Man vs. Wild on Discovery- phony baloney?

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Danelle O'Shea

Joined
Mar 22, 2001
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I wondered what you guys thought about the current controversy surrounding this program.

(via Reuters) LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Discovery Channel is re-evaluating one of its most popular series, "Man vs. Wild," after allegations surfaced that its survival-expert host was bunking in motels when he was supposed to be braving the great outdoors.

The network issued a statement Monday in response to an investigation launched by British television network Channel 4, which carries the program under the title "Born Survivor: Bear Grylls."

"Discovery Communications has learned that isolated elements of the 'Man vs. Wild' show in some episodes were not natural to the environment, and that the crew and host received survival assistance on more than one occasion while in the field," the network said in a statement.

In addition, here is a video that shows maybe he wasn't surviving in the "remote-ist" of locations after all:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UpSlpvb1is

I for one love these shows and am disappointed but not completely surprised. I know reality tv is sometimes anything but..and in fact we are subject not to total reality, but the editors and production staff version of it..but still.
 
Sorry bro, I went back a few pages and didn't see anything relevant, and the search function is/was not working at the time..at least for me.

Believe it or not, I do know how to use forums, search and all.
 
What? That show was staged? I never would have guessed.

Kidding.

I think of Bear as the milli vanilli of survival shows.
 
My favorite part is how they used computer technology to turn one of these into a wild mustang.

2267%20Reg%20Hobby%20Horse.jpg
 
There's nothing fake about the program-- they are true idiots :rolleyes:

Lets get a bunch of Boy Scouts and teach them to climb waterfalls, crawl under glaciers, dive blind under brush jams in a slot canyon, sleep in ice caves, drink directly from jungle streams, climb down cliffs with vines, and jump 30' off a cliff wall, not to mention sqeezing the fluids from elephant dung and drinking your own urine-- if you don't pee it all out on your head wrap first. If we don't kill a couple, we'll still end up in jail for reckless endangerment!
 
I agree the search function on this site rarely works as intended for me.

Though staged, I think this guy would do better than most of us in the bush. I enjoy the show, but find the munching on gross stuff (live snake, raw trout, urine, raw zebra, and my favorite, elephant dung juice) cameos a little repetitive.
 
Of course its staged... Its a TV SHOW. Everything is stagged. Only a fool would put them self at risk and do everything "by the book" for a tv show.


Do you really think 'Survivorman' does everything by the book? He carries a huge pack of camera gear, clothes, extra shoes, a sat phone, ect. Why wouldn't he have a few MREs and Energy bars in there too along with some clean water?


The point isn't 100% realism, the point is make money, give entertainment, and perhaps educate a few people (PERHAPS). I learned a few interesting things in Man Vs Wild, lots of foolishness but there are sometimes little tidbits of information in there that could prove useful.


Same with Survivorman... I'm not learning anything that could save my life, but every now and then I see something thats 'nifty' that I wouldn't have thought of sitting around here.



They are more entertaining to me then 90% of the tv shows out there.... They both have quite a few mistakes... But hey, its TV.
 
yeah man vs wild, i seen almost all of them now

while entertaining, those assholes are making a dangerous show with their fake crap!


but survivorman, i dunno, he seems honest
 
Of course they're staged, and they have to be. They probably use makeup to be sure the camera can show their faces properly. Of course they sleep in a comfortable bed at night. They all do have to be awake and rested and alert to follow the script. This is a business.

The problem with mistakes in a how-to show, though, is that they may mislead the less-experienced into making those mistakes themselves, under real life conditions.
 
i mean fake wild horses and staying in hotels is just shamable connery!

BUT making invisible TOXIC vulcanic fumes visible by a gdamn smoke machine is WRONG!!
 
ICEAGE said:
Why wouldn't he have a few MREs and Energy bars in there too along with some clean water?
Click to expand...

A pesky little thing called ethics. You'll notice that Les doesn't have the great photography that the other guy does. When he turns on the camera, you believe that he's suffering and not sleeping in hotels. If he's faking it, he's doing it well enough that I'll suspend my disbelief for an hour...
 
i think he really is carrying all his camera shit with him, unlike the other guy who has a whole camera crew running after him, which of course makes the whole thing totally unbelievable to begin with
 
Grylls could easily say "I'm not actually relying on only my knife and a flint, but if you had to here is how to do it" and "I'm not actually spending the night in this shelter, but if you had to here is how to build it" etc etc.

The point is that Bear Grylls deliberately lies to the viewing public in order to make his show seem more realistic and thus to make more money. He is nothing but a fraud.
 
Anyone who believes the camera is showing exact, current reality, anyone who needs the reminder "this is a re-creation of the activity shown, not a documentary", is woefully unaware of the nature of film and television. Think "cut & paste".

"Fiction" does not mean "lies".
 
Grylls explicitly claims to be documenting a period of survival in the wilderness with "nothing but a knife, a flint and a waterbottle", when in fact he is doing nothing of the sort. An equivalent would be a David Attenborough documentary purportedly showing the interaction of animals in the wild when in fact he had sourced them from a zoo. It is a deliberate fraud and Grylls deserves nothing but contempt for engaging in it.
 
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