The Truth About Jeff Probst

By Gordon Holmes
Tue, 09 Sep 2008 14:52:04 GMT

Every other season or so, a contestant will inevitably mention his or her desire to take over Jeff Probst's @+%. This year it was Dan the lawyer. During the introductions on day one, he let it be known that he was interested in becoming the new host of 'Survivor'.

Sorry, Dan the lawyer. I object.

You couldn't carry Probst's fire snuffer.

The first thing that struck me about my behind-the-scenes view of the proceedings was how valuable Probst really is. From what I understand about other reality shows, some scenes are predetermined, orchestrated, and re-shot. Not so on 'Survivor'.

Sure things are edited, but when they're out there they get one shot, no restarts. During the scenes I saw, Probst not only had to perform his hosting duties, but he also had to practically double as a director. He did an impressive @+% making sure each contestant was seen, heard, and understood.

A few days later I had an opportunity to interview Jeff (those interviews can be seen here). He even took a few minutes afterward to listen to a few of my ideas on how to improve the show (which can be seen here). I didn't learn until afterward that he had been nursing a headache all day. Kudos to Jeff for sticking around a hot, sunny beach to give me everything I needed without complaining a bit.

On the final day, we were invited to watch Tribal Council (we were actually the first press group ever allowed to attend; I'll spill the beans on that after the first episode…don't want to spoil anything).

I assumed Probst's role in the proceedings was just to stir up the contestants to get good sound bytes out of them. Apparently the losing tribe felt the same way. It took some time, but Probst convinced them (and me) that he was really working in their best interest. He got them to talk through their problems and set a game plan. It was almost like being at a family counseling session. No matter how much resistance the contestants gave him, he pressed on until by the end of it, I was expecting the tribe to request a group hug.

Amazingly over the course of the evening, Probst was a voice of reason, a devil's advocate, and a mentor all at the same time.

And to top it all off, Jeff manages to perform this duty without getting a big head or a star ego. I know this is probably a bit of a disappointment for some. People love to hear the dirt. But from what I saw from him, and what I heard from his crew, Probst is the real deal.

The tent Jeff stayed in was identical to the one I stayed in (except he probably keeps his tidier…let's move on). From what I understood, cabins with air conditioning and showers were being built for all of the crew members, and Probst wouldn't move into one until everyone else had moved into theirs. I'd imagine gestures like that probably go a long way to keeping crew morale high during a long shoot.

Dan the lawyer thinks all it takes to host 'Survivor' is the ability to introduce a reward challenge, introduce an immunity challenge, then preside over Tribal Council…lather, rinse, repeat.

But, he's lather, rinse, wrong.