'Survivor 33' Cast: Why Jeff Probst Thinks 'Millennials vs Gen X' Makes Sense In 2016 [VIDEO]
Survivor host Jeff Probst thinks the new theme of pitting Millennials versus Generation X speaks to the current climate of America.
Survivor: Millennials vs Gen X is comprised of 10 Millennials, generally under the age of 30, competing against 10 people from Generation X, a.k.a. those 30 and above. With the stereotypes of "set in their ways" Gen Xers and "entitled" Millennials, both generations are hoping to prove something this season.
Proust spoke with Entertainment Weekly about this concept and how it mirrors today's world nicely.
"Millennials vs. Gen X made sense because of the political turmoil going on," he explained. "The Millennials had such a voice and it was striking to all of us. Man, this sounds like an old guy talking but they are the future, right now. These are the people who are changing the world. What if we put them up against Gen Xers, the people who inhabited a world and they changed their world? So you have a massive collision of Gen Xers who say, 'The world is perfect. Stop messing it up with your technology.' And you have the Millennials saying, 'No, you don't get it. The technology is the future. You just need to get a computer and stop writing in longhand!'"
The host also spoke on how they came up with the concept of this generational division first before finding the cast - as opposed to their usual tactic of fitting their selected cast into set roles like Brawn, Brains and Beauty or White Collar, Blue Collar and No Collar.
"We don't typically do it, but what happened was, we had said to our casting director, Lynne [Spillman], 'How do we get truly younger millennial types on the show?' Because it's hard to get young people who can play this adult game," Probst noted. "And Lynne said, 'Give me a shot. Give me a month. And let me go through everybody who's applied and let me see who we have.'"
Survivor: Millennials vs Gen X will premiere Wednesday, Sept. 21 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on CBS.
