Survivor 48

Last Wednesday night, Sharon and I watched the final episode of season 48 of Survivor.

Season 48 of Survivor was filmed in Fiji from June 27 to July 22, 2024. The season premiered on CBS on February 26, 2025 and ran until May 21, 2025. It is the sixteenth consecutive season to be filmed in the Mamanuca Islands in Fiji; this has been the show's location since Season 33. The season is part of the "new era" of Survivor, which means it ran for 26 days instead of the 39 days of the first 40 seasons.

Kyle Fraser was voted the Sole Survivor, defeating Eva Erickson and Joe Hunter (Sacramento Fire Captain) in a 5–2–1 vote.

Unlike some recent seasons, I felt that this was a final four that belonged there. Sharon and I were rooting for Joe or Eva. Although Joe didn't acquit himself very well at the final tribal council, I was surprised the vote wasn't more evenly split. Sharon was disappointed that Kyle won.

As I have said repeatedly, I would really love to see the show filmed in other locations. Additionally, I think that the use of the sanctuary has gotten very repetitive. It seems lazy just to use the sanctuary over and over for the reward challenges.

Survivor 47

Wednesday night, Sharon and I watched the final episode of season 47 of Survivor.

Season 47 of Survivor was filmed in Fiji from May 13 to June 7, 2024. The season premiered on CBS on September 18, 2024 and ran until December 18, 2024. It is the fifteenth consecutive season to be filmed in the Mamanuca Islands in Fiji; this has been the show's location since Season 33. The season is part of the "new era" of Survivor, which means it will run for 26 days instead of the 39 days of the first 40 seasons.

Rachel LaMont was crowned the winner, defeating Sam Phalen and Sue Smey in a 7-1-0 vote. I frankly thought that Sam was more articulate than Rachel during the final tribal council. Although I was rooting for Rachel, I was surprised that Sam only got one vote.

As I have said repeatedly, I would really love to see the show filmed in other locations. Unfortunately, on December 15, 2023, the Fijian Minister of Commerce, Trade, Tourism and Transport, announced that the Fijian Parliament had renewed its contract with Survivor for an additional two years. Additionally, I think that the use of the sanctuary has gotten very repetitive. It seems lazy just to use the sanctuary over and over for the reward challenges.

Survivor 46

Wednesday night, Sharon and I watched the final episode of season 46 of Survivor.

The show was filmed from June 3 to June 28, 2023. It premiered on February 28, 2024 and concluded on May 22, 2024. It was the fourteenth consecutive season to be filmed in the Mamanuca Islands in Fiji.

Like seasons 41 to 45, the season observed strict safety protocols. Since season 41, Survivor has featured a reduced 26 days of gameplay with 18 contestants starting in three tribes. Survivor 46 and The Amazing Race 36 retained the 90-minute runtime.

Kenzie Petty was crowned the winner, defeating Charlie Davis and Ben Katzman in a 5-3-0 vote..

I wasn't surprised Kenzie and Charlie made it to the end. It was nice to see someone win that we were actually rooting for. It is interesting that five people went home with idols in their pocket; I wonder if this will have any impact on game play in future seasons. As I have said repeatedly, I would really love to see the show filmed in other locations. Additionally, I think that the use of the sanctuary has gotten very repetitive.

Survivor: Season 45

Wednesday night, December 20, Sharon and I watched the final episode of season 45 of Survivor.

The show was filmed from April 17 through May 12, 2023. It premiered on September 27, 2023 and concluded on December 20, 2023. It was the thirteenth consecutive season to be filmed in the Mamanuca Islands in Fiji. As a result of the ongoing 2023 Writers Guild of America strike, this season, along with The Amazing Race 35 aired 90-minute long episodes to fill the timeslots left vacant by scripted shows.

Dee Valladares defeated Austin Li Coon and Jake O'Kane in a 5–3–0 vote.

I have said after the last two seasons that I was surprised by the people that are making it to the end; I wasn't surprised that Dee and Austin made it. As I have said repeatedly, I would really love to see the show filmed in other locations. Additionally, I think that the use of the sanctuary has gotten very repetitive.

Survivor: Season 44

Thursday night, Sharon and I watched the final episode of season 44 of Survivor. It is part of our effort over the next couple of days to catch up on the finales of Survivor 44, Succession Season 4 and Ted Lasso Season 3.

The show was filmed from June 5 through June 30, 2022. It premiered on March 1, 2023. The season concluded on May 24, 2023. This is the twelfth consecutive season to be filmed in the Mamanuca Islands in Fiji..

Yamil "Yam Yam" Arocho was named the winner of the season, defeating Heidi Lagares-Greenblatt and Carolyn Wiger in a 7–1–0 vote.

I continue to be surprised by the people that are making it to the end; I would have never thought that Yam Yam or Carolyn would be sitting in the final three. As I have said before, I would really love to see the show filmed in other locations.

Survivor: Season 43

In December, Sharon and I finished watching season forty-three of Survivor. Season forty-four premieres March 1.

The show was filmed from May 2 through May 27, 2022. It premiered on September 21, 2022 on CBS. The season concluded on December 14, 2022. This is the twelfth consecutive season to be filmed in the Mamanuca Islands in Fiji..

