HOLLYWOOD - Imagine former Survivor winners Richard and Tina going head-to-head in an all-star tournament. The concept is not that far fetched, especially if the show's executive producer, Mark Burnett, has a say in it.Burnett, the reality impresario who launched a television phenomenon in summer 2000 with the first Survivor installment, is working on an all-star adaptation of the hit reality show. According to Variety, the "tournament of champions" version would pit past contestants from the first four Survivor seasons against one another.
A spokesman for CBS told Variety that while the concept of an all-star Survivor has been talked about at the network, there is no timetable for when the project would air or who the participants would be.
"We're always looking to add a new wrinkle to the franchise," he added.
The regular Survivor series matches 16 contestants all vying for $1 million over a 13-week period.
But this is not the first time rumors of a new Survivor project have surfaced.
Last June, CBS chief Leslie Moonves said the network had plans to produce a celebrity version of Survivor that would likely include network sitcom stars Ray Romano (Everybody Loves Raymond) and Kevin James (King of Queens), L.A. Lakers star Kobe Bryant and actor/singer Frank Stallone.
While being interviewed on Howard Stern's syndicated radio show last summer, Moonves was asked if the celebrity Survivor series was a done deal, to which he replied, "We think, yes." But a CBS spokesman later told the New York Daily News that such a series was "still very much in the discussion stage."