TV

Dave Chappelle Takes on Trump Voters in Trailer for Netflix Special

"You are poor. He's fighting for me," the comedian jokes in his upcoming third stand-up special.

Dave Chappelle wants everyone to know what he thinks about President Donald Trump supporters in the first trailer for his upcoming Netflix special, Equanimity.

In the first look released on Thursday, Chappelle reflects on Election Day, realizing it was the same day he realized the issue he has with white Americans. The relevant bit — though previously written and filmed — resonates in the wake of Republicans passing their tax-cut bill.

"I've never had a problem with white people ever in my life. Full disclosure: Poor whites are my least favorites," the comedian joked. "We've got a lot of trouble out of them. And I've never seen so many of them up close. Looked them right in their coal-smeared faces. And to my surprise, you know what I didn't see? I didn't see one deplorable face in that group."

Making a quip about the campaign-born nickname dubbed for Trump supporters, Chappelle explained how he "felt sorry for them." He continued, "Saw some angry faces and some determined faces, but they felt like decent folk. … I know the game now. I know that rich white people call poor white people 'trash.' And the only reason I know that is because I made so much money last year, the rich whites told me they say it at a cocktail party."

Chappelle also described the comments he overheard being made by Trump voters, something he failed to comprehend.

"I stood with them in line like all Americans are required to do in a democracy — nobody skips the line to vote — and I listened to them. I listened to them say naive poor white people things. 'Man, Donald Trump's gonna go to Washington and he's gonna fight for us,'" he recalled. "I'm standing there thinking in my mind, 'You dumb motherfucker. … You are poor. He's fighting for me," Chappelle joked, referencing his income.

Having already released two Netflix specials this year, Chappelle reportedly earned $60 million for the exclusive shows, the first for the comedian's in over 12 years. "Dave Chappelle is a legendary voice in comedy — searing, vital and now more than ever, essential," Netflix vp original documentary and comedy Lisa Nishimura said of Chappelle's special trilogy for the streaming service. "Dave's three new specials promise to be some of the most anticipated events in comedy."

Following Neflix's release, Comedy Central will broacast all 28 episodes of Chappelle's Show on New Years Day, before the presentation of the comedian's stand-up special, Killin' Them Softly at midnight. The network's "It's a Celebration, Bitches" will begin at 9:00 a.m. ET/PT.

Chappelle's third Netflix special, Equanimity, is available to stream Dec. 31.

Read the full article – Hollywoodreporter.com

TV Ratings: 'Survivor' Finale Tops Otherwise Silent Night

The CBS series goes it alone, topping in the demo and total viewers.

Have you left for your holiday break yet? Your broadcast networks certainly have.

Wednesday night, just two days before the start of the holiday weekend, was packed with sleepy repeats, previously aired holiday specials and three full hours of scantily clad schemers hanging out around a bonfire. (That's what Survivor is, right?)

CBS' Survivor finale was the only show in town last night, and it easily topped every other effort by all measures. The two-hour finale took a 1.9 rating among adults 18-49 and 8.7 million viewers, modest gains from the previous week's episode. At 10 p.m., CBS followed it up with a post show that proved a somewhat smaller draw, with a 1.6 rating in the key demo and 7.3 million viewers.

This is normally where you'd see an "Elsewhere…" But that really was it.

TV Ratings
Read the full article – Hollywoodreporter.com

The Emmy-winning TV storytellers and their dad, Buz, pose for THR's Hollywood Legacies issue and share that the secret to their success is "capturing a voice that existed at our dinner table and putting it into television shows."

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Read the full article – Hollywoodreporter.com

The Emmy-winning TV storytellers and their dad, Buz, pose for THR's Hollywood Legacies issue and share that the secret to their success is "capturing a voice that existed at our dinner table and putting it into television shows."

read more

Read the full article – Hollywoodreporter.com

A fresh perspective on a classic Hitchcock scene, a surreal California detour, a reckoning with God unlike any other, a nightmarish memory inside another memory, a confronting #MeToo moment and a wordless dance drama are among our picks.

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Read the full article – Hollywoodreporter.com

'Survivor' Winner on That Fiery Controversy: "I Never Gave Up and I Never Quit"

The newest 'Survivor' champion opens up about the hard-fought battle for the million dollar prize.

[Warning: this story contains spoilers for the season finale of Survivor: Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers.]

Credit where it's due: Mike Zahalsky called his shot.

