Jeff Probst a Constant for ‘Survivor’ as It Nears 44th Game

This image released by CBS shows Jeff Probst in the premiere episode of the 44th season of the reality competition series "Survivor," airing March 1. (CBS via AP)
This image released by CBS shows Jeff Probst in the premiere episode of the 44th season of the reality competition series "Survivor," airing March 1. (CBS via AP)
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Jeff Probst a Constant for ‘Survivor’ as It Nears 44th Game

This image released by CBS shows Jeff Probst in the premiere episode of the 44th season of the reality competition series "Survivor," airing March 1. (CBS via AP)
This image released by CBS shows Jeff Probst in the premiere episode of the 44th season of the reality competition series "Survivor," airing March 1. (CBS via AP)

There was a time Jeff Probst could not imagine doing what he will on Wednesday, being on hand as host for the start of a 44th season of “Survivor.”

That’s not simply because of the transitory nature of television, where a 44th season of anything is a rarity, even a program that created a sensation when it first aired on CBS in the summer of 2000.

In those early days, there was a restlessness about Probst. He’d studied screenwriting, acted and wrote and directed a well-received indie film in 2001. He tried a short-lived talk show. He admits “I had a chip on my shoulder about being called a ‘host.’”

Yet as series creator Mark Burnett began stepping away, Probst added “producer” to his title and has since ascended to the level of “showrunner” — industry lingo that means he’s in charge of everything.

At age 61, he’s all in, an evangelist for “Survivor.”

“I have never been so excited to be part of the show,” he told The Associated Press in a recent interview. “I hope it’s apparent. I hope it’s clear that I’m really into ‘Survivor.’”

It remains a marvelously-designed game, one that tests survival skills in a forbidding — if lovely — environment along with the social and scheming skills to remain standing at the end to collect the $1 million prize. Even if one cast is a drag, “one of the show’s greatest strengths is that every season hits a reset button,” said Dalton Ross, executive editor at large at Entertainment Weekly and a veteran chronicler of the show.

So it can, um, survive a scandal like a player being kicked off in 2019 after being accused of inappropriately touching young women or tweaks that don’t work, like the “fire tokens” that were introduced and abandoned after one season.

Other new ideas, like a hidden immunity idol or the “David vs Goliath” season that Probst really loved, freshen the show as it adheres to a basic structure.

Producers were also ordered by CBS to increase diversity, which Probst said has added to the show’s richness. The 18 castaways for the new season include five Black contestants, three Latinos and an Asian American.

“People that don’t watch ‘Survivor,’ I think they may mistake it for some sort of survivalist’s show or they label it with this idea that it’s just a reality show,” Probst said. “When, really, ‘Survivor’ is one of the biggest adventures you can ever go on, either as a player or a viewer.”

As Probst became more involved in how the show was put together, there was a clear difference in how he did his job onscreen, Ross said.

“Jeff started to put more opinion and personality into his hosting,” he said. “Up to that point, it was more of a master of ceremonies role. You realized he could be the eyes and ears of the audience and can speak for the audience. It was one of the most important changes he made as a host. It made him an element in the game that the players had to contend with.”

“Survivor” has settled on Fiji as a permanent set after bouncing around for several years to different locations. The jungle is a character in itself. High-definition photography and drones makes things more visually appealing than ever, Ross said.

Probst demurs when asked his opinion of the best player ever, and admits some of the seasons start to run together. He’d lose a “Survivor” trivia contest, he said.

“I will see an early cut of an episode, and I can’t remember who was voted out, even though I was the one at Tribal Council who snuffed out their torch,” he said.

And, yes, he’s excited about the new season, calling it one of the most entertaining groups of players the show has put together in a while.

“It’s intoxicating,” he said. “I honestly believe one of the reasons we’re still on the air is that it’s compelling. If people watch the first episode of ‘Survivor’ 44,’ I don’t know how you’re not going to watch the second episode. You’re going to be hooked.”

Starting Wednesday, Probst will host a podcast with show producer Brittany Crapper and fan Jay Wolff that will air after the conclusion of each episode. “On Fire with Jeff Probst” will an insider’s look at how the show is put together, he said.

CBS doesn’t want to spoil the magic, but deepen the relationship with fans, he said.

With broadcast television struggling for viewers, “Survivor” is a dependable performer for CBS and is one of those rare family shows that people of all ages can enjoy. The show seems destined to be around for awhile and hard to imagine without the man who’s “not just the face of ‘Survivor’ but the pulse of ‘Survivor’ as well,” Ross said.

Asked if he would want to stay with the show as long as it’s on the air, Probst at first calls the question impossible.

Then he quickly answers.

“At this point, yes,” he said. “Really, yes. Because I’ve built my life around ‘Survivor’ and I’ve fashioned all of my creative ideas through ‘Survivor.’ Every single conversation, book I read, podcast I listen to, every single thing ... will get filtered through my ‘Survivor’ filter.”



Movie Review: A Weird ‘Superman’ Is Better than a Boring One

 Cast member David Corenswet attends a premiere for the film "Superman" at the TCL Chinese theater in Los Angeles, California, US, July 7, 2025. (Reuters)
Cast member David Corenswet attends a premiere for the film "Superman" at the TCL Chinese theater in Los Angeles, California, US, July 7, 2025. (Reuters)
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Movie Review: A Weird ‘Superman’ Is Better than a Boring One

 Cast member David Corenswet attends a premiere for the film "Superman" at the TCL Chinese theater in Los Angeles, California, US, July 7, 2025. (Reuters)
Cast member David Corenswet attends a premiere for the film "Superman" at the TCL Chinese theater in Los Angeles, California, US, July 7, 2025. (Reuters)

It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s a ... a purple and orange shape-shifting chemical compound?

