'Survivor' 2016: Should Reality Series Continue Through Season 40 & Beyond? [POLL, VIDEO]
Survivor may be entering its 33rd season this fall, but there is no intention on slowing down.
At this point, Survivor has become one of the longest-running shows in the history of television, with 16 years under its belt. Debuting in the year 2000, the show has ebbed and flowed in quality but the audience has stabilized and become its own core fanbase, devoted to watching every single season.
This is particularly amazing in an era where television viewership has plummeted overall compared to just 10 years ago. As one of the most stable, reliable shows on television, Survivor won't be ending any time soon.
Survivor host Jeff Probst recently spoke about the next goal for the show and how well the show has kept viewers watching.
"I will admit that [season] 40 is the next big goal," Probst said in a new Entertainment Weekly interview. "Our first episode of [season 34] will be our 500th episode and I did a little research the other day to put on the call sheet of how many incredibly popular shows never reached 500. It was pretty invigorating to see, wow, we have actually produced a lot of television. And our audience has stayed with us. I went to 'Survivor's Wikipedia page. I started at the first year and went all the way down and there were some monstrous numbers in the beginning, but at around season 23, the ratings started to level off. And they haven't dropped. And if you look at other shows, that doesn't happen."
Probst discussed how he and the show's producers remain commitment to providing a "great adventure" every season, even if some of their risks don't always work.
"We may not always be right. We may miss and have a terrible season. But we promise we will come back and do it again," Probst said. "I know it sounds corny. I truly believe that true 'Survivor' fans know that we're in this together. So getting to 40? Entirely possible. It looks like forever to get to 40 because just coming up with one theme is a gigantic hurdle. To come up with two, we always feel like we just conquered the beast. But that's the goal."
Do you think Survivor should continue up to season 40? Vote in our poll below.
The next season, titled Survivor: Millennials vs. Gen X, premieres Wednesday, Sept. 21 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on CBS.