Mike Gabler was named the winner of the season. He defeated Cassidy Clark and Owen Knight in a 7–1–0 vote. Gabler, aged 51, was the second oldest winner. Gabler has stated he intends on donating the one million dollar prize to support veterans in need by giving it all away to a collection of veterans' support organizations with which he'd partnered.

I would have bet against Gabler and Knight making the final three. Although I understand the logistics of filming in the same place, I would love to see the show in other parts of the world.

Survivor: Pearl Islands (Season Seven)

Running on the treadmill over the last couple of months, I watched Survivor: Pearl Islands.

Survivor: Pearl Islands is the seventh season of the CBS competitive reality television series Survivor. It was filmed from June 23, 2003 through July 31, 2003. It premiered on September 18, 2003.

The season was filmed on the Pearl Islands. The season feels very different than recent seasons. At the start, the contestants thought that they were taking publicity photos, but instead had jump off the ship and swim ashore. In a village, they bought supplies and hired a boat to take them to their island. All of the challenges had a pirate culture theme.

The season included a number of notable players including Sandra Diaz-Twine, Rupert Boneham, Jon Dalton (Jonny Fairplay) and Andrew Savage. Office clerk Sandra Diaz-Twine defeated scoutmaster Lillian Morris in a 6–1 jury vote.

I know that I didn't see this season when it originally aired. Jack has talked a lot about Jonny Fairplay; I didn't realize that he made it to the final three. I am planning to start Survivor: Heros and Villians (Season 20) next. Both Rupert and Sandra appear in that season.

Survivor: Season 41

Sharon, Jack and I watched the finale of Survivor 41. The three of us plus Drew watched the finale of Season 40 in May of 2020. But due to the pandemic, the Survivor crew was not able to produce this and the subsequent 42nd season in 2020. This season was eventually filmed in March and April of 2021.

Erika Casupanan was voted the Sole Survivor, defeating DeShawn Radden and Xander Hastings in a 7–1–0 vote. Sharon and I were both surprised that Zander didn't get a single vote.

For the first time since Survivor: Borneo, the season's winner was revealed during Final Tribal Council as production was unsure on the ability to have a live finale due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The vote reveal was then followed by a Survivor After Show special with the final players and the jury instead of a live reunion.

A couple of miscellaneous notes.

• I still want to go back and watch several of the older sesasons of Survivor, including Pearl Islands with Johnny Fairplay.
• Given our passion for traveling, I am excited that The Amazing Race is coming back in January of 2022!.
• A list of Survivor seasons that we have recently watched includes: All Stars (Season 8); Redemption Island (Season 22), and; Winners at War (Season 40).

Survivor: All Stars (Season 8)

Saturday night, Sharon, Jack, Drew, Shannon and I finished watching the last two episodes of Survivor: All Stars.

Survivor: All-Stars is the eighth season of the American CBS reality television series Survivor. It was filmed from November 3, 2003, through December 11, 2003.  It premiered on February 1, 2004 after Super Bowl XXXVIII. 

It was filmed on the Pearl Islands of Panama.  For the first time, 18 returning competitors from the seven previous seasons played instead of the usual 16 new contestants.

The winner was Survivor: The Australian Outback castaway Amber Brkich.  She beat Survivor: Marquesas castaway Rob "Boston Rob" Mariano by a 4–3 jury vote. The two had been closely allied throughout the game.  At the live reunion show just before the votes were read, Brkich accepted a marriage proposal from Mariano.

After seeing Boston Rob and Amber on the current season of Survivor (Winners at War), we watched them in season seven of the Amazing Race and this season of Survivor.  Next, we will watch season 22 of Survivor (Redemption Island) that Boston Rob wins.

Survivor: Winners at War (Season 40)

Over the last few years, I have typically watched Survivor running on the treadmill on Wednesday nights while Sharon was at bootcamp. With Jack shifting back home in March, the three of us watched Survivor: Winners at War together. Drew joined us for the finale on Wednesday night.

Winners at War is the show's 40th season. I would guess that I have seen slightly less than half of the seasons. Sharon and I watched the first couple of seasons twenty years old, but drifted away from the show.

The season was filmed in May and June of 2019. It is the eighth consecutive season to be filmed in Fiji. It aired on CBS from February 12, 2020 until May 13, 2020.

Winners at War features twenty returning winners from past Survivor seasons competing for a $2 million prize. It is the thirteenth season to feature returning players and the fifth season to feature only returning players. The season featured the Edge of Extinction [a twist where voted-out players could opt to stay for a chance to return] and introduced fire tokens [a form of currency to buy rewards or advantages].

Tony Vlachos was named the winner by a 12–4–0 vote over Natalie Anderson and Michele Fitzgerald. Seeing Boston Rob and Amber on the show, we decided to go back and watch some of the other reality shows on which they appeared. We watched Boston Rob and Amber compete in season 7 of the Amazing Race. We are currently watching season 5 of Survivor [All-Stars] where they first met.

With the finale hosted from Jeff Probst's garage due to the pandemic, he said that Survivor will be back in the fall. It will be interesting to see how they accomplish that...