Survivor 50 is scheduled to air around this time next year. Crazy. With that said, I thought I'd put together a cast that I would use for Survivor 50. I'll take into account who production seems to like, and who doesn't want to play again (won't cast them). Here are some ground rules I put together for myself:
- No more than 2 returning players for one season
- Only using casts from seasons 35-48. 34 was a returning players season, 33 and earlier have at least had a chance to return so far. 48 has not aired yet, but more on that later.
- Trying to cast 1 or more from each of the above seasons. However, one season, 39, did not make the cut. I think Survivor at this point is okay with not casting from EVERY season, especially considering what 39 is known for.
- Follow the diversity mandate, meaning half the cast has to be people of color (non-white).
- No winners allowed. I considered this a "Second Chance" type cast.
With that said, I'm going to list the players, why I chose them, and who was close to making it but ultimately didn't. And then at the end, I'll put together the tribes so that there aren't any players from the same original season on the same tribe.
Survivor 35 (Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers): Chrissy Hofbeck
Only Chrissy makes the cast from here. She's still talked about with how well she did at challenges, and Survivor owes it to her to give her another chance after how they screwed her over with the surprise fire-making twist that allowed Ben to have another chance. There wasn't really anyone else here I considered. I'd like to see Devon Pinto again, but he said he'd only play again with his mom on a "Blood vs. Water" type season. Ryan Ulrich loses out to a nerd from two seasons later.
Survivor 36 (Ghost Island): Dominic Abbate
Dominic is the only player to lose on a tie-breaking final vote. How can he not be brought back? The only other player I somewhat considered was Michael Yerger, who I liked but likely has been forgotten about at this point. He could be a dark-horse candidate, but the problem is, there's already a ton of white males to choose from.
Survivor 37 (David vs. Goliath): Christian Hubicki and Angelina Keeley
Christian remains one of the game's biggest fan favorites. Imagine him dissecting strategy with some other All-Stars. Angelina comes back solely for the memes but also because Jeff loves her. Let's hope for another Natalie/coat situation or another rice negotiation from Angelina. I considered Gabby Pascuzzi and John Hennigan, but Christian and Angelina beat them out.
Survivor 38 (Edge of Extinction): Rick Devens
How could he not be brought back? He was so close to a win, he's great TV, and he's clearly liked by production as he was a co-host of the On Fire podcast. I also considered Victoria Baamonde, who was a last-minute cut because I needed to abide by the diversity mandate.
Survivor 39 (Island of the Idols): No one
As mentioned above, no one made it from this cast. Like I said, I think production would be okay to completely ignore this season. I considered Elaine, who was closest. I really like Janet, but she was involved with the Dan Spilo incident, albeit not in a bad way, but I know production wants to steer very clear of it. She's also a bit on the older side.
Survivor 41: Shantel "Shan" Smith
She has her own theme song. I can see production incorporating that into their promos for 50. How could they not? She's made some comments that I don't think production really liked, but she's still talked about in Survivor circles. I considered Ricard, but there are too many males that I'd want to see more than him.
Survivor 42: Omar Zaheer
I could be wrong, but I think they're more likely to cast strategic and social masterminds rather than physical players, which is why I chose Omar over his Taku tribemate, Jonathan. I'd love to see Jonathan beast challenges again, but we know he's got zero shot to actually win the game against all-star strategists. I also considered Mike and Lindsay, who fell short as well.
Survivor 43: Jesse Lopez and Karla Cruz Godoy
I so badly wanted both Jesse AND Cody, but I couldn't fit Cody. Maybe production can. But at least I have Jesse, who is my personal favorite strategist of the New Era. I also included Karla, who I think could learn and improve upon her first game, which started very strong but fizzled out toward the end. Both also fulfill the diversity mandate.
Survivor 44: Carolyn Wiger and Lauren Harpe
This is the only time I cast two of the same gender from the same season. Carolyn is an obvious choice. Production might not like her ties to Carson or her appearance on The Traitors (on a rival network), but she is on the New Era Mount Rushmore of characters. And Lauren might seem like a weird pick, which it maybe is, but she was a dark horse on her season who other players said would likely win if she gets to the end (at least against anyone except Yam-Yam). I also considered Carson, but production doesn't love him anymore. Plus, I don't need more white males.
Survivor 45: Kaleb Gebrewold and Kellie Nalbandian
Weird how my two picks from this season were the first two jury members. Kaleb was a fan favorite, had a legendary shot in the dark play, and likely fares better when there are other threats he's playing with. Kellie might also seem like an odd pick, but she had a pretty legendary blindside, and the Survivor community and production seem to love her. She's got a good mind for the game, which is what led to her ouster. She could definitely showcase her strategic chops on a second try.
Survivor 46: Q Burdette
I wanted to include a second, but there was no room. Q had to make it, being the legendary character he is. It'd be a big mistake not to bring him back. I considered Charlie, but as I've said, there were too many white males ahead of him. I also considered Venus, Hunter, and Tiffany.
Survivor 47: Andy Rueda and Genevieve Mushaluk
I'm pretty sure Jeff hinted to already asking Andy to come back for 50. So he has to make it. Gen, meanwhile, was such a great female powerhouse and I think could shine on an all-star cast. Sure, she didn't get the greatest edit in the world early on, but a lot of great female players didn't.
Survivor 48: One male, one female
In order to make my complete cast, one man and one woman from this season makes it onto 50. I'm not sure who. I'm not going to even fathom a guess at this point. But in order to abide by the diversity mandate, one has to be a person of color. I'll update here once 48 is at least close to over. If I don't like two people enough to be on 50, I'll go back and add someone from a prior season.
Survivor 49: No one
49 will air in the fall of 2025, and I feel like that's not enough time for production to gauge the reaction of the cast there. Plus, they probably want to avoid back-to-back seasons, although they've done that several times before when the seasons were 39 days. But the cast of 50 is very likely going to be announced before we see 49 (or at least, finish 49). So the players from 49 will have to hope for a returning players season after 50 that they can get a second chance on.
So that makes 18 players. I know a lot of people think they might up the amount of players to 20 for Season 50, but they seem so infatuated with the three tribe format. I don't see it changing, even for 50. Here is my 18-player, 3-tribe cast, keeping duplicates from the same season on different tribes and trying to balance them out for challenge strength:
RED TRIBE
Dominic Abbate, 36
Jesse Lopez, 43
Male player, 48
Angelina Keely, 37
Shan Smith, 41
Kellie Nalbandian, 45
BLUE TRIBE
Rick Devens, 38
Omar Zaheer, 42
Kaleb Gebrewold, 45
Karla Cruz Godoy, 43
Carolyn Wiger, 44
Genevieve Mushaluk, 47
GREEN TRIBE
Christian Hubicki, 37
Q Burdette, 46
Andy Rueda, 47
Chrissy Hofbeck, 35
Lauren Harpe, 44
Female player, 48
Oh man, what a cast! I'll be interested to see how this compares to the actual cast of 50. And again, once 48 is over or close to over, I will put in my two picks from that season here.
I made a Brant Steele simulation of this season, choosing Cedrek and Charity (randomly) from 48 to add to the cast for the 48 spots. Here it is to simulate. https://brantsteele.com/survivor/32/r.php?c=nodG8zB2
Again, once I update the 48 picks, I'll change them there as well.
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