AsSurvivor47comes to an end tonight, so does the delightful crossover campaign between the adventure series and its network sibling, the hit sitcomGhosts. Ahead of the final video, which you may get an exclusive sneak peek at below thanks to CBS, I sat down withGhostsstarRebecca Wisockyto chat about bringing the crossover to life with the marketing team and the dedicatedGhostscrew. When asked about her experience with the whole process, she said working on this collab has been “so much fun.” She went on to tell me how the campaign went from a joking suggestion that CBS sent her to Fiji to a fully fledged marketing crossover.
“This idea came about because I, over the course of several different CBS events, I think the Upfronts and Comic Con, I got to chatting withEmily Schwartz,who works at CBS and, and does a lot of cross promotional things and, you know,we were geeking out overour shared love ofSurvivor.And then this last summer at San Diego Comic Con, we kind of spitballed, you know, well, what if, there was a promo? I think basically I suggested that ‘You should send me to Fiji.’ But short of that, I said,‘Wouldn’t it be so great if Hetty had a crush on Jeff Probst?’
And so that kind of— when I came back to Montreal, we went back to shooting, I was talking toJohn Blickstead, who is one of our fabulous writers on the show, and he is a mega fan, like a huge official mega fan ofSurvivor. And so we were talking about the possibility of doing something, and he got very interested in it. And took it to Joe Port and Joe Wiseman, who are our showrunners. And then we ended up just kind of having a little pitch meeting with the creatives in marketing at CBS. Andit turned into this lovely thing that we’ve enjoyed doing so much.”
If you’ve been watching along, you’ll know that Hetty’s heart eyes forSurvivorhostJeff Probstwere the impetus for her to sit with Thor and Sass in the first video, which Wisocky was simply delighted by as a fan of the show herself, saying, “I love thatHetty did in fact have a crush on Jeff Probst.And, I am definitely aSurvivorfan, andit’s the closest I’ll ever get to itbecause I don’t think I would ever— I would never have the courage to actually doSurvivor, butthis made me feel a little bit close to it.” Making sure to laud the entire team of dedicated writers, directors, and crew that worked together on these crossover videos, Wisocky explained how the filming process lined up with theGhostsfilming schedule, saying:
“So it’s really fun, and I know Jeff Probst has expressed that he thought that the spots were very cute as well. Our producing director Richie Keen directed them. John Blickstead wrote them, along with Joe Port and Joe Wiseman, and they were filmed, you know, after a shooting day here and there over the course of the season by ourverygenerous crew who stuck around to shoot them. And I think they’re really cute.”
Who Are You Rooting For in ‘Survivor 47’?
With the filming process requiring the ghosts to react to the episodes before they aired, Wisocky joked that the only downside of the whole campaign is that she was getting spoilers for the episodes before she could watch them in full herself. “I was bummed that I was getting spoilers because I do watch the show,” she explained. “So that was the only downside, butI do not have spoilers on the finale, thankfully, which I will be watching.” In the teaser video, Hetty attempts to expressher support forRachel LaMont,before Thor (Devan Chandler Long) goes on to bring up the merits of all of the final four, as well as the gone-too-soonJohn Lovettwho was eliminated first. When asked who she herself is rooting for, Wisocky revealed she’s “Team Rachel” all the way.
“Oh, I’m totally Team Rachel. I’m Team Rachel, but I thought it was cute that they brought a mention of John Lovett back that, you know, Thor said that, all the way back from the very first elimination, because I do think that he was eliminated way too soon,thanks to Andy. But yes, I’ll be rooting for Rachel. But I liked all of them though. I think it’s a good final four.”
To bring theGhostsxSurvivorcrossover full circle, I suggested that we need to see Probstcome stay at the Woodstone B&BafterSurvivor’s season ends, which Wisocky wholeheartedly agreed with. “Well, from your lips! I think he would be a wonderful guest to have pop into the B&B. Maybe that’ll happen someday,” she laughed.
You can get an exclusive sneak peek at the lastGhostsxSurvivorcrossover video above. TheSurvivorSeason 47 finale airs tonight on CBS at 8 PM ET and you can watchGhosts'1-hour Christmas specialon CBS tomorrow at 8 PM ET. Previous episodes of both shows are available on Paramount+.
Ghosts (US)
When a cash-strapped couple inherits a crumbling country estate, they soon discover it is inhabited by an eclectic group of spirits, leading to comedic encounters as they navigate cohabitation with their supernatural roommates.
Watch on Paramount+
