Watch the Survivor: David vs. Goliath opening credits you won’t see on TV Survivor Close this dialog window Streaming Options Survivor: David vs. Goliath kicks off Wednesday on CBS with a 90-minute premiere stuffed to gills with heart, heartbreak, humor, and even a cyclone for good measure. But one thing you will not see in the premiere on Wednesday night is the opening credits sequence featuring stunning shots of the contestants in all their slow-motion glory over the iconic Survivor theme song. The opening credits sequence has been M.I.A. for several years now in favor of bringing viewers more action on the beach, but fret not, because while you will not see them on TV, we’ve got your exclusive Survivor: David vs. Goliath opening credits right here! GOD BLESS THE INTERNET!! ! Get your Survivor nerd juices flowing by checking out the credits above. Watch as some random people start attacking you with sticks! Marvel at the paddling ability of Jeremy! Hide behind your hands as the super-stressful battle of Christian vs. the Coconut commences! It’s all there! And it’s all here. Just watch the video above, and for more Survivor scoop (including this look at the past, present, and future of the show) follow me on Twitter @DaltonRoss.<doc-sep>Survivor S 37 E 1 Close this dialog window Streaming Options Welcome one and welcome all to another season of Survivor recaps! I’m your host, Dalton Ross. Or, as some others know me, Dalton Dangerous. Or Dalton Dynamite. Also… Dalton Dashing, Dalton Disco, Mount St. Dalton, D Rock, Skinny D, Cash Rockwood, The Jester of Jersey, The Friday Night Letdown, The Embassy of Embarrassment, The Colonel of Cooltown, The Barack Obama of the Sauna, The Superintendent of Survivor, Mr. 50 Shades of Gray Hair. Or, you know… you can just call me Dalton. I don’t have to impress you with my 50 nicknames, or flowing locks, or manly physique! Mostly because I have none of those things. But what I do have is a sad and pathetic history of spending the past 18 years of my life writing about a network reality show. So won’t you help me continue that sad and pathetic history by reading along? Yes, since Survivor started I have had a son that was born and gone off to college. I have had a daughter that was born who actually inspired a challenge twist in the game. I’ve had… well, that’s pretty much all I have had or done over the past 18 years. I mean, you all have read my recaps, they’re not exactly what one would call “short.” Or “good.” The point is, there’s not a lot of time for extra-curricular activities. But my sad lack of a social life and any sort of hobby whatsoever has led me back to you. And to Survivor: David vs. Goliath. Season 37! What the hell? That is a ridiculous number. And, as I wrote earlier this week, it shows no sign of stopping anytime soon as long as a certain host/showrunner sticks around. (Really, please do click on that link if you have not read that article yet. I think any serious Survivor fan will enjoy.) So enough with the pleasantries and introductions. Let’s get into the premiere episode. Ain’t nothin’ to it but to do it! Jeff Probst begins the proceedings by throwing the theme of the season up in the air and then slamming it into our face like a John Isner serve. He tells us to prepare for “a modern take on one of the most intriguing match-ups of all time” — which, sadly is a not a retelling of the Geraldo Rivera vs. Frank Stallone boxing match of the 1990s. What the show is really doing is setting up one side (the Davids) as clear underdogs to root for, and the other (Goliaths) as the overwhelming favorites/villains to root against. Just look at the introductions to tribes themselves. For the Davids, we get a confessional (first one of the season, in fact) from Christian, who talks about what a robot-obsessed nerd he is. For the Goliaths, we get Natalie boasting, “I’ve been amazing at business. Everything I touch turns to gold.” But that juxtaposition was nothing compared to the way they simply step onto the boat. When the Goliaths show up, we get confident booming music meant to translate their power and authority and dominance. When the Davids step on, we get the same goofy circus music they used to play whenever Stephen Fishbach would participate in a challenge. Through words, editing, and visuals, the show is hammering home the underdog theme hard. Hell, I’m half surprised they didn’t put all the Goliaths in New York Yankees uniforms and force the Davids to dress like the Bad News Bears. I mean, OF COURSE the producers did all this. The theme is David vs. Goliath so they are going to keep hitting that theme and hitting it hard. But here’s the thing: We, as human beings, always have a natural inclination to root for the underdogs. Simply by affixing the labels “David” and “Goliath” to tribes, the producers have guided us to which team to root for, and that gravitational pull is pretty strong. Mike White even spoke to me about knowing he was a villain the second they revealed the theme. But, at the same time, the