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Once again immunity is back up for grabs

Jeff Probst, king of the scripted reality lines, helps keep Survivor at the top of its genre.

Jeff Probst this year won the inaugural Emmy for the Most Outstanding Reality Host, probably due to his years in the genre and the show being at the top of its game for so many years.

Probst is also king when it comes to building the drama and describing the state of play throughout challenges. It helps to interview the players at Tribal Council, with his years of experience gauging the success of the individuals and groups he is the perfect storyteller for reality viewers.

But Jeff sure loves his script too. Some of his lines are so regular as to reinforce the branding of the Survivor franchise. These days it just wouldn’t be the same if we didn’t hear these weekly lines:

“Come on in guys!”

“_____ getting your first look at the new ____ tribe. _____ voted out at the last Tribal Council.”

“Guys ready to get to today’s reward / immunity challenge?”

“In addition, the winning tribe will send one member of the losing tribe to Exile Island. Worth playing for?”

“_____ you have one extra member, sitting somebody out, keeping in mind you cannot sit the same person out in back to back challenges.”

“Take a spot on the bench. Everybody else, give you a minute to strategise, we’ll get started.”

“Here we go, for reward  / immunity, Survivors ready? Go!”

“[Winning tribe] wins reward /immunity!”

“[Losing tribe name] I’ve got nothing for you. Grab your stuff head back to camp.”

“We now bring in _____, returning from Exile Island”

“First things first. Once again immunity is back up for grabs.”

“It is time to vote. ____ you’re up.”

“I’ll go tally the votes.”

“Once the vote is read the decision is final. The person voted out will be asked to leave the Tribal Council area immediately. I’ll read the votes.”

“____th person voted out of Survivor.”

“That’s __ that’s enough. Need to bring me your torch.”

“___ the tribe has spoken. Time for you to go.”

“Grab your torches, head back to camp. Goodnight.”

Meanwhile Phil Keoghan on The Amazing Race has more voice overs and less live performing -possibly a reason why he wasn’t even nominated in the same Emmy category, despite the show again winning an award.

Narration aside, here are some of Phil’s best lines:

“A road block is a task that only one person may perform. In this road block, ___________”

“In this detour teams have to choose between two tasks, _________. The choice _____ or _______.”

“[Describes Pit Stop] The last team to check in here, may be eliminated.”

“[Team names] you are team number….ONE!”

“[Team names] you’re the last team to arrive. I’m sorry to tell you, you have both been eliminated from the race.”

Keoghan also described irregular tasks including a Fast Forward, U Turn and Speed Bump.

14 Responses

  1. Survivor is the best show on T.V and Jeff is the best host. I can not wait until they bring all the seasons out on dvd so we can relive all those great moments from seasons past.

    Also hopfully channel nine will give us survivor Gabon straight after Micronesia.

  2. There’s more to phabulous Phil than his phamous eyebrow pop. He does all the interviews with the racers after each leg. On the CBS website you can watch Phil’s Diaries on Insider videos, which follow Phil as he himself races to keep ahead of the racers (sometimes even travelling on the same plane), but be warned, it’s not advisable to go there because of spoilers.

    Phil tries out a lot of the roadblocks and detours himself, and has a list of extreme activities he wants to do before he dies after a near-death experience as a teenager. He also auditioned for the host of Survivor.

  3. It always amuses me when someone posts a comment such as “X is still on?” or “Who watched X any more?” If the show isn’t even on your radar, why bother reading the article, let alone taking the time to make a comment that contributes nothing to the conversation?

    Thanks for the article, David! I’d wondered why Phil Keoghan wasn’t nominated for the Emmy, but you’ve hit the nail on the head with the voice over versus live performance issue.

  4. These are my two favourite reality hosts from my two favourite reality shows. Let’s show a little respect here.

    Seriously though, as far as I’m concerned, Jeff Probst is Survivor. I’ve watched all 15 seasons aired by Nine, and it just wouldn’t be Survivor without him. I met a lady whose husband works on Survivor and she said that Jeff runs the show and really cares about every person working on it, including the contestants, and is very kind to everyone. In return, everyone has the utmost respect for him.

    Next time you’re watching, try and say the “once the votes are read…” spiel along with him. It’s not easy. Love ya, Jeff. And what’s not to love about Phil. The World is waiting for you…. Good luck, travel safe….GO!

  5. Great article David.

    Hey is a couple more from Phil:

    “[Describes what happens on previous episode] Who will be eliminated next?”
    [intro plays]

    “___________ who arrived at _______ am/pm, will depart at _______ am/pm.”
    [shows a shot of the team ready to depart, clocks ticks over, the team rips open envelop and reads out clue]

  6. The current season Channel 9 is the best season in a while. Watch out for a brilliant set of end-game gambits and blindsides. If you’ve given up on Survivor a while ago, now is a great time to get back on board!

  7. Hey, he had to win purely for being able to deliver the following line repeatedly whilst keeping a straight face:

    “___ the tribe has spoken. Time for you to go.”

    …have they ever posted out-takes and bloopers from Survivor? Those tribal council meetings apparently take over an hour and are then subsequently edited down to about five minutes. I’m sure between them and every day events on location, there must be some funny shit.

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