In the days before the season began, speaking into a microphone in the middle of the Fijian wilderness, just as the sun was poking up over the horizon, the man who would become the last Healer standing identified the most dangerous person on the Survivor battlefield: Ben Driebergen, or "the guy with the tattoos," as Mike knew him then.

"Honestly, I think he's the biggest threat in the game," Mike said on that faraway day in Fiji. "Although he doesn't look it, he's very charismatic. He's very charming. He's very easy to talk to. People congregate to him. But he also has tattoos all over his body. And I believe that tattoos tell a story, and that his story from his tattoos are not necessarily the same story as the guy [who has] the nice little child on his arm tattoo."

The other guy with tattoos, for what it's worth: Joe Mena, the bombastic player who often feuded with Ben, but ultimately awarded the Heroes Tribe veteran with a vote for the million dollar prize — a prize Ben was more than happy to seize.

Joe's ballot was but one of the five votes that cemented Ben's status as the newest Survivor champion, a feat he accomplished only after finding and playing three hidden immunity idols in a row, and then finally benefiting from an eleventh hour twist: a fire-making challenge at the final four, with the winner moving on to the final Tribal Council. Consider it yet another stroke of good fortune for Ben, whose game looked all but derailed three votes earlier. Instead, he walks away from Survivor: Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers with the million dollar prize, the Sole Survivor title, and a big smile on his face.

Read on for our conversation with Ben, conducted on the red carpet at the live Survivor finale, with topics ranging from the surprise he received onstage to the controversial way in which he wound up in the final three, and much more.

How are you feeling? You seem like you're on fire right now.

I'm on fire. I'm nervous. I'm shaking.

It's just us! We're okay!

Okay, I can calm down. (Laughs.) It was awesome. This was awesome. Such a great feeling. Great cast. Great competition with Chrissy and Ryan at the end, and Devon? I wouldn't want to go up against anyone else in fire in the end other than Devon. That was amazing. For the jury to see through some of my shenanigans and cockiness and whatever, and still award me Sole Survivor and a million dollars for my kids? I can't thank them enough.

You received five of the eight jury votes… do you know which ones you earned?

I saw Lauren's vote. I don't know the others. I'll have to go and rewatch the tape. [Editor's note: Ben's other votes came from Joe Mena, JP Hilsabeck, Cole Medders and Desi Williams.] Lauren voting for me was a huge thing. I took her out in a one to nothing vote, and I thought she would hold that against me. But we had such a big and tight bond together. I thought she was going to be a little bit bitter, so I can't thank her enough.

What was that night like for you, at Final Tribal Council? It seemed like you were shaken up. Did you feel on edge the whole evening?

Yeah. Yes. I wanted to go in feeling humble and not aggressive. The last three Tribals, I was dropping all of the "Ben Bombs," and making scenes. I really wanted to go in there and pump the brakes. I didn't want to go in there and act like a fool. I wanted to slow my game down and talk to people on a personal level. That's something I've worked on forever. Especially when you put a million dollars on the line… it makes people do things they normally wouldn't do. It was a good feeling.

You started this season playing a very measured game, and somewhere along the way, there was a shift. Can you sense where the shift took place?

Going into the game, I wanted to stay… not under the radar, but wanting to have a grasp on my game without being a dictator. I hit the beach [with the Heroes Tribe], and we're able to come together: Alan, Chrissy, JP, Ashley, and I. We were all leaders, but none of us wanted to lead. We had an awesome shelter, but no one wanted to take on leading the shelter. I was fed, too. I had some extra pounds on, which was nice. Then I [swapped] over to Yawa and linked up with Lauren, and our goal was simple: win challenges, win challenges, win challenges. We needed to keep [Cole Medders, Mike Zahalsky and Jessica Johnston] motivated so they wouldn't throw a challenge. We needed to keep ourselves in the game. We were on the bottom. Lauren and I fought together and kept those three comfortable and encouraged them to win. They could have thrown a challenge and gotten us out at any point. At the merge, Joe labeled me "King Ben," and everything like that…

Which really seemed to bother you. Did it bother you because it was true, or did it bother you because he was painting a target on you?

