CBS announces 'Survivor's sixteenth season to premiere February 7

Although it still isn't confirming that Survivor's next edition will be another all-stars installment featuring previous castaways, CBS has announced that Survivor's next season -- which the network is currently terming Survivor 16 -- will premiere on Thursday, February 7 at 8PM ET/PT.


According to a CBS spokesperson contacted by Reality TV World, additional details about Survivor's sixteenth edition -- including its formal title -- will not be announced until the December 16 finale of the show's currently-airing Survivor: China edition.

While rumors that CBS might be planning another all-stars installment have circulated for years, more formal reports that Survivor's Spring 2008 edition would be another all-stars season began to surface earlier this year. 

According to a May report in In Touch Weekly, a second all-stars edition would only feature castaways from the seven Survivor installments that have filmed since 2004's Survivor: All-Stars edition occurred (Survivor: Vanuatu; Survivor: Palau; Survivor: Guatemala; Survivor: Panama; Survivor: Cook Islands; Survivor: Fiji; and Survivor: China).

"No winners will be back," an "insider" reportedly told In Touch at the time.


The May In Touch report came two months after long-time Survivor host Jeff Probst -- who will be returning to helm the sixteenth season -- had told reporters that although he "personally didn't want to do" and "didn't enjoy" the show's initial All-Stars edition, he felt Survivor was "due" for another all-stars installment.

"We're going into our sixteenth season, [a second all-stars] wouldn't be a bad idea... The only thing I can say is that I've come around to understanding that even though the All-Stars we did was a pain-in-the-ass from a production point of view, it was one of our best seasons," Probst reiterated to reporters during a September conference call to discuss Survivor: China.  "And it was our best season because we had our best people back.  I get that."

According to Probst, one of his biggest all-stars gripes was the swelled heads some of Survivor's first All-Stars edition participants developed during their second go-around on the show.

"I wouldn't be looking forward to necessarily doing another 20 all-stars," Probst explained at the time, "because I know the minute you call them an 'all-star,' suddenly the contract has four-page rider on it that they need their green M&Ms removed."

Last week, James Clement, the tenth castaway eliminated from Survivor: China, was not made available for post-show media interviews following his ouster on Thursday night's broadcast.  No reason was given for his unavailability, however the move appeared to all but confirm Clement's participation in Survivor's currently-filming second all-stars edition.


In 2003, former Survivor: Pearl Islands castaway Rupert Boneham was not available for media interviews after his elimination from Survivor's seventh edition because he was participating in the filming of Survivor: All-Stars.

According to online reports, Survivor's second all-stars edition is currently in its final days of filming in Palau, the South Pacific island chain that previously served as the location of the show's tenth installment.

Prior to Survivor: Palau's Spring 2005 premiere, Probst had gushed about the region's crystal clear waters.  "We're in the most beautiful water that we've ever had in terms of visibility," said Probst. "The visibility was so good that we decided to pull out a lot of challenges we'd been sitting on and you know anytime you create stuff underwater, it just adds such a physical component."

Ironically, Palau was reportedly Survivor producer Mark Burnett's first choice for Survivor: All-Stars, however due to scheduling problems, Survivor's first all-stars edition ended up filming on the same Panamanian islands that Survivor: Pearl Islands, the show's previous edition, had filmed on.