In anticipation of the upcoming season premieres of “Survivor 45” and “The Amazing Race 35,” CBS staged a massive event on Saturday night at Hollywood High School featuring 400 drones. Watch the sizzle reel video above. The site was chosen as it’s near the iconic Hollywood Sign, which is where the 13 “Amazing Race” teams will kick off their worldwide tour. The new seasons for both reality TV series will debut on Wednesday, September 27, with “Survivor” at 8:00 p.m. and “The Amazing Race” at 9:30 p.m.
The drone show, which is a part of CBS’ “Surprise and Delight” Fall TV campaign, included a reference to “Survivor” and “The Amazing Race” both supersizing to 90-minute episodes for the entire season. The move is a way for the network to fill its fall schedule in the wake of scripted fare being halted due to the writers’ strike (which seems to be nearing its end) and the actors’ strike.
Many former contestants were in attendance at the late-night drone event, including “The Amazing Race 34” winners Derek Xiao & Claire Rehfuss (who met on “Big Brother 23”), “The Amazing Race 32” winners Will Jardell & James Wallington, “The Amazing Race 26” winner Laura Pierson, and “Survivor 42” castaways Zach Wurtenberger (whose brother Cory is currently on “Big Brother 25”) and Lydia Meredith.
The drones took flight at 10:00 p.m. and immediately started buzzing around the cloudless Hollywood sky. They spelled out various phrases (like “2 ICONIC SHOWS / 1 HISTORIC NIGHT” and “THE TRIBE HAS SPOKEN”) and created eye-popping visuals (like a torch being snuffed and a plane circling a globe). The audience oohed and aahed throughout the entire 12-minute production as if it was the 4th of July in the middle of September.
“Survivor 45” will introduce 18 castaways (one of whom is a returnee that was medically evacuated last year) that will start out on the Belo (blue), Lulu (yellow) and Reba (red) tribes. Each week, one person will be voted off the island in Fiji until only the Sole Survivor remains to claim the $1 million grand prize.
“The Amazing Race 35” features its biggest cast ever of 13 teams of two competing for a cool $1 million. This season will also see the return of commercial travel, no non-elimination legs, the express pass and a twist on the infamous U-Turn. Who’s ready for “Reality Night Wednesdays”?
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