Survivor: Jeff Probst Teases Easter Eggs For Longtime Fans In Super-Sized Series

In its 45th season, the contestants on "Survivor" will have to outwit and outplay harder than ever before — thanks to the show's new format. Longtime "Survivor" host and showrunner Jeff Probst sat down with Entertainment Weekly to tease what the first super-sized season of "Survivor" has in store with its 90-minute runtime. First, expect more tricky searches for those elusive immunity idols. "We sat down and broke the show down and looked at adding more acts, adding more time, and then went in and said, 'Okay, here's what we can now do to make sure those 90 minutes are really entertaining,'" the host said. He focused on hidden immunity idols as a new way to elaborate on a typical hour-long episode.

"But because we had 90-minute episodes, we now have the time," Probst added. "Fans are going to love it. Idols are much more complex in terms of securing them, and you're going to see the ingenuity required. And maybe you have to pair up with somebody to be a lookout. But because we have the time, we can take you into the dirt with them. And it's really fun to watch. I don't think fans are even going to know the episodes are longer. It's that kind of entertainment."

Another exciting tidbit that Probst revealed during his chat with EW was that a long-retired "Survivor" tradition is returning: the auction. "Well, we brought the auction back," he said. "The reason that falls into this is the 26-day season does have certain limitations. Doing something like the auction is a lot of work for us. It requires many departments to contribute. We felt like this was a good season to do it, but we didn't really have an idea ... We felt like we broke the auction once we put advantages into the mix because players would just hold their money with the idea that there would be an advantage at the end and then it would be a race to buy it."

For the uninitiated, "Survivor" used to feature auctions where they could bid on anything from food to gameplay advantages — but it hasn't been seen since the show's 30th season, 2014's "Survivor: Worlds Apart." Probst definitely seemed excited about this revamped auction — but he's keeping the details quiet until it airs. "Since it will only be new the first time you see it, I'd rather not tease it anymore," the host said. "But it was directly related to having 90 minutes and thinking this would be a really fun thing to bring back, and this is the perfect season to do it."

Probst has been floating the idea of extending "Survivor" episodes for some time now. In October of 2022, the network finally gave him the opportunity to try his idea. Luckily, the timing worked out, as filming for the landmark 45th season of "Survivor" wasn't set to start until April of 2023 — giving Probst and his team ample time to make the most of this new opportunity.

"I actually had been pitching CBS for probably five years, 'Let us try 90 minutes!'" Probst told EW. "And they were always reluctant because that's a long episode and you're never sure when it's too much. But back in October, CBS came to us and said, 'Okay, you got your wish. We'll do one season of 90-minute episodes and we'll see how it goes.' They didn't want to fully commit to two at that point because they wanted to first see how it went. But that gave us six months to lay out a game design for 90 minutes to ensure that the 90 minutes would be entertaining."

Over the years, the classic "Survivor" introduction sequence started getting trimmed down to save time within each episode ... and then, in the show's 36th season "Survivor: Ghost Island," the series dispensed with it entirely. Gone were the glimpses of each cast member vying for the million-dollar prize and title of Sole Survivor. Probst would simply bring fans right into the action. Season 45, though, is bringing the full intro back thanks to the extended run-time of each episode, and Probst told EW that they'll hold a little something extra for "Survivor" superfans.

"There's an Easter egg in every main title for the true super fan," Probst revealed. "The main title in and of itself was enough to bring back. It's very fun. But this is a new era of 'Survivor,' so we thought, 'Let's make it fun for the audience as well by giving them a little something special in each main title.' And that's all I'll say. You don't need to find the Easter egg to enjoy the episode, but if you find the Easter egg, it might give you a little more insight into the episode." You heard him: keep your eyes peeled for any clues hiding in the intro for each episode.

However, one vital thing won't change: the episodes won't have a higher volume of reward challenges just because they're longer. "You still only have 26 days, and we can still only build so much in that time and then break it down and build something else and then test it and rehearse it," Probst told EW. With those limitations in mind, Probst and his creative team worked that much harder to provide deeper looks at the challenges they crafted — rather than padding the runtime. According to Probst, looking at the season's overall journey was key to unlocking creativity.

"Is there something we can do differently with the journey that would allow us to spend a little more time on the journey that we normally would say no to because we knew it would never make it in the show?" Probst mused. "It was a really fun challenge, and I emphasize the word challenge because it wasn't a walk in the park. It wasn't a slam dunk. It was: What can we do within our 26 days with the team we have assembled that will be interesting for the players and result in turning points for the story?"

"Survivor" airs on Wednesday nights at 8 p.m. EST on CBS.