emotional manipulation was so obvious in this introduction that while I went into this season assuming I would root for the Davids all the way, by the time they all stepped on the boat, the super-stubborn contrarian in me was refusing to do so. That’s right, I’m going against the grain! I’m totally rooting for the Goliath tribe! It doesn’t matter that Gabby and Christian are adorable together. It doesn’t matter that Lyrsa and Elizabeth could be the next great mismatched power duo. It doesn’t matter that one of the tribe members almost BROKE HIS BACK! I just don’t like being told whom to root for. The more you pull me one way, the more I push back to the other. It’s possibly my most annoying quality. And I, of all people, should be rooting for the Davids. Not only am I a scrawny weakling, but my middle name is David. Not-so-fun fact: When everyone in the first grade started making fun and branding me Dalton the Dolphin (which, incidentally, is another wrestling stage name of mine now) I tried to convince them to call me David instead. Needless to say, it didn’t work. In fact, they really doubled down on the Dolphin thing as a result. But the point is, I am both a figurative and literal David. And I actually do like the David tribe members better. And yet I now feel like I need to root against them simply because the show is trying so hard to make me root for them! Does this make any sense whatsoever? But the producers know we love an underdog. And what do audiences love even more than an underdog? An underdog who WINS! Which brings us to the opening challenge on the boat. It’s a bit confusing, but basically, the Goliath tribe is told they can pick their two strongest players (Allison and The Wrestler with A Million Names) to go against whom they deem to be David’s two weakest players (Purple Hair and Big Bang Theory). But the David tribe is then given an advantage of their own: Each of the three stages of the challenge has three different options, and the Davids get to pick which team does which on each. It is a MASSIVE advantage. Clearly the beam over the water is much, much faster than the plank option that they stick the Goliaths on, which ends up giving Purple Hair and Big Bang Theory a huge lead they never surrender, winning easily. I want to be absolutely, 100% clear that I am not implying this challenge was rigged or unfair in any way whatsoever. The Goliaths got a choice and the Davids got a choice. And the Davids could have totally screwed theirs up or screwed up any of their stages. There was no funny business in terms of how this was executed or played out. But let’s just say that the conditions seemed pretty ideal for a David victory to launch the season. Every single challenge of every single season favors certain people or tribes. This one, and the way the advantages were distributed, seemed to tilt that balance to the Davids. But that’s just my take. I asked Probst who he thought had the better advantage before the competition ran and you can read his answer in our weekly Q&A. Last thing I’ll say about the intro before we head to the beaches: Survivor editors have been on fire lately, and they hit a home run again with the time-lapse montage of Christian obsessing over the wrong moves he made in the puzzle. Freakin’ hilarious. Yes, ever since Cochran, the Survivor Nerd has become an overused archetype, but this guy is money. Okay, let’s head to the beaches. The Goliath Tribe The rain is already coming as the Goliaths make their way to their tribe beach, and in case you don’t know who Mike White is, he’s here to tell you!<doc-sep>The quest to become the sole survivor begins. CBS is kicking off Season 37 of “Survivor” on Wednesday with an all-new cast. This season, the show will take on a “David vs. Goliath” theme as 20 castaways, split into two tribes of 10, will fight to become the first-place winner and walk away with the $1 million prize. “‘Goliaths’ often have visible advantages, and they capitalize on them to ensure success, whereas ‘Davids’ are often forced to rely on their secret weapons and use these advantages to overcome adversity,” host Jeff Probst said in a statement. “It’s two very different approaches to life, but SURVIVOR is the great equalizer, because you never know which skill set will be most useful in this cunning game of social politics.” Before the premiere kicks off at 8 p.m. EDT on Sept. 26, meet the 20 castaways competing in the fall 2018 installment of “Survivor.” Photo: CBS “DAVID” TRIBE Christian Hubicki, 32 Photo: CBS Hometown: Baltimore, Md. Current Residence: Tallahassee, Fla. Robotics scientist Nick Wilson, 27 Photo: CBS Hometown: Williamsburg, Ky. Current Residence: London, Ky. Public defender Davie Rickenbacker, 30 Photo: CBS Hometown: Orangeburg, S.C. Current Residence: Atlanta, Ga. Social media manager Pat Cusack, 40 Photo: CBS Hometown: Cohoes, N.Y. Current Residence: Watervliet, N.Y. Maintenance manager Carl Boudreaux, 41 Photo: CBS Hometown: Beaumont, Texas Current Residence: Houston, Texas Truck driver Jessica