Jeff Probst reveals the Survivor concept season we never saw

Dalton Ross
Updated ·6 min read
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Jeff Probst reveals the Survivor concept season we never saw
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Back in 2021, Jeff Probst shared a secret with us. While discussing the upcoming Survivor 41, he spilled a bit on what the theme of the season was originally going to be before he placed a call to former contestant (and now Emmy-winning White Lotus creator) Mike White.

"I called Mike for his insight into a story-related element," Probst said. "He listened politely as I laid out the idea. It was an elaborate and very complicated Survivor capitalist society that would be driven by players earning money — Fire Tokens — and spending them on shelter, rewards, and advantages. When I finished the pitch, I asked him what he thought. He paused for a moment and said, 'Well… it sounds… in-ter-est-ing. But is it fun?'"

That simple question caused Probst to completely rethink the creative direction for Survivor 41, which ended up being one of the most twist-heavy seasons in franchise history, filled with extra votes, taken-away votes, Beware Advantages, Hourglasses, Shots in the Dark, and Do or Dies. But no more information has been revealed about that lost season of Survivor. Until now.

Jeff Probst and Mike White on 'Survivor'
Jeff Probst and Mike White on 'Survivor'

CBS via Getty Images Jeff Probst and Mike White on 'Survivor'

On the latest episode of his On Fire with Jeff Probst podcast, the host and showrunner went into more detail about the Survivor 41 that never was, as well as the former player that would have returned in a new role.

"It was going to be an economy-based game in which you bought everything," Probst said on the podcast. "So money would enter the society. That is why the Fire Tokens were in [Survivor: Winners at War]. They were supposed to be in Survivor 41 because I had this whole big idea of: Wouldn't it be fascinating to see what happens when money enters a society? And I was so excited by it that in the creative bible for Survivor 41 I wrote the ending of Survivor like it was a novel."

Probst then proceeded to read (in a quasi-British accent) what he described as "the single corniest thing I've ever written" — a thematic ending to Survivor: Winners at War that sounds like an introductory script blared over speakers at a Medieval Times dinner theater show. (You really need to go listen to Probst's performance for yourself, as mere words here on the screen cannot do the cheese factor justice.)

The host then explained how the end of season 40 would have linked into the original concept for season 41. In the first episode of Survivor 41, he outlined, "We will start with the sounds of the war that preceded this new era, so we would hear comments from the players in [season 40] — them saying things like, 'I left it all out there… I'll never go back again… nothing will ever be the same again,' combined with images of their last fire, those last burning embers and their shelter that's starting to fall down. Actual images from [Winners at War]. And then, through that, the sun would rise, and we would transition into the opening moments of Survivor 41."

It wasn't just a vision in their heads. They actually put the idea into motion. "We even made a logo," Probst revealed on his podcast. "[Production designer] Zach Jensen made a logo of that. It is a sunrise that says Survivor 41: Dawn of a New Era. We're fully committed to this idea."

'Survivor' host Jeff Probst
'Survivor' host Jeff Probst

Robert Voets/CBS 'Survivor' host Jeff Probst

Probst fleshed out the idea: "It was going to be a Survivor economy, and the question was: How will this change the society if you have to earn tokens and then buy everything?"

That's where the Fire Tokens would have come in. Fire Tokens were first introduced in the Winners at War season as a form of currency, and Probst told EW before that season began filming that the plan was for them to play a big part in the show moving forward. For producers, that meant getting a crash course in economics and math.

"My friend had built us an algorithm," said the host. "So you could put any price you wanted for any item. Imagine we have a long list of items. You could buy palm fonds, you can buy rice, you can buy fishing gear, whatever. And you can change the Fire Token amount and see how it will change the economy."

But the biggest surprise of all might be the revelation that a former player was envisioned to be involved in a completely new role. "We're in deep," continued Probst. "So deep that the place where you were going to be doing all of your Survivor shopping was going to be called the Trading Post. So this is where you would show up and have your five Fire Tokens and you would want to buy something. So you would walk up to the Trading Post and you would hear a voice saying, 'What can I do you for?' And the voice would turn around, and it was going to be Rick Devens."

Wait, what?! Yes, that Rick Devens — the fan favorite from Edge of Extinction (and current cohost of the Surviving Snyder podcast alongside Survivor: Ghost Island's Brendan Shapiro and yours truly). When On Fire podcast producer Jay Wolff inquired as to whether Devens knows he was meant to be part of the lost season, Probst laughed, "No! I never even asked him! But that was in my head. What if Rick Devens came out and became the shop owner? He's so funny. It would be so fun. He knows the game, but: 'Today, I'm just selling advantages and you don't have enough tokens, partner.' That kind of thing."

Rick Devens on 'Survivor: Edge of Extinction'
Rick Devens on 'Survivor: Edge of Extinction'

Timothy Kuratek/CBS Rick Devens on 'Survivor: Edge of Extinction'

Alas, as longtime EW readers know, Probst then called Mike White and the concept was killed. "I hung up, and I went into the garage, and I ceremoniously erased every white board without taking a photo — which is something that I never do — so that there was no record of it," Probst said on the podcast. "Because I knew Mike was right. l was never coming back to this idea." (That sound you hear is Rick Devens crying inside his imaginary Trading Post.)

Personally, as someone who actually was intrigued by the introduction of Fire Tokens and how they added new social and strategic gears to the game in Winners at War, I kind of wish Probst never called Mike White on that fateful day and that we could have seen how it all played out. But Probst himself remains adamant: "Of all the bad ideas I've had, this was going to be the worst. It was going to ground the show to a halt."

Listen to the entire discussion on the new episode of On Fire with Jeff Probst.

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