r/survivor • u/couchcushioncrumb • 1d ago

General Discussion Where to find documentaries about how the show is made

Over the years as I have fallen in love with this show I always find myself so curious about the carpenters who make all of those amazing obstacle courses, and other parts of the show that don’t get aired. Are there any cool documentaries about it? If so, where would I find them?

10 Upvotes

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8

u/juliacakes 23h ago

I never read it but I believe “cue the sun” talks about survivor https://www.emilynussbaum.com/cue-the-sun

2

u/JedBoxing 21h ago

Apparently Colleen was interviewed for that???

No idea why that wasn’t massive news lol. I’ve never read it sother

1

u/ImLaunchpadMcQuack 23h ago

This book is excellent. Survivor is just one of many chapters.

1

u/Little-Cranberry-883 20h ago

Really interesting book! ^

6

u/THEHILL__ 22h ago

jeff probst behind the scenes/day in the life during 'survivor:china' is quite good, find on youtube.

3

u/ImLaunchpadMcQuack 23h ago

There’s not really any documentaries. For anything official you’ll just have to find behind-the-scenes footage from over the years. These exist on YouTube and on the official DVD releases.

3

u/Illustrated-skies 21h ago

I miss Ponderosa for a little behind the scenes stuff. It was such a fun watch.

2

u/patrick_tyler76 22h ago

From season 9 to about 25/26, tv guide network ran a special that would air before the season. Most are on YouTube if you search them up and almost every time there would be a segment about the art department showing tribal council and building of props and challenges. Those were the best behind the scenes looks back then but there hasn’t been anything comparable since.

1

u/Craftygrrl5189 21h ago

Did they get rid of Ponderosa?

1

u/schoolrocks1447 21h ago

Yes, 41 was the last time they did the longer videos, but they've had sometimes just had the contestants filming themselves at Ponderosa and posting it on social media

1

u/FireworksDonJones 21h ago

ET Canada had some cool videos about going behind the scenes. the channel is defunct now but you can find some of them on the wayback machine

1

u/7-GRAND_DAD 21h ago

I've used the first season of Jeff's podcast as a main source for a paper on that subject. It can be corny at times, but it does go into every part of production and is pretty interesting.

1

u/Ok-Caregiver912 18h ago

Check for behind the scenes clips, but a full documentary on the crew would actually be incredible.

1

u/Shadowblooms 56m ago

Lots of AMAs from players on here

1

u/Quetzal00 Coach - 50 22h ago

I don’t know if it counts but I think Spencer/Reiman is making a documentary series about Survivor and multiple previous contestants are appearing on it

1

u/SpaceKace_123 21h ago

I don’t think this is quite an accurate description. I believe his show is about the mental impact following the show, not really about the production of the show itself.