It bothered me because it was true and he was painting a target on me. It was so easy to suggest things to some of the other castaways, and they would give feedback. I wasn't a dictator all the way. They would give feedback, and I would talk through options. When those options were announced, they would say, "Okay, that makes sense." With the whole undercover thing that happened [in which Ben acted like a spy with Ryan Ulrich and Chrissy Hofbeck], I had to slow my game down. Chrissy was telling me I was acting like a dicator, so I had to slow it down. Devon came up with the plan for the whole double agent idea, which was perfect, since I had to slow down anyway. It worked perfectly with Ryan and Chrissy, because they had just thought of me as a dictator.

Coming back from the vote against Joe, your status as a spy was revealed, and things got testy between you and Chrissy very quickly — which seemed pretty bad, honestly. Can you talk me through why things escalated to that point?

Right. When we came back to camp after the Joe vote, and I love Chrissy to death, but whenever she was out of the loop on anything, she would try to pester you and make you feel like you had to tell her — like she was entitled to that information. I'm really not saying Chrissy is entitled or anything; I love Chrissy to death. But I felt I told her that Joe's gone, and that's that. I didn't feel I needed to tell her anything else. After talking to her, I knew that bridge was burned. I went down to the beach and spoke with Ashley, Devon and Lauren, and they weren't having it. They were talking with Doctor Mike already, and something was in the works with him. I knew my number was up. I had just burned my bridge with Chrissy, then walked down to the beach and there's Mike with Devon, Lauren and Ashley.

Which takes you into the world of "Ben Bombs," playing three idols in a row in order to stay in the game. The one that caught the most chatter was the idol you played before the votes were cast. What was the thought process there, and was there ever any debate as to whether it was even doable?

The idol I played before the votes were even cast, Devon had called me out: "I don't think Ben has an idol." He's pushing my buttons. I pulled the idol out, and he goes, "Ben's not even going to play that idol." I told him, "I'll play it right now." And he goes, "No you won't." And I go, "Jeff, can I play this?" And he goes, "Bring it up here!" So I brought it up there and that's when I said, "Jeff, I'm making it into the final five." He took it! It wasn't even me trying to make a Survivor first. I wanted to blow these five up on themselves. I knew going into Tribal it would be a three-two split between me and Ashley, just because of the way they were working Mike along. When you see me trying to work with Ashley, and pulling someone else along, she hit a brick wall. She turned to me at that point [for help]. The reason I voted her out was because I knew I had to go back to camp and try to patch things up. You have to think about the game 24/7. When you slip, that's when things start happening. It's easy to get complacent, but the more you can focus on the game, the longer you stay in it.

You play three idols in a row. The final four immunity challenge occurs, which you lose, and it looks like you're dead to rights. And then there's a twist: a fire-making challenge to make it into the Final Tribal Council. As much as you can take a bird's eye view on it, what do you think about the twist? It certainly benefits you tremendously, but what are your thoughts on it as someone who watched Survivor long before you played?

My thoughts on the twist as a fan… in traditional seasons, the big players who are making moves and leading the tribe and playing the game hard get taken out at six, five and four. You saw it this year: after Lauren, they tried to get me out at seven, six, five and four. Having that twist in there adds more drama and a little bit more intensity to the game, instead of having three people who have just pulled each other along to the end and voting three to one at the final four. How many times has that happened?

It's a controversial twist, just looking quickly at the reaction online. What do you say to those people who think about the twist's impact on your victory — getting to the final three with this twist as the mechanism to put you in that position?

I guess I would have to say that regardless of what happened, I still had to work my way into the final three. It was a fire challenge between Devon and I. It very easily could have been Devon who won. And he had practice! He was out there breaking flint. Just because I was able to find my idols, and just because I was able to make fire… from the top looking down, I can see it. But I played the game. I got up early. I never gave up and I never quit. I was always looking for idols. It was on the paths everyone was on. Everyone walked along these places.

And were any of them following you?

Ryan was! When the three of them — Devon, Chrissy and Mike — went to the reward, Ryan literally followed me all day long. I had to act like I was looking for an idol, so I just looked at him and went, "Dude! You're like a little puppy! Go away and let me look for an idol!" (Laughs.) And he was like, "Come on. You know I can't do that!" The whole time I had it and was trying to make sure he thought I was still looking. When Chrissy came back with that [fake] idol, or whatever it was, I was actually really relieved because I was so tired of looking for fake idols. (Laughs.) It was awful, and then it was awesome. It was awesome.

We spoke in the pregame about the life you lived in the years leading up to shipping out for Survivor. You were a man of America, traveling around the country from job to job. Tonight, friends of yours, your fellow former soldiers, surprised you on stage — on top of winning the million dollars just a few minutes earlier. What does a night like tonight mean for you?

