The race for president of the United States may be down to the wire, but Jeff Probst has no doubt who would win on Survivor -- George Bush.
"(Senator John) Kerry would probably do better at staying under the radar," Probst told the Sun yesterday. "He's brilliant but boring. Bush has that redneck charm down, and, on our show, that might well win it for him."
Just the same, Probst intends to vote for Kerry. "I just think Bush would do better on our show," he says.
Survivor: Vanuatu (tomorrow night at 8 p.m. on Global and CBS) remains huge in Canada, drawing 3 million viewers a week and finishing first or second overall here since the series returned last month. It's still a hit stateside, topping The Apprentice this season to retain the crown of TV's top reality show.
"Our audience is loyal," says Probst. "You don't see a huge shift in our numbers, regardless of what we're up against."
Probst points out that Survivor was one of the few shows that did not strike out last week against the Red Sox/Yankee coverage, trouncing NBC's Friends followup Joey all season.
He says he's "tickled to death" to be beating executive producer Mark Burnett's other big reality show, The Apprentice. "There's a bit of a rivalry," he admits.
Busy Burnett is not as hands-on with Survivor anymore, but that was always the plan, says Probst. "He's never been a micro manager. He's a big picture guy right now and he trusts us to get the details done."
Burnett told the Sun last January that he'd like to play Survivor 11 -- which would take place next fall -- in Canada. "We've talked about the terrain and the different places you could go in Canada," says Probst. "It's definitely something that's been on the table, especially just in the last year."
The stumbling block is getting off the beach. Fans have come to expect a tropical setting, he says.
Still, there are plenty of remote shorelines in Canada where bikini-clad contestants could romp next July. Probst feels audiences would be willing to "give us a season to try something new."
Like Canadian contestants? Don't hold your breath. Probst says the producers and CBS have talked about doing an international edition. "The problem is, do Americans care enough to watch players from Russia or China or Canada? I don't know."
What Probst doesn't want to see is another All-Star edition. "I don't think the game works once you've played it," he says.
For one thing, you make too many enemies. Probst says several bitter castaways not named to the All-Star 18 were spilling the beans on the Internet last season. "If they could find a way to spoil the season they were going to do it," he says. "For me it was a bit of a disappointment. Survivor's been good to a lot of people and a lot of people have been good to Survivor. I thought we had a bit of a partnership."
Security on Survivor: Vanuatu has been much tighter. Probst says that while there is no Richard, Rudy or Rupert stealing the spotlight this season (Bubba with his shrunken Bob Barker T-shirt came closest), the men vs. women play has kept viewers keen.
Last week, as the newly-formed Yasur tribe stumbled, there was a break in the rock solid "Girl Power" alliance. Probst says that will continue to be put to the test. "It never ceases to amaze me how difficult it is to hold on to your original alliances. There's always somebody on the bottom of the alliance and, once they realize who they are, they suddenly have an incentive to look somewhere else."
He says this season's final tribal council is the best they've ever had, "good, solid drama that delivers. For the first time in three years, I didn't say one word at final tribal council."
