Survivor No Longer Segregated

In the end, racial and ethnic segregation on Survivor survived for only two weeks. Host Jeff Probst suddenly and without explanation announced to the contestants, "You have been living together as tribes divided based on ethnicity. It is now time to integrate."
Chicago Tribune columnist Maureen Ryan wrote on her blog Friday, "CBS certainly got what it wanted by announcing that the show would divide the tribes initially based on ethnicity. An aging franchise got a huge dose of free publicity and a show that had become just another program instead of sensation was being talked about once more. ... And what did we get? We got played, America."
In the Los Angeles Times, Jon Caramanica, the music editor of BET.com and freelance journalist, commented, “The producers might have been vindicated had they seen the concept through a few more episodes - and had race actually become integral to the text of the show, rather than just serving as a neat visual ploy -- but given its brief run, they only come off as frightened -- and relieved to get back on familiar ground.”