Survivor 48

[Clark]

Yeah there are a few I had to go back and look up but probably 75% I knew something of by name. This is an interesting read:

Jeff Probst says last 'Survivor 50' cast cuts were 'brutal'

IMO if there were some tough cuts anyone that had already won a season or played at least 4, maybe even 3 seasons already should have been cut or ones that were not chosen over some close ones that only played 1 or 2 seasons. Season 40 was already winners at war with all the cast former winners, I kinda like the notion of an all runners up or top 5 finish or bringing back some players that their time was cut short for a medical or personal reason possibly as the baseline for making the cut. This one breaks down which seasons and what finish they had:

'Survivor 50' cast revealed

If you cut out anyone without a top 5 finish that takes out Christian (7th in David vs Goliath, I don't remember him) Emily who was 7th on season 45, Q 6th in 46, Tiffany 8th in 46 (I really don't get this pick at all) I get the popularity of Ozzy and Cirie but I could do without them going to play a 5th season now. Remove Kyle and Dee as former winners and that opens up 8 spots you could have used on some more intriguing players. Guessing some former players who felt they were snubbed will be voicing their opinions in the coming days.

Out of this cast Charlie, Joe, Colby, Mike White, Angelina, Rick Devins are ones I probably will be following the closest and hoping make it far as they all have come pretty close in the past. Probably will root for early exits for Coach, Cirie, Ozzy, Stephenie and Q.

the issue with casting players like Colby, Stephanie, and potentially Ozzie so long after their seasons aired is you're taking away what primarily made them good survivor contestants. Colby in particular was a shell of himself in Heroes vs Villains (which was 15 years ago now) Ozzie was still pretty much Ozzie (for better and worse) in Game Changers but that was almost ten years ago by the time this show will air.

I suppose it's interesting tv to watch these players have to compete differently than they did originally but I didn't find watching Colby get dragged to a fifth place finish because he wasn't a threat in Heroes vs Villains particularly compelling tv.

 

[AllInForISU]

the issue with casting players like Colby Stephanie, and potentially Ozzie so long after their seasons aired is you're taking away what primarily made them good survivor contestants. Colby in particular was a shell of himself in Heroes vs Villains (which was 15 years ago now) Ozzie was still pretty much Ozzie (for better and worse) in Gamer Changers but that was almost ten years ago by the time this show will air.

I suppose it's interesting tv to watch these players have to compete differently than they did originally but I didn't find watching Colby get dragged to a fifth place finish because he wasn't a threat in Heroes vs Villains particularly compelling tv.

For the 50th though, you want to take memorable players from all eras, not this new era of survivor. I love seeing old players like Colby, Cirie, Coach, and Ozzy. In my opinion, this “new era” (season 41 on) has been super weak until this year IMO. I liked the more cutthroat gameplay that seemed to take place pre-Covid.

I also wish they would do a throwback and have them play at a location other than Fiji and bring the length of the competition back to 39 days instead of 26, imo game has been very much watered down. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll definitely watch season 50 (and probably 49) but it’s definitely not the show I grew up watching anymore

 

[CYdTracked]

the issue with casting players like Colby Stephanie, and potentially Ozzie so long after their seasons aired is you're taking away what primarily made them good survivor contestants. Colby in particular was a shell of himself in Heroes vs Villains (which was 15 years ago now) Ozzie was still pretty much Ozzie (for better and worse) in Gamer Changers but that was almost ten years ago by the time this show will air.

I suppose it's interesting tv to watch these players have to compete differently than they did originally but I didn't find watching Colby get dragged to a fifth place finish because he wasn't a threat in Heroes vs Villains particularly compelling tv.

I get that you want some representation from the early season too but Cirie never was not much of a challenge threat on any of her season, was more of a social and gameplay strategy and not trying to say age is a factor but she turns 55 in July. Ozzy is still young enough to be a challenge threat, he turns 44 this year, Stephenie is 45, Colby is 51. Physical strength is not everything but it helps. The average age for this cast is going to be higher than what it has the past several years just because a lot of these players from earlier seasons are now in their 40's and 50's.

I'm more interested in how they run this season because the game over the past 10 years or so has been played way more differently than the way some of these older players will remember it. Some of these players aren't going to be as physically dominant and let's face it some of the earlier seasons had a lot more tougher physical challenges too so they will have to adapt the the social game and strategy more than they had to lean into in the past. I'm hoping Joe aligns up with a few strong players that also have a strong strategic and social game as I think that he's going to need to play more cutthroat this time. Him pairing up with someone like Charlie could make things interesting. Not sure it's going to be in anyone's best interest to gravitate towards familiar players they have played with before as look as where that got them as an also ran.