Writer-director James Gunn’s “Superman” was always going to be a strange chemistry of filmmaker and material. Gunn, the mind behind “Guardians of the Galaxy” and “The Suicide Squad,” has reliably drifted toward a B-movie superhero realm populated (usually over-populated) with the lesser-known freaks, oddities and grotesquerie of back-issue comics.

But you don’t get more mainstream than Superman. And let’s face it, unless Christopher Reeve is in the suit, the rock-jawed Man of Steel can be a bit of a bore. Much of the fun and frustration of Gunn’s movie is seeing how he stretches and strains to make Superman, you know, interesting.

In the latest revamp for the archetypal superhero, Gunn does a lot to give Superman (played with an easy charm by David Corenswet) a lift. He scraps the origin story. He gives Superman a dog. And he ropes in not just expected regulars like Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan) and Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult) but some less conventional choices — none more so than that colorful jumble of elements, Metamorpho (Anthony Carrigan).

Metamorpho, a melancholy, mutilated man whose powers were born out of tragedy, is just one of many side shows in “Superman.” But he’s the most representative of what Gunn is going for. Gunn might favor a traditional-looking hero at the center, like Chris Pratt’s Star-Lord in “Guardians of the Galaxy.” And Corenswet, complete with hair curl, looks the part, too. But Gunn’s heart is with the weirdos who soldier on.

The heavy lift of “Superman” is making the case that the perfect superhuman being with “S” on his chest is strange, too. He’s a do-gooder at a time when no one does good anymore.

Not everything works in “Superman.” For those who like their Superman classically drawn, Gunn’s film will probably seem too irreverent and messy. But for anyone who found Zack Snyder’s previous administration painfully ponderous, this “Superman,” at least, has a pulse.

It would be hard to find a more drastic 180 in franchise stewardship. Where Snyder’s films were super-serious mythical clashes of colossuses, Gunn’s “Superman” is lightly earthbound, quirky and sentimental. When this Superman flies, he even keeps his arms back, like an Olympic skeleton rider.

We begin not on Krypton or Kansas but in Antarctica, near the Fortress of Solitude. The opening titles set-up the medias res beginning. Three centuries ago, metahumans first appeared on Earth. Three minutes ago, Superman lost a battle for the first time. Lying bloodied in the snow, he whistles and his faithful super dog, Krypto, comes running.

Like some of Gunn’s other novelty gags (I’m looking at you Groot), Krypto is both a highlight and overused gag throughout. Superman is in the midst of a battle by proxy with Luthor. From atop his Luthor Corp. skyscraper headquarters, Luther gives instructions to a team sitting before computer screens while, on a headset, barking out coded battle directions to drone-assisted henchmen. “13-B!” he shouts, like a Bingo caller.

Whether this is an ideal localizing of main characters in conflict is a debate that recedes a bit when, back in Metropolis, Clark Kent returns to the Daily Planet. There’s Wendell Pierce as the editor-in-chief, Perry White, and Skyler Gisondo as Jimmy Olsen. But the character of real interest here is, of course, Lois.

She and Kent are already an item in “Superman.” When alone, Lois chides him over the journalistic ethics of interviewing himself after some daring do, and questions his flying into countries without their leaders’ approval. Brosnahan slides so comfortably into the role that I wonder if “Superman” ought to have been “Lois,” instead. Her scenes with Corenswet are the best in the film, and the movie loses its snap when she’s not around.

That’s unfortunately for a substantial amount of time. Luthor traps Superman in a pocket universe (enter Metamorpho, among others) and the eccentric members of the Justice Gang — Nathan Fillion’s Green Lantern, Edi Gathegi’s Mister Terrific and Isabela Merced’s Hawkgirl — are called upon to lend a hand. They come begrudgingly. But if there’s anyone else that comes close to stealing the movie, it’s Gathegi, who meets increasingly absurd cataclysm with wry deadpan.

The fate of the world, naturally, again turns iffy. There’s a rift in the universe, not to mention some vaguely defined trouble in Boravia and Jarhanpur. In such scenes, Gunn's juggling act is especially uneasy and you can feel the movie lurching from one thing to another. Usually, that's Krypto's cue to fly back into the movie and run amok.

Gunn, who now presides over DC Studios with producer Peter Safran, is better with internal strife than he is international politics. Superman is often called “the Kryptonian” or “the alien" by humans, and Gunn leans into his outsider status. Not for the first time, Superman’s opponents try to paint him as an untrustworthy foreigner. With a modicum of timeliness, “Superman” is an immigrant story.

Mileage will inevitably vary when it comes to Gunn’s idiosyncratic touch. He can be outlandish and sweet, often at once. In a conversation between metahumans, he will insert a donut into the scene for no real reason, and cut from a body falling through the air to an Alka-Seltzer tablet dropping into a glass. Some might call such moments glib, a not-unfair label for Gunn. But I’d say they make this pleasantly imperfect “Superman” something quite rare in the assembly line-style of superhero moviemaking today: human.