The new Survivor

One consequence of the racial casting stunt on the new season of Survivor is that the goofy tribal names (Puka, Aitu, Hiki, Raro) have been made superfluous. Everyone thinks of the tribes as the Asians, Latinos, black folks, and white folks. But actually the biggest consequence may be that for the first time since the initial Survivor, there are many players who are unfamiliar with the game and don't know its strategy. According to the show's host, Jeff Probst, the producers had to seek out members of ethnic minorities to get them interested in being on the show rather than waiting for them to volunteer. This is the only way I can explain what happened last night, when the Latino tribe intentionally lost a challenge so that they would be able to vote off the tribe member (the heavy metal musician Billy) who was getting on everyone's nerves. Anyone who really knows Survivor knows you don't sacrifice your numbers. But a big part of the appeal of Survivor is playing along with contestants, evaluating their judgment and wondering what you would do if you were in their place, so this made for pretty good television.

When the producers revealed last month that the tribes would be divided by race, many commentators immediately passed judgment, claiming that this would promote racial disharmony and negative stereotypes. But there is a flipside: unlike any other show on TV, Survivor has a really diverse cast. It doesn't have one token Asian, African-American, or Latino. It has (well, had) five of each. It's still too early to say if the casting stunt was mainly positive or negative. But there is no question about whether it's a compelling experiment that makes you want to keep watching, which was the producers' primary objective in the first place.