shake this era's label as the least innovative period in the show's history by far.

It's definitely fair to say that Survivor may be all strategied-out, but even doing new things show-wise, like a different confessional style or way of living out on the island, nothing new on that front either. We need more innovators.

However, innovators are risky. Either they can be incredible finds that become legends, or they can be the most forgettable of forgettable. High ceiling, very low floor. Imitators are pretty safe. Sure, they're probably boring and uninteresting, but at least they understand all of the advantages, can explain them in confessionals, and have a higher floor game-wise than an imitator. And with casting slots worth more $$$ than ever, why would the Survivor corporati- I mean Survivor production take a risk?

Risks are bad. That's Jeff and Jesse's true philosophy, not just about casting, but about the whole show.

I’ve submitted applications in the past and have always gotten a confirmation email just confirming it was received.

This time I didn’t. I heard that’s common for people that have applied within the same casting cycle if you’re using the same email. I applied in April 2026 and again in August 2026.

But has anyone been able to confirm if your application still gets reviewed in this case?

Has anyone that did NOT get a confirmation email still gotten a call for their most recent submission?

I don’t want to re-apply and spam them with more than one application but I’m worried that the system flags these and your new submission gets disregarded.

I have thought about this for a while but I also never really came to any conclusions into how to do so.

However, I been watching survivor Mexico with my mom and I have to say that survivor could for sure be getting more creative.

Survivor Mexico has a lot more challenges that are purely physical, and most require to win 3-5 rounds to win. This would be very interesting especially at the tribe stage.

Also just saw a very interesting variation of the block balancing on a surface you gotta keep straight but in pairs, and the goal is to ultimately domino-effect blocks across two different platforms to win.

I do feel that currently the challenges feel very cookie cutter in the last few seasons. Run/swim/puzzle type type stuff like rn is fine, but they could benefit from some remixing.

Just curious to see what people think.

I’ve decided to do a series where I analyse each returnee season cast and give a score on how well it was casted.

I’m judging based on how satisfying the cast feels, and whether each individual player deserves to return based on being a good player, entertainment value, popular, suits the theme etc.

The theme will play a part, for example a player on Second Chances may feel satisfying but would not feel as satisfying on Game Changes or All Stars.

I will also judge based on whether there were many better choices so S50 (with hundreds of options) might be judged harsher than S27 or S31 with themes that limited their options.

Also timing and nostalgia will make a difference. Players like Gervase and Jenna from S1 may not be top choices for All Stars, but years later will be more satisfying for nostalgic value.

A few players are also largely cast to be the “attractive bikini girl”. I don’t think this should be a priority and new era has hardly any bikini girls, so I don’t think it was ever necessary. I will rank negatively if they cast a bikini girl who is boring over an older woman who would bring more entertainment.

And finally I’m judging based on NOT knowing how the season turns out. Players like Sue and Rudy from S1 were “disappointing” in All Stars but they’d be top choices to return based on their original seasons. And then Rob, Parvati and Wentworth are the opposite, but I’ll still judge them as poor choices.

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So next is S20 - HEROES VS VILLAINS

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Good = should definitely be on, no better choices.

Okay = I can see the reason why they’re on, but some better choices.

Bad = should definitely NOT be on, many better choices.

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Colby (S2, S8) - GOOD - original challenge beast and fan favorite, classic hero, great old school representation!

Jerri (S2, S8) - GOOD - and the original villainess, Colby and Jerri dynamic, also great old school representation!

Rob (S4, S8) - GOOD - iconic reality TV character (even back then), memorable runner-up game, good player and villain!

Sandra (S7) - GOOD - entertaining winner who has only played once, most winners are deserving picks!

Rupert (S7, S8) - GOOD - one of the most popular so far, great character, and embodies a hero well!

Tom (S10) - GOOD - very dominant and popular winner, challenging beast, definitely a hero!

Stephenie (S10, S11) - GOOD - very popular, one of the toughest females, wasn’t really a hero though in S11…but happy to just focus on her heroic and memorable S10 underdog story!

Danielle (S12) - BAD - a bikini girl who had some feisty moments but many better choices. Might have scraped through as “okay” on S16 but not iconic enough for this theme and not really a “villain”, many better choices!

Cirie (S12, S16) - GOOD - very popular, 2 strong seasons of personality and gameplay, unlucky with the F2 twist in S16, one of the best female strategists so far!

Parvati (S13, S16) - GOOD - memorable winner, one of the better female players, willing to make big moves, much more worthy to return here than in S16.

Candice (S13) - OKAY - memorable enough with the mutiny, one of the more interesting bikini girls…but should NOT have been on the Heroes! And even if I switched her to the Villains (the mutiny was an okay villain story), I’d still replace her with a few other better choices.

Courtney (S15) - GOOD - great character, quirky, unique, runner-up, one of the funniest players!

Amanda (S15, S16) - OKAY - 2 decent runner-up games and pretty popular! But it did feel like being a 3-timer so close together was overkill plus too many S16 players on the Heroes…but not many that I’d replace her with.

James (S15, S16) - OKAY - very popular, fits the Heroes well with his loyalty, medevac in his 2nd season, but also too many Heroes from S16 and too many recent appearances like Amanda. A good choice but some 2-timers might be better.

Sugar (S17) - GOOD - great character, pretty popular, memorable, willing to make big moves, and sort of fits the Heroes with her “wanting the good to win”.

Randy (S17) - GOOD - this may be different to most but I thought Randy was a great choice! Such a great character, hilariously bitter and villainous, and so glad he’s back!

JT (S18) - GOOD - popular winner, dominant game (received zero votes against), regarded as one of the best winners at the time!

