Survivor Season 34 Theme and Title Revealed

Inside Survivor reveal the theme and title for the next year’s all-returnee season of Survivor.

Filming for Survivor Season 34 is currently underway in Fiji, where twenty former players are battling it out once again for the title of Sole Survivor and the million dollar prize. Ever since Inside Survivor revealed the cast last month, speculation has been rife in regards to what the theme is. Fans have theorized everything, from a Rivals season to Heroes vs. Villains 2 to simply a generic All-Stars. Now that speculation can be put to bed.

Inside Survivor has learned that the theme and title for Survivor Season 34 will be – Survivor: Game Changers – Mamanuca Islands. The theme is said to be based around players that “changed the game” in some shape or form in their previous season(s). Although applying this concept to everyone on the cast is sure to require a lot of spin on the part of the producers.

On paper, it’s easy to see how players such as Cirie Fields and Tony Vlachos could be described as “game changers,” given their out-of-the-box strategies that influenced the game. Likewise, players such as Sandra Diaz-Twine, the only two-time winner, and J.T. Thomas, the first “perfect game” winner, could also fit the theme. Ciera Eastin and Malcolm Freberg are likely to be promoted as game changers for their “big moves” with rocks and idols, respectively.

Where it becomes a lot stickier is when you look at players like Brad Culpepper, Hali Ford, and Sierra Dawn-Thomas. Whether you’re happy with their inclusion in the cast or not, you’d be hard-pressed to find a reason to describe any of them, and others in this cast, as “game changers.” Inside Survivor previously revealed that production changed the originally planned theme for the season during the casting process.

Much like previous returnee seasons, All-Stars and Second Chance, the tribe divisions will be decided solely by production.

Mamanuca Islands – the group of islands in Fiji where filming is taking place – will be the season’s secondary title. Much like with previous seasons: Survivor: Vanuatu – Islands of Fire and Survivor: Gabon – Earth’s Last Eden.

What do you think of the theme and title – Survivor: Game Changers – Mamanuca Islands? Let us know in the comments below. Stay tuned to Inside Survivor, when tomorrow we will be breaking down the Season 34 cast and whether or not they can be defined as “game changers.”

 

Photo Credit: victorulijn via Compfight cc


Written by

Martin Holmes

Martin is a freelance writer from England. He’s represented by Berlin Associates for comedy writing and writes about TV and entertainment, currently for TV Insider and Vulture, previously Digital Spy, ET Canada, and Yahoo. A finalist for the Shortlist Sitcom Search in 2012 for “Siblings,” Martin received his BA in English with Creative Writing from The University of Hull. Martin is the owner and editor-in-chief of Insider Survivor.


65 responses to “Survivor Season 34 Theme and Title Revealed”

  1. Game Changers!? Maybe it’s Game Changers Vs Game Lamers?! Can’t wait for Jeff to explain how Culpepper, Hali, and even tai from last season changed the game! And beastmode changed which strategic part of the game? Like or hate but people like Russel, and FairPlay, and of course the ultimate game changer Chet from FVF

    (Ok that last name was a bit of a joke.. Sorry Chet)

  2. Sierra definitely changed the game.

    Never before has a Survivor threatened to make a big move while sitting around and being a useless floater.

    • The loyal stalwart fans aren’t going to leave the living room while this season is on.

      The rest of us? Who knows.

    • Well Au Survivor shouldn’t have a theme. Just 3 non-descript tribes of 8. Yes there are 24 castaways but other than that, it looks like it will be a good show)

  3. Well, Brad DID change the game on original Tadhana by causing many blindsides. Hali’s blindside definitely changed the course of the game. Sierra…I’ve got nothing.

    • Sure, based on his Basic Alpha Bro tendencies. He’s all about swinging his and showing whose is the biggest one.

      • A completely new strategy perhaps, I agree. I wonder if Ozzy will come up with a story about a torn ligament that affects his athletic ability or something. If this is what is meant by the theme then it is interesting, but the producers will have to somehow hold the players to there promise of “changing their game”, or the audience will interpret the theme as glorifying these players for something monumental they did while playing the game of survivor.

  4. What are Hali and Sierra doing in this cast? They did nothing! Even Na’Onka would have been a better choice… she LITERALLY changed the game.

  5. I can understand Brad and Sierra described as “game changers”. But Hali? For what? Being in alliance with Jenn who changed the game by playing HII?

  6. And I’m not defending him … but wasn’t Brad the instigator of throwing the clue to the idol in the fire?

    Troyzan – I got nothing. Ditto for Sierra or Hali, the latter was gone when the sh*t hit the fan.

    Andrea – well she had class when being duped on her second time around and getting voted out. She followed Malcolm around so he had hard time searching … and … I got nothing.

    Beastmode Cowboy? He’s not even the first to almost die while playing.

