Do what now?

I'm a huge "Survivor" fan. (The show, not the one-hit wonder band.) There, I said it. Yep, I know it's cheese, and the episodes are edited more than a PSA being recorded by Gary Busey, but it's good heavily edited cheese. But I've got to say this is more than a little weird. I wonder if show producer Mark Burnett hasn't inhaled too many $100 bill fumes while lighting his black market cigars.

In just a couple of weeks, the new season of "Survivor" takes 20 castaways to the Cook Islands in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

They will be split into four tribes, but how they will do that is guaranteed to be a talking point. For the 13th installment of the series, producers have yet another controversial way to begin the game: 20 people, four tribes — each divided by race.

Jeff Probst is back as host of "Survivor: Cook islands" and spoke with The Early Show co-anchor Harry Smith about the controversial new season, which premieres Sept. 14 at 8pm ET on CBS.

Smith asked Probst whether the new way of dividing the "Survivor" contestants was a good idea for a 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," said Probst.

According to some screenshots I've seen, the tribes will be African-American, Asian-American, Hispanic, and White. Which makes my hatred of hyphenated-American terminology flare up, but that's beside the point. As I see it, this set-up has two possible outcomes. I will either be the gimmick that makes the show absolutely riveting watching and the subject of more coffee break talk than "Seinfeld" in its prime, or the quintessential Jump the Shark moment, like when Ross dressed up as the Hanukkah Armadillo on "Friends." It's too soon to say which one will happen for sure, but if I'm not mistaken, you can squint into the horizon and see Fonzie putting on his skis.