Jeff Probst Is Ruining ‘Survivor 50’

There is nothing that sucks the life out of a good time like someone self-consciously asking whether you are having fun. Maybe a moment ago, you were having fun, but now, faced with their anxiety (or worse, their reassurance that certainly you are having a good time, maybe even the best you've ever had), your attention is diverted to them: the fear in this other person's eyes and their terror that it might not be everything they hoped it would be. Whatever fun was in the air is sucked out by the insistence that there is so much of it. That is how it feels to watch the 50th season of Survivor. As the first season with returning players in almost a decade, producers for Survivor 50 should be able to rely on the cast to create drama, intrigue, and mess. The players should be allowed to sabotage each other and ruin one another's opportunities. That is, after all, the point of the game. But instead of allowing the players to play, Survivor 50 has become a cautionary tale in over-production. Take the most recent episode as an example. The players have fully merged into one tribe. They have alliances and plans, hidden idols and secret enemies. If left alone, one assumes they would quickly turn on one another and create sufficient drama. But instead of letting this all play out for the viewer, long-time host and now showrunner Jeff Probst spends every episode insisting we are about to see "the biggest twist in Survivor history" or "the most dramatic tribal council in Survivor history." Maybe, but please ... shut up about it!