  7. The only change Culpepper made was at loser lodge where he changed the ambiance from bad to worse……it’s like the last two seasons the creative department just gave up

  8. Andrea- First women voted out with an Idol? First female to return from Redemption Island?
    Aubry- I’m starting to imagine that they’re going to swing it as “Aubry changed the course of the game” as opposed to had done anything monumental.
    Ciera- “Voted out her mom” will forever give producers/Jeff reason to give her a call.
    Cirie- I think she makes sense given the format
    Debbie- ????
    Hali- ?????????
    Sandra- Only two time winner
    Sarah- ??????
    Sierra- She didn’t do much, although I could see them spinning that she was the only women to stick with the Rodney/Will/Dan trio.
    Brad- ???????
    Caleb- I’m sure his medevac will play into it.
    J.T.- First “perfect” game
    Varner- ??????
    Malcolm- Idol plays, Matsing…a few avenues you could kind of go with on him.
    Ozzy- No clue, but I’m sure they’ll convince us he did something.
    Tai- See Ozzy.
    Tony- Spastic non-winners edit gameplay
    Troyzan- Other than being the main foil to Kim I don’t see it.

  9. Caleb almost risked his life, Sierra went counter to the Blue Collars, Hali risked a horrible sunburn in her micro bikini, Andrea risked being called the stupidest Survivor ever for TWICE falling victim to Stealth ‘R Us…It’s my opinion that the “poop” soiled undies where actually Troy’s, that could have Changed his game!

  10. Youre all getting it wrong about Ciera, she created the block votes “just for this time”. And as someone said, some of them could be there to change their game.. Anyways who cares about the theme, its a fantastic cast

  11. “Unfinished Business” would’ve made more sense as a title:
    – JT working to make up for his stupidity in Heroes vs Villains.
    – Sarah and Debbie now faced with forgiving and working with those who ousted them or getting revenge (Tony and Aubry, respectively)
    – So many players coming close but never winning the game (Tai, Aubry, Cirie, Ozzy, etc.)
    – The title would also cover the “question mark” cast members this time. We never really got to see Hali and Brad’s games take off.
    etc.

  12. I see “game-changer” as more of a “pivotal moment in their initial season” for some and for others a “change” to Survivor itself. That said, I’ll give this a try:

    Andrea- perhaps first woman to return from RI? she was the first person gone from the ometepe alliance once it was down to those six.
    Aubry- her story-arc in Kaoh Rong was one of the biggest arcs in the season, and she convinced tai to flip – the biggest move of the season.
    Ciera- Need I remind you she voted out her mother?! lol
    Cirie- the woman who got off the couch to become of the best social players ever
    Debbie- apart from being the survivor with the biggest resume, the women self-destructed and voted her off due to scot, jason and tai’s super-idol invincibility (at the time 🙂 )
    Hali- all I can think of is that her boot post-merge led to the no collar alliance’s pagonging.
    Sandra- speaks for itself – first 2 time winner and master of the “anybody but me” strategy.
    Sarah- her merge blindside in Cagayan literally did change the game – giving Solana the majority.
    Sierra- this one’s harder but for one, she was the swing vote between joaquin and joe at that big pre-merge tribal, and she was the only woman in the Rodney/Dan/Will core.
    Brad- one of the biggest pre-merge giants ever; he was public enemy #1 that got blindsided by the biggest last-minute power shift at the time and his boot brought tadhana together.
    Caleb- victim of the show’s scariest medical crisis!
    J.T.- first theoretically perfect game
    Varner- first boot to a tie (his boot led to his alliance’s demise in the merge in S2), and his big vote-off in Cambodia changed the game for Angkor.
    Malcolm- survivor of Matsing, very likeable, and all of his idol plays (Phillip!!!)
    Ozzy- most physically dominant player ever… his blindside was a milestone in FVF.
    Tai- one of the most unique to ever play; he has love for animals – and his betrayal of Scot was the game-changer in Kaoh Rong
    Tony- arguably the most aggressive player to ever play – he was the Russell Hantz that won!
    Troyzan- he was Kim’s biggest (and only) opposition in One World; his boot was big for Kim’s alliance and sealed the road for Kim to win.

    Like I said, harder to justify this game-changer for some, but if you look outside the box and at their individual seasons rather than the Survivor world itself, you could find something for everyone.

    • That’s exactly the reason why they’re all came back. The only ones that I don’t know of is the male and female contestant from season: 33 which I bid on that they may have done something big to get to season: 34.

  13. I don’t mind half the cast such as Aubry,Cirie, Ciera, Tony, JT, Malcolm Andrea, Sandra, people whom you can truly consider as All stars. But having Ozzy again is getting quite tiresome and annoying. And honestly how can you consider Debbie, Brad, Sierra, to be gamed hangers seriously ? And I didt like Troyzan to begin with and I’m sure America hates him too

  14. I guess it’s

    Game Changers :
    -Ozzy
    -Malcolm
    -Tony
    -Tai
    -J.T.
    -Cirie
    -Sandra
    -Andrea
    -Ciera
    -Aubry

    Others :
    -Varner
    -Caleb
    -Troyzan
    -Brad
    -Debbie
    -Hali
    -Sarah
    -Sierra

  15. I would like to see a season that has no teams–just everyone on their own from day 1. This would have been a good season to do that, to see who teamed up with who.