Oh, gosh… (Pauses.) To have my buddies coming out like that? Seeing them all bearded and dad-bodied like me? It was like seeing my brothers all over again. We lost some good friends out there and we had to rely on each other. Those guys are my brothers for life. I hadn't seen them for twelve or however many years — and it was like we had never left. It was an emotional moment for me. I'm sure it was an emotional moment for them. I know they're proud of me. It was crazy. Really.

I ask this question a lot, and somehow I feel I already know the answer: you would play this game again, wouldn't you?

Oh, totally. [Ben's wife] Kelly told me I could go back out and play again, definitely. At this point, I'm just waiting on the call from Jeff.

How do you like your odds on round two?

Not too good. (Laughs.) I don't think so. Unless it's an all-winner season. If you put some other good winners out there, I might have a chance. But otherwise… anything other than that…

Why do you feel that way?

Because I put my heart out there. I played like it was my second time. Doing that on your first time, I would probably have a very big target. I would change my game up, but we'll just have to wait and see if it happens.

Watch Ben congratulate his future self for winning, from all the way back on the day before the game began:

Blast from the past! Ben Driebergen congratulates his future self on (hopefully) winning #Survivor. Interview with Ben coming soon to THR at the link in my profile.

A post shared by Josh Wigler (@roundhoward) on Sep 4, 2017 at 7:14am PDT

Follow THR.com/Survivor for more coverage of the Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers finale, as well as inside scoop on what to expect from Survivor: Ghost Island.

Survivor
Read the full article – Hollywoodreporter.com

'Survivor: Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers' Finale Features a Big Twist and a Tough Vote

Could Ben's idol streak continute? Would Chrissy's immunity run go on? Would Doctor Mike or Devon or Ryan make a surprising run for the million bucks?

[This recap contains spoilers for the Wednesday, December 20 season finale of Survivor: Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers. Note that I've skipped the reunion special to write this recap. I'll watch it later, but I don't know anything revealed in that bonus 40 minutes.]

I have many problems with this Survivor season and I have many problems with Wednesday's Survivor finale, but I like to give credit where it's due and I appreciate that however it got there, the season ultimately boiled down to a Final Tribal and a final vote that suggested several valid voting alternatives and wasn't quite the rout I worried it was going to be last week. That was a competitive finale. It was a contrived finale in order to make it competitive. I'd go so far as to say without a needless twist that will apparently continue going forward, it would have been a rout, but instead this was a season in which all three finalists got votes and that's not so bad.

I was fully prepared to accept a win for Chrissy. The cornball final speech in which she argued that moms are Heroes, Hustlers and Healers all together and therefore that she was a worthy and representative winner was silly and manipulative. But I like the narrative of a player who barfed on the platform during the first challenge of the season and then went on to win four individual immunities, a number equaled only by Kelly Wiglesworth, Jenna Morasca and Kim Spradlin. If you're going to be in a group of strong Survivor women, that's a good group to be in.

Chrissy definitely saved herself with a couple of those individual immunity wins and she made a very good case that she'd played a stronger social game than Ben did, or at least that she went out of her way to learn Joe's feelings about marriage and Cole's surprisingly high ACT scores and if learning Joe's nuptial distrust and Cole's stealth braininess is worth a million bucks… I wouldn't have been angry.

OK. That's a lie. I'd have been angry, because that's what I do in these recaps. But I would have understood.

Why would I have been angry? Well, to me it's pretty simple: Immunities are great. Winning them really helps. And yes, hidden idols are a scourge that has now become too much a part of the game and really needs to be dialed back. But to me, you can't win a Survivor season in which the last four Tribal Council votes leave you shocked or disappointed. You have to have controlled the narrative of the season in the home stretch at least to some degree and even with immunity idols for the majority of those Tribals, Chrissy wasn't the person steering any of those last four eliminations.

I don't necessarily like that Ben won because he kept finding immunity idols, but the reality is that players get voted out with immunity idols all the time. They also play their immunity idols for nothing all the time. Ben found three idols and used three idols perfectly. He whipped out two idols after votes when every person thought he was going home. He used a third idol to screw everything up for the dominant alliance before the vote. Ben should have gone home five or six Tribals in a row. Possibly more. His fellow castaways threw away several shots for no reason at all. But when they were determined to take him out, three times he made it impossible for them.