 

[Clark]

For the 50th though, you want to take memorable players from all eras, not this new era of survivor. I love seeing old players like Colby, Cirie, Coach, and Ozzy. In my opinion, this “new era” (season 41 on) has been super weak until this year IMO. I liked the more cutthroat gameplay that seemed to take place pre-Covid.

I also wish they would do a throwback and have them play at a location other than Fiji and bring the length of the competition back to 39 days instead of 26, imo game has been very much watered down. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll definitely watch season 50 (and probably 49) but it’s definitely not the show I grew up watching anymore

It's not the general strategy of taking players from early in the game that I oppose, nor is it necessarily taking players who were once challenge beasts and having them be forced to play a different style.

My point was we saw that already with both Colby and Stephanie and they didn't play well (and that was 15 years ago) and Ozzie is such a crappy game player that if he can't win challenges he's an absolutely useless person to bring onto that island

So I guess in short I'm more annoyed by the specific older players they're bringing back than the fact that they're bringing back older players.

 

[AllInForISU]

It's not the general strategy of taking players from early in the game that I oppose, nor is it necessarily taking players who were once challenge beasts and having them be forced to play a different style.

My point was we saw that already with both Colby and Stephanie and they didn't play well (and that was 15 years ago) and Ozzie is such a crappy game player that if he can't win challenges he's an absolutely useless person to bring onto that island

So I guess in short I'm more annoyed by the specific older players they're bringing back than the fact that they're bringing back older players.

I get it, but at the same time, these were the most popular players of their time. Who would you rather have seen there?

 

[Clark]

I get it, but at the same time, these were the most popular players of their time. Who would you rather have seen there?

People whom I assume said no.

 

[CYdTracked]

It's not the general strategy of taking players from early in the game that I oppose, nor is it necessarily taking players who were once challenge beasts and having them be forced to play a different style.

My point was we saw that already with both Colby and Stephanie and they didn't play well (and that was 15 years ago) and Ozzie is such a crappy game player that if he can't win challenges he's an absolutely useless person to bring onto that island

So I guess in short I'm more annoyed by the specific older players they're bringing back than the fact that they're bringing back older players.

Agree with this take. Stephenie and Ozzy may be 2 of the most over-rated players and let's not forget that Stephenie was part of that horrible Ulong tribe from the Palau season that got decimated to just her and Bobby Jon which has never happened before in survivor pre-merge. Then they had this crazy idea to bring those 2 back the very next season for Guatemala as the lone 2 returning players and put them on separate tribes.

Nailed it with Ozzy, he was a challenge beast in his prime but horrible social and strategy game. I don't know that Cirie's social game plays well now either with the age gap she will have with the younger players. Same with Coach, if he tries any of that dragon slayer BS again he won't make it far. I'd have to dig back through some of the older seasons to see who I would have liked to see on this cast that may have a chance. I know many probably hate him but Russell Hantz is the all time villain in the show history and would have loved to seen if everyone just wanted to vote him out day 1 or tried to work with him.

Have a feeling the winner of season 50 is going to be someone no one expected going in. Just so many unique personalities and ways they played that either old habits will be the downfalls of some and those that come in and play an unsuspecting game from what they previously did make the right alliances and moves to get to the end.

 

[AllInForISU]

I get that you want some representation from the early season too but Cirie never was not much of a challenge threat on any of her season, was more of a social and gameplay strategy and not trying to say age is a factor but she turns 55 in July. Ozzy is still young enough to be a challenge threat, he turns 44 this year, Stephenie is 45, Colby is 51. Physical strength is not everything but it helps. The average age for this cast is going to be higher than what it has the past several years just because a lot of these players from earlier seasons are now in their 40's and 50's.

I'm more interested in how they run this season because the game over the past 10 years or so has been played way more differently than the way some of these older players will remember it. Some of these players aren't going to be as physically dominant and let's face it some of the earlier seasons had a lot more tougher physical challenges too so they will have to adapt the the social game and strategy more than they had to lean into in the past. I'm hoping Joe aligns up with a few strong players that also have a strong strategic and social game as I think that he's going to need to play more cutthroat this time. Him pairing up with someone like Charlie could make things interesting. Not sure it's going to be in anyone's best interest to gravitate towards familiar players they have played with before as look as where that got them as an also ran.

I feel like they had to invite her back for the 50th, for the fact alone of how they did her so dirty on the last season she was on Survivor. Getting “voted” out with no votes cast against you? That had to suck.