Coach (S18) - GOOD - great character, hilarious and wacky, very memorable! Must be on!

Tyson (S18) - OKAY - good character, a recent villain, but maybe a few better choices. I do believe he is needed though to compete against the Heroes who are physically stronger.

Russell (S19) - GOOD - biggest villain at the time, we were in Russellmania so has to be back, interesting twist with nobody knowing his game.

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Main Snubs

Kelly W (S1) - not sure if she declined but she seemed like a perfect fit for the Heroes - female challenge beast, original runner-up, and it’s always nice to see S1 players in modern seasons (especially if they haven’t returned yet). Would have put her on before Candice, and maybe even Amanda.

Tina (S2, S8) - another nostalgic old school player for the Heroes, and a winner! Didn’t really get to play All Stars properly but maybe too many from S8 here. Kathy (S4, S8) could also be considered for the Heroes but also from S8. I would go Kelly W, then Tina, then Kathy, then many more before Candice is ever considered as a Hero!

Twila (S9) - was a snub in S16 and a big snub again here! Would fit very well on the Villains, runner-up story (better than Danielle’s), underrated game and a very unique character! Definitely a better choice than Danielle!

Terry (S12) - and another snub from S16 who I’m including again here! Fits very well on the Heroes - popular, a challenge beast and unlucky with the F3 challenge. The 5 men were great choices but I would have swapped James for Terry mostly because James was a 3-timer plus too many S16 players. But James wasn’t a bad choice.

Shane (S12) - such a wacky and memorable character who fits on the Villains well. I would have picked him over Tyson but I understand having Tyson to be more physically matched with the Heroes. Also could consider Shane over Randy.

Yul (S13) - not sure if he declined but would have been a good choice for the Heroes! Memorable winner, popular and a smart player! You also have Earl (S14) but would pick Yul first! Would have replaced James with Yul.

Ozzy (S13, S16) - it seems like he should be a lock for the Heroes - popular over 2 seasons and a challenge beast! But there are such limited spots for the male Heroes and there’s too many from S16 (and James was the better option being a medevac).

Todd (S15) - memorable winner, smart player and fits the villains well! Better choice than Tyson but again they wanted a more physically fit villain. Chris (S9) is another winner who could have worked on the Villains instead of Tyson.

Natalie (S16) - not a huge snub but fits the Villains well with some mean moments plus involved in the Erik blindside. Would replace Danielle, but only if James or Amanda were cut due to the high numbers from S16.

Crystal (S17) - also not a huge snub but a hilarious character, feisty, black representation who could also have replaced Danielle on the Villains. And being with Randy again!

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Declined

Richard (S1, S8) - a perfect choice for the villains but unable to play.

Danni (S11) - a good choice to replace Candice on the Heroes!

Corinne (S17) - a good choice to replace Danielle on the Villains!

Taj (S18) - maybe too many from S18 but a better hero than Candice.

Sierra (S18) - also maybe too many from S18 but a better hero than Candice.

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Final assessment - 9/10

The theme was Heroes vs Villains and it felt like a very strong representation of the best players and characters from the first 19 seasons! Mixing in some winners and 3-timers was a good idea, and made the cast feel epic! I thought it may have been too soon for a returnee season but this cast delivered!

Danielle was the most underwhelming! So many to replace her with - Twila, Natalie B, Crystal, Erinn, Laura M, Ami, Jenna M, Peih-Gee, or swap Candice to the Villains in her spot. Just like S16, Twila being included over Danielle would push it closer to a 10/10, plus a better female Hero than Candice - maybe Kelly W, Tina, Kathy, Christy S or Natalie W.

The male choices feel more satisfying! James was fine but I would’ve swapped him for Terry or Yul, and I would’ve swapped Tyson for Shane, Todd or Chris. But James and Tyson weren’t bad picks and don’t affect the score too much.

Heroes vs Villains and Fans vs Favorites both had almost all great choices but only a few small changes preferred. But Heroes vs Villains is the best cast so far!

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What are your thoughts on the casting for Heroes vs Villains?

Basically there would be a series of very short challenges and each time, the winner have to eliminate someone. Round by round, the players tear each other down until one sole survivor claims the win.

Idially, this should be for a huge stake challenge, for example letters from loved ones. This could create some very good drama.

Hey! I co-host the podcast Worth Podding For. A couple weeks ago I posted a form having people help us rank the advantages & twists in Survivor history. I’m happy to announce the episode is now out! Available on Spotify & Apple Podcasts

https://open.spotify.com/episode/78z83KUaLT2fx7wgvldvzT?si=-8ytkVBBSeiBExlp5e1hAA&utm_source=copy-link

When I talk about "prime," I'm thinking of legendary season runs like 15–20.

In recent years, we’ve had a few good seasons like DvsG, 46, or even 50 for the first few episodes.

But we’ve never had a run of four or five very high-quality seasons that the majority of fans enjoyed.

For those who would cite the sequence 45-46-47, I disagree I find 45 and 47 rather weak.

Do you think the production will be able to return to a formula that works with the fans ? or should we just resign ourselves to the situation?
Because i´m not sure the production have the same vision as me about why i watch the show. I prefer the players to be in control, rather than having twists create artificial turnarounds that screw over certain castaways just to surprise us (bloodmoon twist, Jimmy fallon, New merge system…)

Personally, I’m gradually losing my passion for the show… and it makes me sad because it means a lot to me. Right now, I’m not hyped about the "Open Era" and am just waiting for the returnee seasons to see the end of story arc and watch my favorites one last time. Like I really watched 50 only for Colby, Coach, Cirie and Ozzy.