Gumbel To Host <i>Survivor</i> Sayonara
CBS has tapped Bryant Gumbel to host next week's post-Survivor finale town hall meeting.
The Early Show host will anchor the hourlong special, dubbed Survivor: The Reunion, live from Television City next Wednesday (10-11 p.m. ET; tape-delayed on the West Coast.) All 16 former castaways -- including wacky Greg, who declined to do any publicity after he was booted off Pulau Tiga -- are scheduled to attend.
The reunion show, which will unfold in front of a studio audience, will feature shots of the booted castaways as they watch the final episode together. CBS is also planning to conduct a quickie scientific poll to gauge national reaction to the winner of the island competition; the results will be revealed at the end of the broadcast.
In addition, Survivor: The Reunion will include cutaways to various Survivor parties across the United States. And regular Survivor host Jeff Probst will get some airtime, too: He'll file a report from Australia, where the next installment of the show will be filmed.
Gumbel's selection continues CBS' practice this summer of using CBS News talent in entertainment division programming. Early Show newsreader Julie Chen hosts the weekly live installment of Big Brother, a practice that has raised the hackles of some journalists.
Early Show senior executive producer Steve Friedman doesn't have a problem with Gumbel's involvement in Survivor: The Reunion.
"The idea is, he's doing everything he's done on our show since the first week of the show," he said, noting that Gumbel has been interviewing castaways every week as they've been voted off the island. "We see this (reunion special) as a natural outgrowth."
Friedman says he hasn't heard any complaints about NBC's practice of using Today anchors Katie Couric or Matt Lauer to host that network's coverage of Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. "They're up there saying, 'Oh, here comes Snoopy!' and reading their scripted (comments)."
The Early Show will fully exploit next week's Survivor finale. Gumbel will report from Los Angeles next Wednesday and Thursday (with co-anchor Jane Clayson joining him on Thursday), anchoring from the set of Survivor: The Reunion. The final four castaways will also make their first morning show appearance on Early Show on Thursday.
On Wednesday, Friedman has booked soul diva Gloria Gaynor to perform her disco anthem I Will Survive as the backdrop for a music video featuring highlights from the first season of Survivor.
Written by Josef Adalian and Michael Schneider for Daily Variety