Peet, 19 Photo: CBS Hometown: Lakeland, Fla. Current Residence: Lakeland, Fla. Waitress Elizabeth Olsen, 31 Photo: CBS Hometown: Dallas, Ft. Worth, Texas Current Residence: Longview, Texas Kitchen staff Gabby Pascuzzi, 25 Photo: CBS Hometown: St. Augustine, Fla. Current Residence: Denver, Colo. Technical writer Lyrsa Torres, 36 Photo: CBS Hometown: Puerto Rico Current Residence: Boston, Mass. Airline agent Bi Nguyen, 28 Photo: CBS Hometown: Houston, Texas Current Residence: Houston, Texas MMA fighter “GOLIATH” TRIBE John Hennigan, 38 Photo: CBS Hometown: Los Angeles Current Residence: Los Angeles Pro wrestler Alec Merlino, 24 Photo: CBS Hometown: San Clemente, Calif. Current Residence: San Clemente, Calif. Bartender Jeremy Crawford, 40 Photo: CBS Hometown: Clover, S.C. Current Residence: New York Attorney Dan Rengering, 27 Photo: CBS Hometown: Lake Butler, Fla. Current Residence: Gainesville, Fla. S.W.A.T. officer Mike White, 47 Photo: CBS Hometown: San Diego, Calif. Current Residence: Los Angeles Filmmaker Natalia Azoqa, 25 Photo: CBS Hometown: Irvine, Calif. Current Residence: Irvine, Calif. Industrial engineer Angelina Keeley, 28 Photo: CBS Hometown: Sparks, Nev. Current Residence: San Clemente, Calif. Financial consultant Kara Kay, 30 Photo: CBS Hometown: San Diego, Calif. Current Residence: San Diego, Calif. Realtor Alison Raybould, 28 Photo: CBS Hometown: Leawood, Kan. Current Residence: Chapel Hill, N.C. Physician Natalie Cole, 56 Photo: CBS Hometown: Los Angeles Current Residence: Los Angeles Publishing CEO “Survivor” Season 37 on Wednesday, Sept. 26, at 8 p.m. EDT on CBS.<doc-sep>
Season 37 of ‘Survivor’ kicked off on Sept. 26, with a medical scare sending shockwaves through one camp after the very first immunity challenge. Here’s our recap! For season 37 of Survivor, the contestants are split into two tribes: David and Goliath. The 10 players on the David tribe have spent their lives “battling adversity” and are “always the underdog,” host Jeff Probst explains, while the Goliath tribe “spent their lives capitalizing on their assets and are always considered the favorite.” Right off the bat, Jeff challenges the Goliath tribe to choose the weakest male and female on the David tribe — they go with Christian and Lyrsa — and the strongest male and female on their own tribe — Alison and John — to go against each other in a challenge. At first glance, the Goliath tribe should have an obvious advantage. However, the David’s get a chance to change fate — there are two different courses for the challenge, and Christian and Lyrsa get to pick which course each team will take. Christian and Lyrsa make the right choice and are able to dominate Alison and John once they get to the puzzle portion of the challenge, earning the first reward of the season for the David tribe. At the Goliath camp, Kara and Dan hit it off right off the bat, and don’t waste any time starting to flirt. Things aren’t so peachy between Natalie and Natalia, though, who disagree over the best way to build the shelter. Meanwhile, at the David camp, Pat immediately takes control of how things are being done, and quickly rubs some of his tribe members the wrong way. Alliances quickly start forming over at tribe David, with Christian and Gabby hitting it off, and Lyrsa and Elizabeth pairing off immediately. The wait is over. The #Survivor season premiere is just hours away! Grab yourself a spot on the couch and prepare to be blown away, starting at 8/7c: https://t.co/t5CTEpahyx pic.twitter.com/kMUybTHby0 — SURVIVOR (@survivorcbs) September 26, 2018 Of course, it doesn’t take long for the search for hidden immunity idols to begin, and Mike makes the first trek over at the Goliath camp. This immediately puts a target on his back, and Natalie lets him know it. However, certain members of the tribe also want Natalie out for being bossy. For the David’s the target is on Pat, for being controlling, and Nick, for being lazy. Eventually, ALL of the Goliath’s start searching for the hidden immunity idol, but it’s Dan who’s the first to find one. He’s searching with Kara and Natalia when he comes across the secret advantage, and shares the news with them. Meanwhile, the weather is not enjoyable for the first few days, as it’s constantly cold and raining. Even at the immunity/reward challenge, the rain is pouring down. The challenge requires the teams to make their way through a series of obstacles before putting together a giant number puzzle. The Goliath’s pull out the win, which means the David’s are heading to tribal council. After the immunity challenge, there’s a terrifying medical scare for the David camp. On the boat ride back to camp, the rough seas cause Pat to fall on his back, and the others hear a terrible crack. He’s left in excruciating pain, and can barely breathe. Medical tends to Pat, and although he’s desperate to stay in the game, it’s simply not safe for him to move on. Just like that, the game of Survivor gets VERY real for the David tribe members, as they watch Pat get pulled from the game