'The Summit' Host Manu Bennett Says New CBS Series Is 'At the Mercy of the Mountain' (Exclusive)

A special preview of 'The Summit' premieres on Sunday, Sept. 29 at 9 p.m. ET on CBS.

By Megan Behnke

Manu Bennett is hosting a new CBS competition series, premiering on Sept. 29, and he spoke to PopCulture.com about what to expect. Based on the Australian series, The Summit follows 16 strangers embarking on a journey through the New Zealand Alps in an attempt to reach the peak of a mountain. With their backpacks containing an equal share of $1 million, the group endures an exhausting distance in two weeks in order to win the cash they are carrying. Not everyone will make it, though, as they must work together to tackle "the dangerous terrain, unforgiving Antarctic winds, heart-pounding challenges, and gut-wrenching eliminations on their way to the peak."

The Arrow alum can only describe the new show as "At the mercy of the mountain." He continued, "I mean, the summit is not a human. This is what I think is beautiful about it. The summit's metaphor of, like, achievement. You reach the ceiling. You push the sun. You go against all the elements and see whether you can survive. It's the formula for, I think, most reality series, but we're set up on a giant altitude. Gravity plays a major role in most of our series elements. And that idea of climbing or falling is just a wonderful way to encapture the idea of testing contestants."

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(Photo:

Coverage of the CBS Original Series THE SUMMIT, scheduled to air on the CBS Television Network. Pictured: Manu Bennett.

- Sean Beale/CBS)

"It's not biting off bananas and coconuts on an island," Bennett continued. "It's not running as fast as you can around the world. It's going up and up and up, and people are dropping away every day, not just figuratively. So when you piece that altogether, it's a good formula. As far as making the show is concerned, we've got 16 contestants, very diverse group both racially and in terms of their employee."

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That diverse group is going against each other in "true obstacles" where the "leaders come out." Whether the contestants are going to help their fellow contestants or let them fall, literally. It seems like the show will really test the loyalty and strength of everyone, but The Summit was "just a wonderful, 10-episode evolution of a social study that's set on a mountain. It's to do with survival, to do with reaching summits and testing people's abilities, and then seeing how a group that is competing for $1,000,000 also strategizes how to get up and be the one who can make it to the top and secure that cash because that's the prize."

It's going to be an intense competition and no way of knowing who will make it to the top, literally. Fans will want to tune in to the special preview on Sunday, Sept. 29 at 9 p.m. ET on CBS. After an encore of the episode airs on Oct. 2 at 9:30 p.m. ET, the second episode will premiere on Wednesday, Oct. 9 at 9:30 p.m. ET, airing at that timeslot the remainder of the season.

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