'Survivor: Cook Islands' Adds Racial Divide

It may not be politically correct, but it may be some good television. Jeff Probst, host of the popular reality TV show, Survivor, has confirmed the newest installment of the show will segregate the 20 castaways by race.

Jeff Probst was on The Early Show Wednesday morning, confirming earlier reports that the 20 castaways to star in Survivor: Cook Islands will be grouped into 4 tribes: one tribe for whites, one tribe for blacks, one for Asians and one for Hispanics. The move comes after critics of the show claimed Survivor was not ethnically diverse enough.

E Online quoted Jeff Probst as saying "The idea for this actually came from the criticism that Survivor was not ethnically diverse enough, because for whatever reason, we always have a low number of minority applicants apply for the show."

"So we set out and said, let's turn this criticism into creative for the show. And I think it fits perfectly with what Survivor does, which is, it is a social experiment, and this is adding another layer to that experiment which is taking the show to a completely different level."

CBS News quoted Probst's answer when he was asked by The Early Show anchor Harry Smith if he thought it was a good idea for the reality show. "Well, that's probably one of the reasons it will be interesting and controversial, maybe, as you say. I know, from where I sit, I found it to be one of the freshest ideas we've had going back to the beginning of this show in season one."

E Online also nabbed quotes from the show's producer, Mark Burnett. Burnett told Entertainment Weekly "To the less-than-open minded person, it is very easy to trash us .But we're smart enough to not make it negative. We're smart enough to have gotten rid of every racist person in casting."

The new season of Survivor, the series' 13th installment, will definitely be controversial, which is what the producers hope for. Along with creating a huge talking point with the racial segregation, producers hope it will also create "watching points". Survivor: Cook Islands is following in the footsteps of Survivor: Panama - Exile Island, which was the reality series' least watched season. Despite the low ratings, Survivor: Panama - Exile Island garnered an Emmy nomination for Best Reality Competition despite its all-time Survivor low of 16.8 million viewers on average.

Survivor became a sensation with its first season, which started on May 31, 2000. The first season saw an average of 28 million viewers watch as Richard Hatch beat out Kelly Wigleworth to win the first $1 million prize. However, Hatch neglected to pay taxes on his winnings, and is currently serving prison time for that lapse in judgment.

Survivor: Cook Islands starts up on September 14, on CBS.

[Additional Sources: E Online, CBS News, Wikipedia]