Advantage super-fans on latest ‘Survivor’?

For its 16th season, “Survivor” is taking an uncharacteristic 180-degree turn with its cast. Not only is the series bringing back 10 contestants from the previous seven seasons, but the other half of the cast consists of “super fans” of the show.

Including both “Survivor Guatemala,” for which two cast members returned, and “Survivor All-Stars,” the show's eighth season, this will be the third round featuring past cast members. Those who have appeared on the show twice have proven that they can deliver again, as the all-star season delivered interesting strategies and strong ratings. And even monosyllabic contestants such as Bobby Jon Drinkard can provide more than 39 days worth of entertainment.

But what about “super fans”? Can they deliver what we've come to expect from CBS's marquee reality series?

The first preview of the new season, unveiled during the conclusion to “Survivor China” in December, showed brief clips of the fans, and they appeared to be overeager, even annoying, like a group of (sober) “Big Brother” contestants who are not at all worthy of “Survivor.” They spoke mostly in declarative sentences that were about little more than their fantasies coming true: “I'm so excited!” “I've watched every episode!” “I'm ready to go — I've felt ready to do this!”

Whether those were just poorly chosen clips or they were actually illustrative of their attitudes remains to be seen, and it's impossible to judge based upon that anecdotal evidence alone. Still, the fans' presence is significant because it represents a sharp departure from recent seasons that have largely featured contestants recruited by casting producers, people who are not first and foremost TV-watching, “Survivor”-obsessed viewers.

Many reality shows become rapidly insufferable because their casts are self-selecting. Essentially, viewers who see themselves reflected in a show's current cast members are the ones who apply to be on future seasons. While the pool of applicants may be wide, the range of diversity of those potential players is not. (For the best example of this, watch any recent season of MTV's “The Real World.”)

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“Survivor” fought that trend by recruiting increasing numbers of cast members, including most of those on “Survivor Cook Islands,” which initially divided its cast by race and was the most ethnically diverse season to date, and 18 of the 19 “Survivor Fiji” cast members. Even Jon “Jonny Fairplay” Dalton was recruited, found at a bus stop by the series' casting director.

Only one of “Survivor Micronesia's” 10 “huge fans,” Natalie, was recruited, as she was a last-minute replacement. “Everybody else applied on their own — some multiple times,” a CBS spokesperson told msnbc.com.

Kathy, for example, applied seven times, while another actually showed up at the production's headquarters and demanded to be considered.

“Alexis stopped by the offices until someone from casting would meet with her and take a look at her application,” the spokesperson said.

Those who hadn't applied earlier, such as Erik and Jason, are “very big fans” who weren't eligible until now because of their age.

There is nothing new about cast members who are fans of the show. The show's most recent winner, Todd Herzog, has watched the show since it debuted — he was 14 — and repeatedly talked about how he was living his dream by being on “Survivor China.”

Yet having so many super-fans will definitely affect the show. The question is what exactly those effects will be.

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