The game used to be a contest of social, physical, and strategic skill.
Now its turning into a show about only itself.
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What does it take to winSurvivor?
But today, hits are measured differently, andSurvivor,by any metric, remains a big one.
1 show on prime-time online grid television in several younger demographics.
For this audience,Survivorhas proved a rich text.
These are the winners who make for an exciting narrative arc.
Then there was the winner, a hair-salon owner named Kenzie Petty.
Kenzie was not, by any measure, the strongest or most aggressive player ofSurvivorseason 46.
She wasnt the most strategic or the most charismatic.
After all, the show is calledSurvivor you dont need to triumph; you just need to persist.
There are memorable exceptions.
Brains vs. Beauty), was nobodys idea of a subtle player.
and undeniably great TV.
Today, its hard to imagine Tony making the final four.
Modern-ageSurvivoris increasingly tailored to the Kenzies of the world.
The most frequent complaint I hear about the show these days is People win for no reason now.
They are not stoic.
Rather, they start sobbing in the season premieres they miss their families (Im sorry were they conscripted?
They have food allergies and anxiety disorders and other issues that surely would have excluded them in 2000.
Sometimes they quit because, you know, who needs this shit?
The most jolting and controversial change, though, is in the gameplay itself.
These are hidden near the campsites to be hunted down and pocketed by enterprising players.
These advantages have a deus ex machina quality.
The producers already seem to be pulling back on those gimmicks, and not a minute too soon.
High ratings notwithstanding, many fans are frustrated by the new approach.
It is, in other words, threatening to become a show about nothing but itself.
Its why we watch.
And its what the show needs to rediscover.
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