THE SUMMIT: Kevin Lee Explains How the Show Cast Season 1

THE SUMMIT kicked off its series (on September 29) with a twist for its competitors: They were going to be climbing a mountain, having just 14 days to reach the peak.

Though the participants knew they’d be competing in a physical reality competition series, the scale of what they were undertaking was kept hidden. That decision also led to a complicated casting process for the team, as they tried to find the right contestants without tipping their hands about what was going on.

“It was a bit of a threading of the needle, because we didn’t want people that were too athletic or too skilled—but we also wanted everybody to have a realistic shot of making it,” THE SUMMIT showrunner Kevin Lee tells Give Me My Remote. “So we took a lot of time. We put them through a lot of medical tests, a lot of medical exams. We gave them ratings. And it’s a little bit counterintuitive, but if they rated too highly, then we got rid of them. We wanted to see normal people who kind of felt like, ‘I can’t make it, and then we wanted to see them make it. So that’s what we were after.”

“It’s an inexact science,” he continues. “As you saw [when Tony collapsed on the first day] sometimes we’re not right in our predictions. But I will say, as you get further into the series, I personally was very surprised by some of the people that had the most success. It’s not the people you would think of at the beginning. And that part was awesome.”

But the nature of the competition also brought out the worst in some contestants. With the group having to travel together—and running the risk of missing out on rewards (like food and shelter)—if they didn’t get through enough of their intended journey, some of the participants were quick to dismiss or want to cut ties with their group mates who did not live up to what they perceived to be the right physical abilities to complete the trek.

“It’s something we’re always thinking of: Are we setting somebody up for failure and or not?” Lee acknowledges. “And that’s something we’re very careful of in casting. And then, is the format such that it will just allow them to pick off the weak links immediately? Those are two things that we’re really cognizant of.”

“What we hoped for, and I think what happened is, is that there’s more than one way to be a weak link,” he continues. “Some of the strongest, smartest, most experienced people can be weak links in other ways and that’s what’s interesting about the format—it’s an equal opportunity.”

The group faces more tough choices in the show’s official time slot premiere on Wednesday, October 9 (at 9:30/8:30c). But when it comes to eliminations, “It’s broadly defined on who they should vote out and who is weak and who’s holding them back,” Lee points out. “And just walking slow isn’t the only way you can hold a group back. There’s a lot of mental reasons, too, and so thankfully, as you get further in the season, you’ll see that that plays out and and the fastest strongest don’t necessarily do the best. I’m not going to get too far ahead of myself, but it’s interesting the way things play out.”

The showrunner is aware, however, that in success, they will have to change how they cast season 2. “I think if we’re lucky to get a season 2, [the contestants] would know what they were in for,” he says. “So, the cat’s out of the bag. And that will just make it more incumbent on us to make sure that we’re kind of threading that needle even more carefully. Once cast members know what the expectations are, it makes casting that much trickier, because they’re trying to kind of give you what they think you want. And so kind of threading that needle to find the perfect person of, ‘They can make it. They might not, but they can, and if they do, it’s gonna be amazing to see them make it’ —that’ll be tricky if we get a season 2. But those are good problems to have.”

THE SUMMIT, Time Slot Premiere, Wednesday, October 9, 9:30/8:30c, CBS

RELATED:

• THE SUMMIT Showrunner Kevin Lee Breaks Down the Premiere’s ‘Emotionally Devastating’ Moment
• THE SUMMIT’s Manu Bennett Previews CBS’ Wild New Competition Series: ‘This Mountain is the One with the Final Word’

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