'Survivor' season 34 premiere date, theme, location and cast announced for 2017
The 34th season of Survivor, the long-running reality TV show that pits adventurous competitors against each other for a $1 million prize, will begin March 8, 2017. Airing at 8 p.m. Eastern on CBS, the show will kick off with a two-hour special.
Game changers
With a cast of 20, Survivor: Game Changers - Mamanuca Islands, which will be filmed in the titular Fiji islands, will feature players from previous seasons who "changed the game" in some way when, after being left in a deserted location, they must provide food, water and shelter for themselves while competing for the title of Sole Survivor.
Created by Charlie Parsons, Survivor premiered May 31, 2000. A hit with fans who enjoyed watching the contestants vote each other off the island, the series garnered 52 million viewers during its season one finale. In the three years leading up to 2015, Survivor, which airs two series a year, averaged 11.5 million viewers, and its lengthy run of 16 years so far, has earned it the nicknames the "miracle show" and the "marathon show." Time magazine included it in the ranking of their All Time 100 TV shows.
Previous seasons have been based around the themes Heroes vs. Villains, Amazon, All-Stars and, most recently, Millennials vs. Gen X.
Who is competing?
The cast of returning game changers consists of Caleb Reynolds, Jeff Varner, Malcolm Freberg, Tony Vlachos, Troyzan Robertson, Aubry Bracco, Ciera Eastin, Hali Ford, Michaela Bradshaw, Sandra Diaz-Twine, Andrea Boehlke, Cirie Fields, Debbie Wanner, Sarah Lacina, Sierra Dawn-Thomas, Brad Culpepper, James "J.T." Thomas, Ozzy Lusth, Tai Trang and Zeke Smith.
Thomas, Diaz-Twine and Vlachos are all previous winners of Survivor. Diaz-Twine has taken home the top prize twice.
The tribes
Season 34's tribes are named Mana, after Mana Island, and Nuku, after Nuku beach.
The Mana tribe consists of Reynolds, Varner, Freberg, Vlachos, Robertson, Bracco, Eastin, Ford, Bradshaw and Diaz-Twine. They will wear red and blood orange.
The Nuku tribe is made of Boehlke, Fields, Wanner, Lacina, Dawn-Thomas, Culpepper, Thomas, Lusth, Trang and Smith. They will wear blue.