  16. I’m not going to criticise anything, there most be a reason why they put these contestans on this season. I’ll have to wait until february 2017 to see what is up

    • The producers were heavily leaning towards a “winners vs. jury members vs pre-merge boots” themed season (along those lines). If you looked at the initial list of the 32+ players that were being considered, this theme would cover a lot of them. Supposedly there were many cancellations and last minute adjustments that they were forced to make (the biggest being Natalie Anderson having to bail last minute), and so they had to settle with that they had and make do.

  17. Perhaps it is Game Changers (players who have made big moves, introduced innovative strategies to the game, or made some other significant impact on the game) on one tribe vs A tribe of people who didn’t play the game they wanted to the first time (due to reasons such as medivac, getting voted out early for arbitrary reasons, making a crucial mistake that ended their games, etc) These people are back for another chance to change their strategies and hopefully play the game they sought out to the first or second time.

    I can even see someone like JT being on the latter tribe- I’m sure he would love a chance to redeem himself from his fatal blunder last time he played (ironically could call his move a game changer in the way that 1. It changed the entire outcome of HvV and 2. Would go down as one of the dumbest moves in Survivor history)

    Idk seems easier to give a reason for people like Tai, Caleb, Sierra, Sarah, Debbie, and Hali being on a season called Game Changers if the tribes are split like this. Either way I will still watch this season and I’m sure it will be good. Maybe some players will really surprise us this time around 🙂

    • I mean Sierra did have really good social game and she could have made big moves but she didn’t. Hopefully this time she becomes kelley 2.0 and actually makes big moves.

  18. Can someone explain to me why Kelley Wentworth isn’t in this cast? Like literally they chose Jeff?

  19. I would REALLY love to see an entire cast of TROUBLEMAKERS. So many of the previous cast members are memorable only until the finale. I have watched Survivor since the beginning and truthfully either remember the kindest/most heartwarming contestants or the sleazebag/lying/love-to-hate contestants. Like the wonderful Tai and the naked Richard.I do enjoy the “pretty boys” and “pretty girls”…..but the weird and unusual are truly what keeps me watching week to week.

  20. Ciera again? She first went on in the summer of 2013 now she just got back playing her third game in three years? Enough already with returning payers.

    Get some fresh blood in there, cast some real people from the videos they send in. Stop casting people who want tv careers.

  21. I really want Kelley , Chelsea , Earl and Mike to be returned, but the cast does not look bad, it will be interesting to Malcolm and Ozzie together. Andrea and Sirie are also unique players. There are also winners as Tony, Sandra and JT, I think there may be Coalition against them, but I hope to be able to reach a merger because I want again to see Tony, who is one of the best winners again in merger . I can not understand why they returned Hali and Sarah, but let there are those “more feeble” players.
    My favorites are Malcolm, Tony and Andrea, but it seems it will be a great season and hopefully get closer to season 20 and 31 which are amazing!

  22. Survivor game changers? with Brad, Sierra and Troyzan… what? Just name it Survivor All-Stars 2: Mamanuca Islands, exotic and proprietary name; all its own. Why game changers? with the recent millennials vs. gen x the producers are making a mistake of canonizing everything. What will next seasons theme be? – nannies vs nuns :D. Sometimes themes are better used in subtle ways. Why not choose a reef theme to add ambiance to the challenges/rewards…. Why put the theme in the title? it manipulates the viewing audiences presuppositions about the upcoming seasons.. No matter what the producers say Dawn-Thomas will never be a game changer in survivor lore.. sorry. LET the viewing audience come up with its own theme.. keep the theme to aesthetics only within the game. [ Does anyone know why another returnee season is upon us? Cambodia was good, why do we need another so quickly?].. Are applicants really this dull? Maybe I should apply for the first time then, I’m certainly not dull. The budget might be cheaper with Survivor: Hawaii…. I would enjoy that title better, is it possible or are there legal disputes I don’t know about, anyone know? The Hunger Games was shot there so they have areas available for production. Many titles would be better, not a fan.

  23. I want tougher competitions like they used to be. A mixture strength, puzzles, endurance would be nice. We only really see the latter 2 since they want to make it fair for the weaker players. I miss the days of knocked out teeth, 8 hr comps & brute strength.

  24. I. Hope for season 35 or 36 there is a all- stars 3 where jt Thomas is more likely to get asked back and Malcom. And. I hope there is a all winners season and jt Thomas is on that list

  25. Or there was a. Rumor that season 35 could be fan vs favorites I hope that is true as long as jt Thomas is in it and Malcom

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