Then, since Ben took matters into his own hands thrice, the Survivor Gods decided to cut him some slack. [In a cosmic sense. I'm not implying the show's producers literally cut him slack.] The final individual immunity challenge brought both immunity and "the advantage of knowledge," but it also took away the more tangible advantage of power thanks to what will apparently be an ongoing format change that, honestly, should not be a format change. Chrissy was shocked to discover that rather than just deciding to take Ben out and going to a final three with Devon and Ryan that I assume she would have won, she would get to take one person with her, leaving the other two to make fire to advance. It's still an advantage. Don't get me wrong. She got to decide she wanted Ben to make fire against the vaguely competent Devon and not the generally useless Ryan. That's nice. It's not as nice as eliminating Ben. And so given a reprieve by the twist Ben dominated Devon making fire. I'm not sure Devon even got a flame.

So Chrissy went into four straight Tribal Councils determined to take Ben out and she was unable to take him out four straight times.

And that, to me, is why Chrissy couldn't justifiably beat Ben for the main prize.

Ben also had a good story and used his PTSD as an excuse for his limited social game and I definitely believe that overcoming PTSD to win Survivor is an awesome thing and inspirational for our vets. Chrissy doing it for moms and slightly older women just couldn't compete, narrative-wise.

Let's still be clear: The twist gave Ben the million dollars. It added the drama of fire-building and I'm a fan of fire-building in a general sense, but the twist eliminated the penultimate Tribal as a voting entity and reduced the impact of winning that last immunity. Chrissy was forced to go to Final Tribal with somebody she didn't want to go to Final Tribal with and she lost because of it, which is a weird reward for that climactic immunity.

I guess I have to mention here that Ryan got Devon's vote because Ryan made a good argument in favor of his social game at Final Tribal. Ryan presented himself as Devon's puppetmaster and Devon didn't protest or burnish his own credentials, because he's a nice guy and what would it have benefited him to do so? Ryan's point that he parlayed the initial super idol advantage into an alliance with Chrissy that got him to the end was accurate and worthy. Ryan also got a pass to the final three because Chrissy didn't want him to try to make fire against Ben, which means Ryan was a goat, at least on some level. It would have taken an extraordinarily bitter jury to give Ryan the million and other than Ashley, nobody was excessively bitter and even Ashley's bitterness was far less than many past jurors have exhibited.

Congratulations to Ben! And congratulations to Survivor for finishing a middle-of-the-pack season. Not awful. There have been many worse. Not good. There have been many, many, many better. But I was entertained enough.

Let's get to some bottom lines…

Bottom Line, I. Because "Outwit," "Outplay" and "Outlast" don't mean what Jeff Probst describes them as meaning, I still don't love this new Final Tribal they introduced last season. It is, once again, making arbitrary divisions that are poorly defined and therefore become fuzzy and meaningless, just like dividing tribes by Heroes, Hustlers and Healers. I'm OK with shaking up the format. This just isn't great. The discussion, though, was quite fine and it was pretty much Ryan's only chance of winning and he did OK for himself. He just needed bitterness.

Bottom Line, II. The Final Tribal narrative that Ben had no social game is simply factually inaccurate. For the first half of the game, possibly more, he had a strong social game. He aligned with Chrissy and they looked capable of running the game. He aligned with Devon, which both helped him tremendously and split up the Devon/Ryan friendship that could have been JT/Stephen-esque under different circumstances. "Social game" doesn't mean "Makes alliances and sticks with them." It means "Makes alliances when necessary." Ben had strong alliances right up to the play-acting he had to do leading up to the Joe vote. Then he blew his alliance up up. Completely. Had he not found idols, that would have been a major social game flaw on his part. But he found idols. He didn't find out about Joe's parents divorce or Cole's testing aptitude, but there are other ways to win Survivor. So he got pissed off at Joe for being a douche and lying about him swearing on the Marines? I'm fine with that. And he targeted Cole and maybe overemphasized how much Cole was eating? I'm fine with that.

Bottom Line, III. I like the drama of Devon saving himself by voting against Doctor Mike in that first vote of the episode. I can't believe Doctor Mike would have beaten Chrissy or Ben, but Doctor Mike was sure he was going to, so taking Doctor Mike out at that moment was good, astute Survivor. Devon would have had an interesting Jury case in the right situation, but I doubt he beats Ben or Chrissy either. Somehow Devon won zero immunities. That's a letdown given the physical limitations of the people he was competing with in the home stretch.

