Survivors, ready! Season 44 of the Emmy-award-winning CBS hit Survivor is set to debut with a two-hour episode on Wednesday, March 1 (8-10 p.m. ET/PT). Now in its twenty-second year, the reality show will air weekly (Wednesdays 8 p.m. ET/7 p.m. CT on CBS, or live and on-demand on the CBS and Paramount+ apps) and promises, as always, to pit castaways against each other as they attempt to outwit, outplay and outlast everyone else on their quest to be the last person standing in the winner’s circle when host Jeff Probst tallies the final votes.
What’s Old Is New Again
The new season is set in the Mamanuca Islands, Fiji, South Pacific, where Survivor has been shot since 2016. Production on Season 44 reportedly began there last June and, if Seasons 41, 42 and 43 are any indicator, filming most likely took place over 26 days — 13 fewer days than previous years.
The Mamanucas include over 20 islands off Viti Levu, Fiji’s main island. Show fans will immediately recognize the volcanic archipelago that makes up Survivor’s naturally stunning set with its lush rainforest, blindingly white beaches and bathtub-like waters. While idyllic for visitors spending time at area resorts, the islands wreak havoc on the sanity of tribemembers as they attempt to live in the wild.
Who’s Getting the Chance to Fight to Be Their Best
Continuing with tradition, Season 44 competitors are split into three six-person tribes by buff color — the orange Raku, the green Soka and the purple Tika.
A welcome recent development that continues this season is CBS’ commitment to making sure 50 percent of the casts of the network’s unscripted television programs are Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC).
As with tribes past, this new crop of tribemembers will all pretty quickly coalesce into micro-societies — until it’s time to drop their buffs and merge anyway. “As soon as we jumped of these boats together, we were all bonded together,” Soka member Frannie Marin explains of her new five-person alliance. “I don’t know, we’re just standing here, there’s something about this color. We’re breathing each other’s bad breath already. The bonds are forming quickly and I think they’re going to be really tight.”
Wanna know what they’re playing for? The competitor crowned Sole Survivor will take home $1 million.
Dramatic Surprises and More in Store
In keeping with the suspenseful spirit of Survivor, show secrets have been closely guarded, so it remains to be seen which unlucky contestants will have their torches snuffed out at the onset and who will go the distance, scoring advantages and hoarding idols.
While the action will play out onscreen over the months ahead, a trailer released to promote Survivor makes one thing crystal clear: Season 44 promises to be big on drama as survivors abandoned and left to fend for themselves struggle against the elements — and each other.
In fact, CBS notes this new season’s competitors will “face a faster, more dangerous season from the moment they step on the beach.”
Case in point? One of many pulse-pounding twists, spotlighted in the trailer, includes a player who needs medical intervention during a challenge on the beach and is urged to “keep breathing.”
“They’ll be stripped to their core in one of our most intense, unpredictable, inspirational and entertaining seasons of Survivor,” Probst promises.
The tribe has spoken: Another exciting season of Survivor is coming our way!
