Entertainment

Educating Jeff Probst

Today is the first day of the rest of Jeff Probst’s life — and it looks a lot like the life he’s had for the past 10 years.

Taping begins this week in Nicaragua on the next two editions of “Survivor” and, two weeks after finishing a surprisingly popular all-star season, Probst is back in the jungle.

These days, the series is made two seasons at a time — like Volkswagens coming off an assembly line.

Probst, who has been the host of “Survivor” since before anyone ever heard of Simon and Paula, is thinking about what comes next for him.

He tried to produce his own series earlier this year, “Live for the Moment,” a sort of reality-show version of the “The Bucket List.”

It aired on CBS last January and was canceled after just one night.

“I made a tactical error,” he says, flashing those disarming, trademark dimples. “The idea of watching someone on TV who truly was dying was just too much for people.

“I was blinded by it because it doesn’t scare me. Actually, it invigorates me.

“But that was a mistake.”

Lesson learned? Creating new TV shows is not for him.

“I spent a year developing that show, months shooting and editing it, delays . . . Then to put it on and have people go: ‘Yeah, not so much.’ ” He shrugs.

“It makes you appreciate how hard it is to have success. It takes a lot of failures to find a ‘Survivor.’ ”

Probst’s future has been staring him in the face all along, he says now. He’s started to think about turning his part-time jobs into something more permanent.

In the last few years, Probst has become the substitute host of choice for both Regis Philbin’s morning show and Larry King’s CNN show.

“I’m happy filling in for Regis and Larry King,” he says. “Those are the things that are exciting. Larry King has been the thing that’s been most exciting.”

Do the math. Time is on his side.

Probst will turn 48 in November. King is 76 and Philbin is 78 — though neither is showing any signs of going anywhere soon.

“It’s almost disrespectful to imagine yourself in their jobs,” he says. “They’re their jobs until they decide they’re done.”

But he likes to talk about the what-ifs.

If both jobs were offered, which would he take?

“Two completely different shows,” Probst begins. “Regis is about telling stories, sharing your life on the air.

“Larry is about other people telling their stories and getting them to share their lives.

“I’m an interviewer at heart. It’s what I’m most interested in in life,” says Probst.

He pauses, flashes those dimples again and says: “I like doing both.”