Can you feel the excitement in the air? We are a mere three weeks out from the kickoff of Survivor: South Pacific, the 23rd season of television's greatest reality show. In the past few days, the official cast announcement was made by CBS, confirming the web rumors of the summer months that "Coach" Ben Wade and Ozzy Luszth were returning to compete.
As more details pour in over the next few weeks leading up to the premiere, here's what we know as of the moment:
Ozzy and Coach return for Redemption
An unlikely pairing of players that don't have the natural rivalry between last year's returners, Boston Rob and Russell Hantz. But host Jeff Probst does see a commonality: “What they share together is their social games suck,” says Probst. “Coach? He blew it in Heroes vs. Villains. He blew it seven different ways. And Ozzy got voted out with an idol in his hand! If that doesn’t speak to how bad you are in the social part of this game. So we looked at it and said here are two guys that do have a redemption story. Yes, you’ve played. Yes, you’re popular, but you don’t know what you’re doing in this game.”
16 new players join in on the fun
In what seems like a deeply diverse cast, their initial interviews revealed quite a lot. Stand outs? Has to be Brandon Hantz, nephew of Russell, but apparently raised on the other side of the gene pool. He plans on restoring respect to the name Hantz. Then there's Lingerie Football Player Mikayla... not sure what that occupation is but I'm pretty sure I want to Google it. How about the nerd John, the rancher Rick, or the openly gay retired NYPD Detective Mark? With only a few seemingly lame ducks thrown in (Stacey, Edna), this cast has promise. Click here for my full in-depth reaction to the new cast.
Redemption Island has been tweaked
Here's what Probst had to say regarding how Redemption Island will work this season (via EW.com): “We’re not having multi-person duels,” says Probst. “That was part of the experiment [last season]. We wanted to see how many people we could keep in the game until the end. And that’s why we let more people live out there. But we felt like it’s too many people and now we’ve got half the group still in it at the end. So it will only be a one-on-one situation. Loser’s out, winner stays. Otherwise, we’re playing it the same way.”
Immunity idols will be harder to find
Also according to EW: “This year with hidden immunity idols, we’re hiding the clue,” explains Probst. “No clue as to where the clue is. Once you find the clue, then you have to find the idol.”
Survivor: South Pacific premieres Wednesday, September 14th at 8 EST, with a 90-minute episode
It's part of a big night on CBS, with the season finale of Big Brother airing the same night. Mark your calendars!
TV Geek Army will be all over Survivor yet again this season... bookmark it!
As in the past, check in to TV Geek Army each and every Friday throughout the season for the weekly edition of Survivor Round-up. This round-up will fill you in on everything Survivor from the past week, as well as get you primed for the upcoming week. And don't forget to check in on all of your other favorite shows throughout the week!
Until then, let me know your thoughts on the new cast and the new season! Happy about Coach and Ozzy returning? Wanting Redemption Island to just go away? Share your thoughts!
For all of my Survivor coverage and movie reviews, be sure to check out tomsantilli.com and my blog filmsurvivor.com.
Great to see you back in action, Tom !
And new season looks very interesting. And another Hantz on the scene!