 

[Clark]

https://www.theringer.com/2025/05/28/survivor/survivor-50-cast-announcement

looks like we're not alone in wondering about the casting process

 

[ImJustKCClone]

Can I just say that, regarding S50, I'm extremely grateful that Boston Rob, Sandra, and Rupert are NOT part of the cast?

 

[Drew0311]

I can't get the Kamilla add either. She was a ghost last season. Nobody cared about her the whole season. I would have been interested to see Eva and Joe together again just to see if the game play changed by them. Especially since more people know her condition and could be there for her.

 

[cytor]

Kamilla is a huge swing and a miss for Survivor 50. The producers could have done way better than that

 

[drmwevr08]

Kamilla is a huge swing and a miss for Survivor 50. The producers could have done way better than that

I think when she finally won an immunity and the jury remarked that they might have voted for her to win her profile shot up.

 

[Cy4All]

Kamilla is a huge swing and a miss for Survivor 50. The producers could have done way better than that

There has to be more to Kamilla than we know. By my count 1 plus 1 doesn't equal 50. However the producers liked her enough to bring her back and her fellow cast mates said they would have voted her to win. The edit just has to have not done justice for her for all things in survivor to make sense.

 

[cytor]

Another thing that needs to be considered: How many people were asked and turned it down?

 

[CYdTracked]

https://www.theringer.com/2025/05/28/survivor/survivor-50-cast-announcement

looks like we're not alone in wondering about the casting process

That's a good read but no thank you to some of the new era players he mentions as possible better choices like Liz, Maryanne, Shan, and Sai. All very annoying players that weren't very good and I don't care that Maryanne won either, season 42 was a horrible season IMO (41-44 specifically were pretty rough seasons to watch with maybe the exception of 43 where Mike Gabler won) but pretty sure most fans of the show would list her as one of the worst winners if you had to name 5 of them. I'd probably put Kenzie on my bottom 5 list as well.

Some of the ones that have openly said they were cut during the process that would have been good to see on 50: Abi-Maria, Jerri Matheny, and Johnathan Penner. I think it would have been interesting had they maybe put 5 spots up for grabs through a fan vote and have a pool of about 10-15 players to vote from that were part of their "last cut." Just like how the fans got to vote on some of the gameplay aspects for 50 getting to put a few onto the cast as part of a fan vote would have made it more interesting too. Like Jeff said they had over 700 players to go through and I'm guessing about half or more of those were obvious ones you don't want back like Colton who quit twice and was just an entitled baby and Brandon Hantz who was just a nutcase. Plus some of them probably just weren't interested in playing again or just getting too old to be able to play. You don't want to load up on too many that have won a season as we just saw a season of all winners in 40. I'd love to know who were in that last 10-20 to be cut to know who we possibly missed out on.

 

[cytor]

Bring in Russell and drop Kamilla.

 

[flynnhicks03]

It's amazing how few of the previous players I can really recall without looking for old show pictures. I actually have a better chance of remembering players from way back than i do only a couple seasons ago!
That said, I recall many of these and it does sound like an interesting cast!

I'm the same way. I can't even remember who won last season without looking it up. Usually, once I see them, I can remember them pretty well, but not just by name or season.

 

[Clark]

That's a good read but no thank you to some of the new era players he mentions as possible better choices like Liz, Maryanne, Shan, and Sai. All very annoying players that weren't very good and I don't care that Maryanne won either, season 42 was a horrible season IMO (41-44 specifically were pretty rough seasons to watch with maybe the exception of 43 where Mike Gabler won) but pretty sure most fans of the show would list her as one of the worst winners if you had to name 5 of them. I'd probably put Kenzie on my bottom 5 list as well.

Some of the ones that have openly said they were cut during the process that would have been good to see on 50: Abi-Maria, Jerri Matheny, and Johnathan Penner. I think it would have been interesting had they maybe put 5 spots up for grabs through a fan vote and have a pool of about 10-15 players to vote from that were part of their "last cut." Just like how the fans got to vote on some of the gameplay aspects for 50 getting to put a few onto the cast as part of a fan vote would have made it more interesting too. Like Jeff said they had over 700 players to go through and I'm guessing about half or more of those were obvious ones you don't want back like Colton who quit twice and was just an entitled baby and Brandon Hantz who was just a nutcase. Plus some of them probably just weren't interested in playing again or just getting too old to be able to play. You don't want to load up on too many that have won a season as we just saw a season of all winners in 40. I'd love to know who were in that last 10-20 to be cut to know who we possibly missed out on.

I think the author was correct that there should have already been an all-star season for the post covid seasons that could have served to weed out some players and also bolster some others.

 

[Drew0311]

I am guessing by the 1st episode of season 49 we will know who the other two players are for season 50.