The Summit On CBS Is Actually Pretty Good
I'm going to lean into my old man stereotype and talk about a network show I really enjoy. The Summit takes 16 strangers and has them hike up this giant New Zealand mountain. The twist is they have $1 million dollars split among them and if anyone quits, that money gets taken out of the game. They also vote someone out at each of the 10 checkpoints. That money then gets split among the remaining contestants It think it adds a fun element where they have to encourage people along but then slit their throats and steal their money at each checkpoint.
CBS spent a good portion of the summer promoting The Summit. It even gave it a great time slot (in theory) right behind Survivor. The ratings have...not been great.
SOURCE - Wednesday November 6, 2024 - Top Prime Time Telecasts in Total Viewers:
1. Chicago Med (NBC, 8:00 PM-9:00 PM, 60 min.) • 6.008 million viewers
2. Jesse Watters Primetime (Fox News, 8:00 PM-9:00 PM, 60 min.) • 5.774 million viewers
3. Chicago Fire (NBC, 9:00 PM-10:00 PM, 60 min.) • 5.773 million viewers
4. Hannity (Fox News, 9:00 PM-10:00 PM, 60 min.) • 4.895 million viewers
5. Gutfeld! (Fox News, 10:00 PM-11:00 PM, 60 min.) • 4.679 million viewers
6. Survivor (CBS, 8:00 PM-9:30 PM, 90 min.) • 4.644 million viewers
7. Chicago PD (NBC, 10:00 PM-11:00 PM, 60 min.) • 4.449 million viewers
8. The Masked Singer (Fox, 8:00 PM-9:02 PM, 62 min.) • 2.909 million viewers
9. The Golden Bachelorette (ABC, 8:00 PM-9:30 PM, 90 min.) • 2.799 million viewers
10. NBA Regular Season Golden State/Boston Golden State Warriors at Boston Celtics (ESPN, 7:41 PM-10:08 PM, 147 min.) • 2.140 million viewers
11. Abbott Elementary (ABC, 9:30 PM-10:02 PM, 32 min.) • 2.037 million viewers
12. The Floor (Fox, 9:02 PM-10:00 PM, 58 min.) • 1.994 million viewers
13. The Summit (CBS, 9:30 PM-11:00 PM, 90 min.) • 1.937 million viewers
14. What Would You Do? (ABC, 10:02 PM-11:00 PM, 58 min.) • 1.478 million viewers
15. NBA Regular Season Philadelphia/La Clippers (ESPN, 10:08 PM-12:36 AM, 148 min.) • 1.188 million viewers
That many people watch Chicago Med? Also, it's probably not a great sign that The Summit is losing over half of the Survivor audience.
The Summit looks great. They do a wonderful job using the scenery and wilderness. Nothing about it feels cheap and some of the shots they get are almost improbably good. Drone shots I get, but how are camera people also hiking up this mountain while filming?
The host is wild. It's the actor Manu Bennett. I'm sure he's a nice enough guy but the's anti-Jeff Probst. He feels the need to remind everyone how hard and miserable climbing this mountain is. He speaks in somber tones and always seems annoyed if anyone ever fucks up on these incredibly hard challenges. The only time he seems happy is when someone is getting cut.
This is not a perfect show. I can see how someone could think it's repetitive. The show doesn't change too much from week to week. I find the different challenges and the mountain itself to be very interesting. For example, they just reached the snow line in the most recent episode and I'm very interested to see how that tackle that because that might change things a bit. But it is still hiking up a mountain.
The other piece of the show that doesn't work is The Mountain's Keeper. It's supposed to be the ominous figure who makes reaching the summit more challenging. Basically, it's a helicopter that drops a yellow duffel bag each episode. I like the bags have different challenges each show but we don't need 15 shots of Manu looking at a helicopter. Just drop the fucking bag.
If you have Paramount+, all the old episodes are there so you can caught up. I'm not a big reality TV fan. I watch Survivor and dip in and out of Big Brother but that's about it. But, I like this one. If you are among the folks that are also watching the 13th biggest show on Wednesday night, let me know what you think about The Summit in the comments. I'm genuinely interested in what people think about it.