BUCKiT® #71-Ghen Maynard: Reality TV Maverick on Green-lighting Survivor and Taking Big Risks with Other Groundbreaking Shows.

BUCKiT with Phil Keoghan

Little does this CBS Executive know that the pitch he is about to hear will change everything.

Ghen Maynard hears lots of pitches for shows but this one is different. It isn’t a scripted drama or comedy series or traditional game show. There is nothing quite like it on TV and it doesn’t fit into any existing genre — but he knows one thing, he loves it.

It’s an idea that would turn into a reality series set on an island and ultimately transform the primetime landscape on broadcast television and usher in a new generation of unscripted programming that would catapult his career.

Ghen Maynard is the Senior Executive Vice President of Alternative Programming for CBS Television Studios. He’s the maverick who has helped develop some of reality television’s biggest hits.

Early in his career, Ghen championed and brought to life the first competition reality show for Network Television… a mega-hit called Survivor.

Ghen also developed and oversaw the multiple Emmy Award-winning The Amazing Race, the U.S. version of Big Brother, America’s Next Top Model as well as Kid Nation, Power of 10, and Million Dollar Password. As a drama development executive, he helped develop CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Judging Amy and The District. The list of successful shows goes on.

There’s no doubt Maynard has a keen eye for what viewers like — Survivor, The Amazing Race, Big Brother and Top Model are among the longest-running reality TV franchises in the world.

I caught up with Ghen just after the premiere of an unusual reboot version of the iconic 90’s teen series Beverly Hills 90210 called BH90210, which he developed and sold to FOX, and Kids Say the Darndest Things starring Tiffany Haddish, which he sold to ABC — Once again proving that this Executive, who likes to think big, has the Midas Touch.