‘The Summit’ is ready to earn the respect of ‘Survivor’ fans as it joins the CBS Reality TV lineup

While CBS is currently airing ‘Survivor’ season 47 and the second half of ‘Big Brother’ 26 this fall, ‘The Amazing Race’ will take a brief hiatus in favor of a new entry in the network’s reality TV lineup .

“The Summit” premieres Sunday night (as a teaser before moving to its regular Wednesday time slot on Oct. 16) and showrunner Kevin Lee is prepared to earn both the respect and viewership of fans of the network’s existing trifecta.

“All of their reality shows are doing really well and they don’t have a lot of room for new shows, so it’s a huge honor to give us that real estate, especially with ‘Survivor’ as the lead,” he shared. DeWrap. “Fans of ‘Survivor’ have been at it for years and years and years and just because they see a commercial for our show on ‘Survivor’ doesn’t mean they’re coming to see us, so I think we have to make money on it. “

“The Summit” throws 16 (mostly) ordinary Americans – and viewers – straight into a fourteen-day trek of more than 100 miles up a mountain in New Zealand, with their share of $1 million on the line. The twist: The climbers can only win if they meet the two-week deadline as a team, which means breaking through the weaker links along the way – or perhaps making shrewd decisions. So what exactly sets the show apart from existing social strategy shows, aside from the colder climate?

“It looks so different from ‘Survivor’ – a lot of the mechanics, like voting in public, face-to-face; the fact that multiple cast members could win, or that one cast member could win; they have to work together as a group to get to the top, but they are also competing against the people,” Lee explained. “There are a lot of differences that I think ‘Survivor’ fans will be interested in.”

The series is based on the original Australian version of the show, with CBS’ version hosted by ‘Arrow’ star Manu Bennett. The decision to cast an actor as the host of an unscripted show was ultimately an easy one for Lee, as Bennett “couldn’t have been a nicer guy,” especially with “that gravelly voice.”

“We wanted someone well-known with a public profile and we wanted someone who fit the atmosphere – they’re doing something difficult on the side of the mountain, so they had to have that right presence about them, which Manu certainly knows. does,” he shared. “But once we started talking to him and realized that he was from New Zealand, that his ancestors were from the South Island and that he had such a connection to the country, it was really a blow to us because we knew that we wanted that. the mountain and terrain were almost a character in the show, and we knew his connection to it would help the cast understand why it’s special. He has a sense of gravity about him; That is why he has had success with scripts and it is also reflected in the reality show.”

Bennett now joins Jeff Probst, Julie Chen Moonves and Phil Keoghan as the faces of the network’s reality TV shows. And it turns out that one of the old hosts in particular is already a fan.

“Jeff Probst has been very nice and has spoken to Manu publicly,” Lee noted. “But Jeff also spoke to him privately, gave advice and helped him. He is now also a fan of the show and that is why he is in favor of the show. So we owe a lot to him.”

Furthermore, Lee himself is no stranger to reality competitions. The executive producer of “Summit” has an impressive resume that includes “The Challenge: USA,” “Fight to Survive” and “Stranded With a Million Dollars,” meaning viewers can expect both drama and legitimate survival skills.

“One of the difficult things about the show is that all those obstacles have to be achievable by everyone, but they can’t be too easy for some people and too hard for others, so finding that balance is very difficult. If they fall, they get to go back and start and try again, so that learning curve was kind of cool to see because they get that mistake and they kind of figure it out,” he teased. “But all of those obstacles were planned and set up long before we know which cast members will be left.”

Find out who wins Season 1 of “The Summit” when it moves to Wednesdays on CBS starting October 16. The series premiere will stream on Paramount+ on Sunday evening.

The post ‘The Summit’ Is Poised to Earn the Respect of ‘Survivor’ Fans as It Joins the CBS Reality TV Lineup appeared first on TheWrap.