I don't know if I like the "new era" since the pandemic ended. It's just too hard on the contestants (who get no food beyond rewards and who have to win competitions to even get fire) and yet this extra hardship doesn't really show up on the screen. Still, you can't go back to the simplicity of the early seasons because all the players are now just too savvy. They know how to play the game.

The other issue is budgetary. The shorter playing times (26 days instead of 39), the use of the same location, and other issues all point to the fact that CBS is falling on hard times and has to save money. By extending the show to 90 minutes and combining it with an extended Amazing Race of 90 minutes, CBS gets an extra hour of prime time content for the low cost of editing in extra footage they already have. All the cost-cutting is starting to show.

And when are they going to increase the prizes to reflect inflation? A million dollars today is still a lot of money, but it's worth only half what it was back in 2000 when the show started. They need to increase the winning prize to at least $2 million.

This show like most others like Big Brother are all fixed and run by production. way to much virtue signaling way to much telling you what and how you should think. A once great show now just crap. Watch Alone much better.

I wish they could go back to the original format, plus 60 minutes because the extra 30 min is just fluff. This new way is a bit formulaic, (how many idols or advantages do they need to "hide" in plain sight!!) but it is still worth watching.

There is no surviving its a popularity contest.