Bottom Line, IV. Desi was really good on the jury. She was such a forgettable player, but her irritation at everybody allowing Ben constant free mobility to find idols was my irritation, too. There were four of them and one of Ben. Instead, they repeatedly kept dismissing the chances of Ben finding idols and they kept raving about how well they were sleeping. If you do that, you deserve what you get. Once again, Chrissy's failures of Ben maintenance are why she didn't deserve to beat him. Nobody could have known about that first idol he played, but after that, if Chrissy wanted to make sure Ben didn't find another idol, she couldn't keep shrugging and saying, "Nah, there's no way there's another idol." Also, her acting with the expired idol was just dismal. There were flaws in Ben's game, but to my mind there were many more flaws in Chrissy's game.

Bottom Line, V. I don't believe the season was fixed for Ben. I really don't. That's crazy talk. But the season sure felt like it was fixed for Ben. The excess of idols and the preponderance of twists basically all seemed to benefit him. So sometimes perception becomes reality and the perception that the producers had their thumb on the scale of this season is going to be hard to shake for a while. Knowing what they knew, the editors could have edited away from the #BenBomb narrative and instead they edited aggressively into it from the second episode on. It's a choice! Maybe next season we need an out-of-left-field winner.

Bottom Line, VI. How did we make it 25 minutes into the reunion show before the results? Was it really as simple as the producers knowing that there were no deeply meaningful relationships or moments they had to revisit? I guess I'll go watch the reunion show now and see how they filled that limited time.

Check out all of Josh Wigler's wrap-up interviews and I'll see y'all back here again in the spring.

Survivor
Read the full article – Hollywoodreporter.com

'Survivor' Finale: Jeff Probst Explains Winner's "Desperate" Victory

The veteran 'Survivor' host and executive producer weighs in on the lesson he learned from the 'Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers' champion, and much more.

[Warning: this story contains spoilers for the season finale of Survivor: Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers.]

In Survivor, fire represents your life. It's an old adage within the storied reality franchise's history, and one with special significance as it relates to the recently concluded 35th season, Survivor: Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers.

A season that was already brimming with twists culminated in another hard left turn right at the finish line, with the introduction of a brand new twist: the winner of the final immunity challenge earned the power to bring one of their fellow castaways with them to the final Tribal Council. As a result, the two remaining players would be left to compete in a fire-making challenge for the final seat at the final Tribal. The high-stakes trial by literal fire ended up being a (wait for it) game changer, as the winner went on to win it all: Heroes tribe veteran and war veteran Ben Driebergen, who wound up with the million dollar prize after playing three back-to-back-to-back immunity idols, and winning the aforementioned fire challenge to seal the deal.

"Ben played much harder than even I anticipated," executive producer and host Jeff Probst tells The Hollywood Reporter about the champion of Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers. "It really woke me up to how much deeper we are all capable of digging if our need is strong enough."

With Ben's win and the season at large now in the rearview mirror, Probst spoke with THR about how the finale shook out and the five finalists in particular, starting with one last look at the season at large.

"This season was a great reminder to the production team that for all of our planning, we aren't in charge of much," says Probst about his takeaways from the twists and theme of Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers. "We can lay out all the clever creative we want, but it's the players' reaction to the creative that determines the story. I liked all of the twists we tried. The idea of secrets and advantages that can only be played at a specific time are things we will try to bring back at some point in the future. We bounce around a lot with which twists we use and when we use them specifically to keep the players off balance. We try to make it very hard to accurately predict what is in play at any moment. That's one of the fun parts of the job. It's a new Survivor stew every season!"

Before moving onto each specific player, Probst looks at the finalists as a group: "I was very happy with the final five. They were a great representation of the entire season and all very different types of players. There are a lot of ways to win this game and anytime you go into a finale with five likable players, all of them with a shot to win, you're in good shape."

The first finalist to fall in the finale: Mike Zahalsky, the last Healer left standing. Doctor Mike, or "Doc" as he came to be known in his final moments in the game, would have survived the final five Tribal Council, if not for a clever maneuver from Devon Pinto, who placed a vote against Mike as insurance in the event Ben played a third immunity idol. Devon risked Mike's ire if he was wrong, but would keep his torch lit another night if he was right — and luckily for the surf instructor, he was very right indeed, securing his continued survival over the Florida-based urologist and longtime Survivor super-fan.

