Surprises await 'Survivors'

Contestants on the newest edition of "Survivor" aren't the first to have to make their way without supplies, fire or food. But they are the first since, perhaps, the original incarnation who don't know what's going on.

When the 20 contestants on "Survivor: Palau" (7 p.m., CBS/Ch. 2) arrive on the Pacific island, they're not told where to go, they're not divided into tribes — nothing.

"I literally show up and say, 'There's your beach. Have a good time,' " said host Jeff Probst in a telephone interview with TV critics. "What we want to do in each season is find one way to tweak the show that keeps them off balance. We're not looking for a major restructuring, we're just looking to tilt it a little bit."

The big twist this time is the contestants aren't given any information in an effort to keep them off balance.

"They get on their beach the first day and they don't know. And they're wondering, 'Do we start making alliances now? Or will that maybe bite me?' " Probst said.

Another twist is that two of the contestants will be eliminated almost immediately.

"It's a brutal, brutal beginning to this season," Probst said. "It's the most brutal of social encounters. It's very similar to the feeling you have when you're not picked on a schoolyard or when you're the first guy laid off. Without question, 'Survivor' is a social game. And that is put to the test right away.

"Two people, in essence, never get a chance to play this game. And yet they go through all the work to get there."

The game of "Survivor" will still involve physical challenges ("the most physical and original challenges that we've had in quite a while," Probst said), immunity, voting people off . . . but not necessarily the way the contestants expect. Probst was predictably and understandably vague about the details — he can't give too much away — but he made it clear both the contestants and viewers are in for some surprises in the 10th edition of TV's most popular reality/competition show.

In tonight's premiere, not just two but three people will be eliminated.

"You can no longer assume that there's going to be a tribal council every three days. Or that at every tribal council only one person will go home or anything like that," he said. "Because the numbers are out of whack now. We're still out here 39 days, so something is going to have to change.

"More things happen for the first time this season than have ever happened before. That's what struck me as the season went on. Some of them are twists, some of them are things that happened organically in reality and some of them are things that happened because of challenges."

Again, he's not giving out specifics, but it would seem that the twists do keep the contestants off balance.

"It doesn't sound like a whole lot, but it pays off . . . because, now what you've put in their heads is it's a slightly different game again," said Probst. "You can assume there's going to be a merge (of two tribes). Go for it. Plan on it. But if you're counting on it, you're a fool."

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E-mail: pierce@desnews.com