Jeff Probst: Surviving 16 seasons of `Survivor'

It's not that Probst seems out of place in a metropolis like New York. It's just that, after hosting 16 seasons of CBS' "Survivor" since 2000, he's more readily identified with various brands of wilderness half-a-world away.

Yet here he is in Manhattan, big as life (including those dimples) and eager to talk about "Survivor: Micronesia," whose finale will originate 8 p.m. EDT Sunday from Broadway's Ed Sullivan Theater.

"This has been a season of blind-sides and dumb moves," Probst zestily sums up. "We've had a really strong women's alliance for the first time. We've had people out with injuries. A woman lost her mind." (Or, at least, her will to continue: On Day 19 of the 39-day ordeal, Kathleen begged tearfully to be sent home to Glen Ellyn, Ill., and was.)

By Sunday, what began with 20 castaways -divided into rival teams of "Survivor" fans and veterans from seasons past -will be down to just four finalists. One of them will win the $1 million prize as Sole Survivor.

Then the process starts over again, with Probst presiding at the next, yet-to-be-announced exotic site as "Survivor" No. 17 goes into production in July.

Who could have dreamed during its inaugural run in summer 2000 that "Survivor" would display such staying power?

Not Probst, who, with undisguised amazement, notes that he has signed to host another four seasons.

"It was a show I was certain would be over after three," he declares, recalling his prediction that Season One "would be good, Two would be better, Three would fail but we'd still get paid."

But season after season, the Nielsen tribe has spoken and pronounced "Survivor" an enduring hit.