Here's how Probst viewed Mike in the preseason: "Doctor Mike is a homerun. Doctor Mike was on about one and a half seconds after he sat down. Doctor Mike … I think he would be okay with me saying this: He's an underdog, when you look at him. He doesn't look like the prototype for the person that's on our show. But Doctor Mike is surprisingly confident about himself in all areas of life. He knows he's a very good doctor, he talks about his relationship being amazing, and he also says, 'I can start fire in under a minute, so I'm going to surprise people out there.' And man, he is witty. He's very funny. He has a lot of sexual innuendo with his job as a urologist. I think there are a lot of women especially who will think he's very charming."

Here's how Probst views Mike now, following his elimination: "Mike was different than I anticipated but in an equally charming way. I didn't realize how earnest he was going to be. Mike really seemed to want to connect with others and have a complete Survivor experience. I think he might have surprised his kids with how well he did. So often our family only sees one side of us and we so rarely get a chance to truly be tested. He is not the prototypical Survivor and yet he outlasted most everybody in the game and was only taken out by a big time gutsy move by another player. Most satisfying of all for me is that Mike seemed to truly enjoy every single moment on the island."

Devon's move against Mike kept him in the game for one more night, but no further. In winning the final immunity of the season, Chrissy Hofbeck was in the power seat to bring Devon or Ryan Ulrich with her to the final three, while leaving one in the game to battle it out against Ben. With that in mind, she selected Devon as the champion against Ben, a task the young Hustler accepted without question. But even with an afternoon to practice, Devon was unable to get his fire started in time to defeat Ben, who made quick work of the challenge. With that, Devon became the last player eliminated from the game, one day short of the final Tribal.

Here's how Probst viewed Devon in the preseason: "Devon's very likable. He's so good looking and charming, and yet, you still like him. I think it speaks to why he's on the Hustlers tribe. Devon is a bit of an exception to the rule, I think, in that I would say he's had an easier life. If you just look at his background, it hasn't been difficult. But what Devon has done with the choices in his life is say, 'I'm not going to take this for granted. I could be a kid who says, oh, something else will come my way. Doors just open for me because people want to hang out.' But instead, he takes every gift that lands in his lap and goes, I can do something with this. That's the guy who ends up being the billionaire and you go, 'How did you get here?' And he goes, 'A couple of bucks at a time.' He's still good looking and he's got the cool car and the penthouse in Japan. I think Devon is a real threat to go deep, so long as he doesn't get taken out for being such a threat. That's the hard thing when you're Devon. You're a walking billboard for why people should want to get rid of you."

And here's how Probst views Devon now, following his trial by fire: "Wow, reading this back, one line stands out: 'He takes every gift that lands in his lap and goes, I can do something with this.' How spot on that turned out to be in the fire making showdown. Most players would see that as an obstacle, but Devon took it and said, 'I can do something with this,' and he turned it into an opportunity. It didn't work out this time, but that attitude is incredible and probably the number one reason he was so popular with moms, dads, women, men and kids. Devon was a slow burn for me, I had to learn his cadence but now that I understand him I would welcome him back anytime."

With Mike and Devon out of the way, the stage was set for a final showdown between the jury and the three remaining castaways. For his part, Devon cast his winning vote for Ryan, his fellow Hustler and his first ally in the game. Despite earning knocks for his inability to help around camp and his lack of challenge skills, Ryan earned some praise for his social play — but not enough to secure him the win.

Here's how Probst viewed Ryan in the preseason: "Ryan, if he lasts long enough, is going to go down as one of the great storytellers. He's got a great gift for gab. He's very witty. Great wordplay. He's really smart. I hope he lasts. He's in a league we've never really had. Yes, he's kind of like Cochran [who won Survivor: Caramoan] and David [Wright, who came in fourth on Survivor: Millennials vs Gen X], but those are cliche examples. I don't really think we've had anybody like Ryan."

And here's how Probst views Ryan now, following his failed shot at the million: "Again, reading it back, it feels pretty true. He was one of our best storytellers this season. He has a way of saying things you've heard before but saying them in a way you've never heard before. Beyond his storytelling, Ryan is a great strategist. He played a very subtle game where he let other players feel as though they were in charge so he didn't appear as a target. He played it beautifully, but as we saw, it comes with a risk. If you wait too long to stand up and be counted, it can be hard to change opinions. I don't think there is any doubt he's a great Survivor player, and if he played again, it could be a different and more satisfying result."

