‘Survivor Caramoan: Fans vs. Favorites’ premiere reduced by half an hour

Sad news for those of us who are diehard “Survivor” fans: for whatever reason, CBS has decided that they want just 90 minutes for the season premiere of “Survivor Caramoan: Fans vs. Favorites” rather than the two hours that was originally ordered.

In a press release on Thursday, the network first confirmed the news, and also announced that the show will be followed up by a repeat of “The Big Bang Theory” at 9:30 p.m. Eastern. It’s no secret that the hit comedy repeats very well in the ratings, but “Survivor” should fare just about as well. In addition, this cast of crazy characters should have enough potential to really be worth a three-hour premiere. Maybe for whatever reason the network is worried about dragging the episode on too long, especially since the season premiere of “Survivor: Philippines,” arguably the best season of the show in year, was also 90 minutes long.

Ultimately, we do still admit that we have some reservations about whether or not this season is going to do well in the ratings. While entertaining, the favorites tribe are hardly “Favorites”; and in addition to that, the Wednesday-night primetime lineup fared pretty badly across the board this week. “American Idol” was down sharply from the week before, and “Modern Family” had its lowest overall rating since the show’s first season three years ago. Let’s just hope the ratings recover from all these shows before “Survivor” comes back on, especially since there is nothing we love more than blabbing about the life and times of castaways on the island.

What is your reaction to this news, and why do you think CBS decided to do this? If you want to check out some of our castaway spotlights for the Favorites tribe, be sure to visit the link here.

Photo: CBS