Season 45 of the game show Survivor kicks off Wednesday, but what makes this season different from those before it is that every single episode will fill a 90-minute timeslot.
The show’s host and executive producer Jeff Probst said during promotional interviews that there’s going to be more of everything because there’s 50% more show. You’ll get to learn more about the players and see more games, camp life, and side stories.
Probst also teased the update on Instagram and the post garnered a welcomed response from fans. The majority of those who commented on the length expressed excitement or approval with exclamation points and fire emojis. However, the few who didn’t raised concerns about the quality of the show.
“90 min episodes is going to make the product water downed . . . this is not like other reality shows where theres (sic) hookups and drama which is not game related,” said one user.
Another said: “Survivor Australia did 90 minute episodes and sometimes they dragged.” The topic also surfaced on Reddit (here and here) with similar commentary and debate.
Without commercials, each episode of Survivor 45 will run approximately 65 minutes. So, realistically, they’ll only be about 20 minutes longer.
Probst explained that the extra time allows for more complicated games that require players to be “clever.” To solve some of them, players may need to ask for help or be deceptive, which would inherently strengthen bonds or introduce conflict.
“We have more time to really explore the nuances of that and the social dynamics that come with it,” Probst told Entertainment Tonight.
CBS made the announcement that Survivor, along with its other long-running franchise The Amazing Race would run for 90 minutes per episode back in May, shortly after the start of the Hollywood writers’ strike.
Entertainment Weekly reported that expanding the reality shows would help protect the network’s fall TV schedule, but Probst has said in interviews that he pushed for the change long before the strike.
“Because we knew months and months before we shot, we designed the season for 90 minutes, so we’re able to have more fun, we’re able to do more things, spend more time with the players, do more elaborate advantages and twists to keep our game going,” he said on CBS News.
Probst likened season 45 to the “game of telephone” because the show will focus on pairs, meaning information will be passed through one-on-one interactions.
“The gameplay revolves around who is telling what to whom and is the information they’re telling each other the truth or not,” he said, adding, “The question becomes are you loyal to me or are you loyal to your other pair.”
Watch Survivor on Wednesday at 8 p.m. Eastern on CBS.
Very disappointed with the amount of commercials seems to be same amount of show as one hour more commercials too make up 90 minutes