“Right out of the gate, something very, very different is going to happen,” promises executive producer Mark Burnett about the Survivor: Thailand premiere (8 p.m. Thursday, Channels 12, 7).

        “The first act is very, very different.”

        What could it be? Internet sites are buzzing with speculation that the 16 castaways — eight men and eight women — will be split by sex into two camps (or teams?) for the first time.

THE SURVIVORS

The 16 Survivor: Thailand contestants in alphabetical order:    Jake Billingsley, 61, land broker, McKinney, Texas.    Erin Collins, 26, real estate agent, Austin, Texas.    Stephanie Dill, 29, firefighter, Fayetteville, Ark.    Jan Gentry, 53, first grade teacher, Tampa, Fla. (born in Fort Worth, Texas)    Helen Glover, 47, Navy swim instructor, Middletown, R.I.    Brian Heidik, 34, actor (“Tim Rollins” on Days of Our Lives, and some adult films) and used car salesman, Quartz Hill, Calif.    Jed Hildebrand, 25, dental student, Dallas.    Shii Ann Huang, 28, executive recruiter, New York City (born in Taiwan).    Ghandia Johnson, 33, legal secretary, Denver.    Clay Jordan, 46, restaurant owner, Monroe, La. (born in Canyon, Texas).    Penny Ramsey, 27, pharmaceutical sales representative, Plano, Texas.    John Raymond, 40, pastor, Slidell, La.    Ted Rogers Jr., 37, software development manager and former college football player, Durham, N.C.    Ken Stafford, 30, New York City police officer, Brooklyn, N.Y.    Tanya Vance, 27, social worker, Gray, Tenn.    Robb Zbacnik, 23, bartender, Scottsdale, Ariz.

        “It looks like this version initially begins with all-male and all-female tribes,” says TV Guide about CBS' fifth Survivor, shot on the hot, humid jungle island of Tarutao off the southwestern coast of Thailand.

        In an interview Tuesday, Mr. Burnett flatly says: “The tribes are not split down gender lines.”

        But he wouldn't reveal many specifics. Obviously, he's trying to outwit his fans — and the “spoiler” Web sites — as the 16 contestants try to outwit, outplay and outlast each other on the island.

        Unlike the previous four Survivors, CBS wouldn't provide preview tapes to TV critics or reveal the names for the two tribes — if there are only two tribes.

        “There is more than one tribe,” Mr. Burnett declares. Says Johanna Fuentes, a Survivor publicist for CBS: “I can't talk about the names of the tribes, or whether there are two tribes.”

        So changes are in store for Survivor fans in the Tristate, CBS' highest-rated market for the $1-million reality game show.

        “We're changing the order of things,” says Mr. Burnett, a master showman who can say a lot without really saying anything. “You'll find it's not what it used to be, so predictable.”

        Viewers will see new challenges. Sometimes the “immunity challenges” — games that give the winner a free pass from being voted off the island — are conducted before the “reward challenges” for food, supplies, personal hygiene items and other perks, he says.

        “I'm making a TV show for 20 million people a week to watch,” he says. “We have that core audience — no matter who's on Friends or what else is on — and what keeps them on their toes is the unpredictability.”

        If the viewers don't know what to expect, imagine how the 16 contestants — ages 23 to 61 — felt on Tarutao, a former political prison site turned into a national park.

        “On a day-to-day basis, they don't know what to expect,” Mr. Burnett maintains. “One day we might do the reward challenge, immunity challenge and tribal council all in one day.”

        The castaways go long stretches without receiving any “tree mail,” the rhyming messages from Mr. Burnett's staff informing them about competitions.

        “They start to freak out and wonder. "What's going on? Have they forgotten about us?' ” he says.

        “I really love the game. I want people playing the game. It may be in tough conditions, they may be cold and hungry, but that's what they signed up for. I want to keep it fresh,” he says.

It's really a jungle

        It appears that Survivor 5 could be a combination of the previous two installments. The extreme physical conditions of Survivor: Africa, the No. 5 series last season, might pale in comparison to Tarutao's 115-degree heat, 90 percent humidity, deadly 14-foot King Cobra snakes, interminable monsoons and the nasty dengue fever from mosquito bites causing rashes, fevers, sweating, vomiting, headaches and paralyzing joint pain.

        Survivor 5's lush jungle setting and attractive collection of hard bodies could remind viewers of Survivor: Marquesas, which concluded in May as the No. 4 series last season, behind Friends, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and ER

        Again, without talking specifics — because he never does — Mr. Burnett concedes that “the weather was certainly a factor. There were hard storms ... and it seems like it was 100 degrees, even at midnight. It was stifling.”

        When asked about the cast, Mr. Burnett calls it his best-looking group yet. But he always says that.

        “You see their pictures, on camera, facially — these people look better than any other (Survivor),” he says.

        Then he hastens to add that he just doesn't pick the prettiest people from CBS' estimated 50,000 applicants.

        “You can't get three months of riveting TV with only pretty faces,” he says. “If they can't speak, I'm dead.”

Texans abound

        Six of the 16 have Texas ties — four live in the Lone Star state, and another two were born there. Two each are from New York and Louisiana; none is from the Midwest. Half of the cast is age 23-30; half is 33-61. There are two African-Americans and one Asian-American.

        Mr. Burnett says “every person has a lot of complex characteristics.” That's a new twist on his favorite phrase, when he would describe Crittenden native Rodger Bingham (Survivor 2) and every other past contestant as an “interesting character.”

        His formula, though, never varies. He mixes together strong-willed control freaks, turns up the heat, and watches them boil over.

        “It's always very interesting how it evolves,” he says. “After five series, you'd think I'd be bored — but I'm not.”

        He doesn't want the viewers to get bored, either. .

        E-mail jkiesewetter@enquirer.com

Ideal Dishes of Autumn
KIESEWETTER: Television
Area doctor turned down
Duncan Hines wasn't always a mix
Frank's gets it right with Xtra Hot
Let's hoist frosty, frothy mug to wonders of Oktoberfest
Phyllo takes tedium out of tarts
Smart mouth
Trade Secrets
Body & mind
Nag if necessary to get men to doctor
'Angry Men' right play at right place in right time
Baca spreads music of her Peru
'Bollywood' movies gaining fans
Identity theft increase alarming
Get to it