“The Summit” is ready to earn the respect of “Survivor” fans on CBS

While CBS is currently airing the 47th season of “Survivor” and the second half of “Big Brother” 26 this fall, “The Amazing Race” will be taking a short break and will instead debut a new entry in the network's reality TV lineup.

“The Summit” premieres Sunday night (as a sneak peek before moving to its regular Wednesday slot on October 16), and showrunner Kevin Lee is ready to earn both the respect and viewership of fans of the network's existing trifecta to earn.

“All of their reality competition shows are doing really well and they don’t have much room for new shows. So it's a great honor to give us this spot, especially with 'Survivor' as the lead,” he told TheWrap. “Fans of 'Survivor' have been around for many years and just because they see a commercial for our show on 'Survivor' doesn't mean they're coming to us, so I think we have to make money.” It. “

“The Summit” throws 16 (mostly) ordinary Americans — and spectators — straight into a 100-plus-mile, 14-day trek up a mountain in New Zealand, with their share of $1 million at stake. The kicker: The newcomers can only win if they meet their two-week deadline as a team, which means they have to cut off the weaker links along the way – or perhaps make more absurd decisions. So what exactly sets the show apart from existing social strategy shows, aside from the colder climate?

“It looks very different than 'Survivor' – a lot of the mechanics, like the open, face-to-face voting; the fact that multiple performers could win or one performer could win; They have to work together as a group to get to the top, but they also compete with 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 the CBS iteration hosted by Arrow star Manu Bennett. In the end, the decision to cast an actor to host an unscripted show was an easy one for Lee, considering that Bennett “couldn't be a nicer guy,” especially with “that gravelly voice.”

“We wanted someone who was well known and had a public profile, and we wanted someone who kind of fit the vibe – he's doing something hard on the mountainside, so he had to have the right presence about him, which Manu certainly does.” “, he shared. “But when we started talking to him and we realized he was from New Zealand, that his ancestors were from the South Island and that he had a big connection to the country, it really hit home for us because we knew We wanted the mountain and the terrain to become almost a character in the series, and we knew his connection to it would help the cast understand why it was special. He has a feeling of gravity; That’s why he’s had success with scripts, and that comes through in the reality show.”

Bennett is now the face of the network's reality TV shows alongside Jeff Probst, Julie Chen Moonves and Phil Keoghan. And it turns out that one of the longtime hosts in particular is already a fan.

“Jeff Probst was very nice and spoke to Manu publicly,” emphasized Lee. “But Jeff also spoke to him privately and gave him advice and helped him. He is now also a fan of the show and is therefore committed to the show. That’s why we have a lot to thank him for.”

Additionally, 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 will get both drama and real-life survival skills in the game can expect.

“One of the difficult things about the show is that all these obstacles have to be overcome by everyone, but they can't be too easy for some people and too hard for others, so it's really difficult to find a balance. If they fall, they can start over and try again. So that learning curve was pretty cool to see because they get that bug and figure it out a little bit,” he teased. “But all of these obstacles are planned and set up long before we know which cast members will remain.”

Find out who wins the first season of “The Summit” when it airs Wednesdays on CBS starting October 16. The series premiere streams Sunday night on Paramount+.