Then there's the other finalist who couldn't quite reach the million, despite her proficiency with numbers: actual actuary Chrissy Hofbeck, who made an impassioned case as the best representative of the season's Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers theme. Even without the win under her belt, Chrissy made Survivor history by tying the record for most immunity challenges won by a woman at four, three of which were earned in a row.

Here's how Probst viewed Chrissy in the preseason: "The reason Chrissy is a hero in my eyes? It's a list. She's one of the most amazing women I've ever met. She broke the glass ceiling in terms of business. She's extremely successful in her career. She makes a lot of money. Über smart. Stops. Decides to have a family. Has kids, raises them, and then says, 'Okay! I'm ready to go back in [to work],' goes back in, then kicks ass again. That's a hero on so many different planes. Pick one. What I thought was interesting about Chrissy is that going into the game, she said, 'My biggest fear is that I'm going to be the oldest person out there.' It reminded me: 'Man, I see you as this über superwoman, and you find your one Achilles' heel and that's what you're focused on.' I hope that doesn't do her in, because I was looking at her going, 'OK, you have an Achilles' heel, but you have like 50 assets to use.' I'm really curious if it's just an initial fear and she'll get to the beach and her instincts and brain will take over, or if she'll crush herself."

And here's how Probst views Chrissy now, after making it all the way to the end: "Chrissy outperformed even my initial assessment of her, which was pretty high! She's truly one of the best to ever play. She's strong at strategy, not afraid to play dirty, was physically dominating in the challenges and a very good persuader of people. I think she probably inspired a lot of people to want to play, and not just moms. She made the game fun because she let us see all sides of her. We're not all perfect and Chrissy let us see her when she was up and she let us in when she was down. Those vulnerable moments are typically what really connects an audience to a player because we see ourselves in them. I hope she will play again one day."

And then there was one: Ben Driebergen, army of one. Despite never once earning an immunity challenge win, Ben found himself safe from the vote time and time again thanks to his proficiency at finding idols. The mission-oriented player was public enemy number one for several Tribal Councils in a row, and still managed to walk away with the Sole Survivor title and million dollar prize, thanks in large part to the eleventh hour fire-making twist.

Here's how Probst viewed Ben in the preseason: "I love Ben. He walked in with a cowboy hat and a plaid shirt and big boots and a pair of jeans. He sat down and said, 'Well, what do you want to know?' We said, 'Well, who are you?' He said, 'Well, I've done a little bit of this, a little bit of that. I was in the service for a little while. I did a couple of tours.' He made it sound like he was out in the backyard mowing his lawn, you know? And then he also shared, really honestly, that he's not doing something he loves. He said, 'I'm working to make a living for my family. I want more. I see this game as something that can change my life. There's a million dollars [on the line]. I don't care how hard it is. I've done hard. I want this for my kids and my wife.' Man, it's a hard story to not move you. That's what Survivor offers a lot of people: 39 days, you have to be strategic, you have to be savvy about human nature, you have to be willing to endure sometimes some extremely tough situations — but you could come home with a million bucks, and a sense of pride that you did it. You beat everyone else in this game."

And here's how Probst views Ben now, in the aftermath of his victory: "I felt from the beginning that Ben would have a huge target on his back. It didn't help matters when I announced the theme of the season and Ben had to reveal he was a marine. I think he had planned on downplaying his military service. But Ben played much harder than even I anticipated. His game play illustrates the difference between 'want' and 'need.' You could see it in his desperate search for idols, sometimes lasting all night. You could feel it when he lost a challenge. You could hear it when he talked about his wife and kids and the other vets suffering from PTSD. He often used words like 'mission,' and I think it speaks to his determination. It really woke me up to how much deeper we are all capable of digging if our need is strong enough. And if you had to rank players in terms of whose life would most be changed by winning a million dollars, I think the majority of people would say Ben is at the top of that list. I don't mean that he deserved it more than the others, I am only talking about the impact it will have on his family."

With that, the book closes on Survivor: Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers, interviews with the finalists notwithstanding — but then it's straight on ahead toward Survivor: Ghost Island, the enigmatically named and themed season debuting in February 2018. Exactly what do the Survivor powers that be have in mind for season 36? Check back soon with THR for that answer and much more.

Follow THR.com/Survivor for more scoop on Survivor: Ghost Island from Probst, interviews with the Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers finalists, and more.

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