The Summit on CBS is a daring and dangerous new competition series.
The show focuses on a group of contestants from the Southern Alps of New Zealand who try to reach the top of a mountain while performing various tasks along the way. Each contestant carries a backpack with a share of the grand prize, which totals one million dollars.
During an exclusive interview with Us weeklyhost Manu Bennet spoke about the care that went into bringing the show to life while also keeping the contestants safe.
“We were all doing this for the first time. “Everyone, from the producers, the director, me, the contestants,” he explained. “So there were times where I thought, 'How do we do this?' I remember the first day standing and preparing to deliver my lines to the contestants. “I was paralyzed.”
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took time to The Summit to find your balance.
“There are all these things happening. So gradually, as we climbed the mountain, not only did the contestants evolve in their competition, but we evolved as a production,” Bennett, 54, told Us. “And that was very interesting as an artist. [or] as someone involved in the industry to go through the process of a new series like this. “I really enjoyed it.”
Some of the challenges along the way involve various checkpoint camps, where contestants eliminate someone each night. There are also obstacles presented to them by the mysterious Mountain Keeper. If the group fails to reach the summit within 14 days, everyone will go home without the prize money.
A preview of The Summit The premiere airs on CBS on Sunday, September 29 at 9 pm ET. new episodes of The Summit then it will move to Wednesday starting October 9 at 9:30 pm ET. Keep scrolling for Bennett's exclusive behind-the-scenes scoop:
What protections were implemented?
The Summit marks Bennett's return as a host after his debut on a show called going straight in 2003.
“I did this program called going straight. It was an interesting step into that kind of world back then. There was an accident that occurred on that particular filming of that series that was quite serious,” he recalled. Us. “So one of my main concerns when I showed up to participate in The Summit was safety.”
In 2004, an investigation was launched after a contestant on going straight He suffered serious burns after performing a trick again. The production company was fined $65,000 in district court for the incident.
Bennett had no worries while working on The Summitjoking: “Inherently, American productions have a lot more safety and a lot more space than what we do in little New Zealand, where if you fall, you just hope you land on a sheep.”
The actor felt “very, very good” about how contestant safety was prioritized, adding: “I, at all times, felt like the network had those bases covered, which I thought was critical to making sure that We were filming a show. who was going to guard these 16 people with no experience of a very complex mountain system.”
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What did the contestants know about the show they were appearing on?
“They entered that valley in the middle of this incredible terrain in New Zealand. I don't think they knew what they told me. I was under the impression that they arrived without knowing that they were in a program called The Summit“, revealed. “So they didn't know they were going to climb a mountain; That would be your surprise. And they didn't know there was a million dollars at stake.”
Bennett noted that the contestants “are not athletes,” adding: “They are just regular people. A guy works at Trader Joe's and no one is a mountaineer. When you look at something like that, you try to figure out how it's possible. [The prize money] It is a dreamlike aspect in most people's lives. That is the big turning point. Suddenly you see the motivation.”
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What obstacles might the audience not see?
“[There were] some mountain guides. There are some locals who know the area like the back of their hand, who have climbed those mountains and know them very well. They know exactly where there will be avalanches. We could hear them ringing all the time,” Bennett recalled. “It was a little late in the season, so the snow was melting and there were slips and things happening all the time. But they know and know how to navigate the right route.”
There were several issues that The Summit I couldn't prepare in advance.
“On any of these mountains, if you take a wrong turn and go up the wrong side, someone will fall or something will fall on you. “Gravity is probably one of the main determinants of our show, and people fall every season figuratively and literally,” he joked. “In terms of safety, an international group of expert mountaineers participated in our show. We had one of the best obstacle course coordinators. … We had some pretty admirable mountaineers who made sure no one strayed too far off the trail.”