Man vs. Wild = Fake

[Tatertot13]

This doesn't really surprise me. I've always thought this show didn't seem as hard core as Survivorman.

http://www.nypost.com/seven/07242007...don_kaplan.htm

July 24, 2007 -- Discovery Channel he-man Bear Grylls, the host of the survival-skills show "Man vs. Wild," is barely the man he seems to be on TV.

On the program, Grylls appears to camp out in quickly-built shelters deep in the wilderness while battling hypothermia and dehydration. But when the cameras stop rolling, Grylls has actually moved to luxurious hotels.

In the last two seasons, he and producers have contrived other scenes to make it appear as if Grylls is more skilled than he really is, a consultant for the show told The Times of London.

"If you really believe everything happens the way it is shown on TV, you are being a little bit naive," said Mark Weinert, an Oregon-based survival consultant, who said producers hired him as an adviser for the show.

Discovery Channel officials declined to comment, but in the U.K., where the show airs with the title "Born Survivor," stunned network officials at Channel 4 said they are conducting an internal investigation.

"Discovery Communications has learned that isolated elements of the 'Man vs. Wild' show in some episodes were not natural to the environment, and that for health and safety concerns the crew and host received some survival assistance while in the field," a spokeswoman for the network said.

"Moving forward the program will be 100 percent transparent and all elements of the filming will be explained up-front to our viewers. In addition, shows that are to be repeated will be edited appropriately."

According to Weinert, while filming in California's Sierra Nevada mountains - an episode in which Grylls, 33, is seen biting off the head of a snake for breakfast - Grylls actually spent some nights with the show's crew in a lodge outfitted with television, stone fireplaces, hot tubs and Internet access.

The Pines Resort at Bass Lake is advertised as "a cozy getaway for families" and is a luxurious hotel with its own spa on a lake.

In another instance, where Grylls was supposed to be surviving on a desert island, he was actually in Hawaii and spent nights at a motel, Weinert said.

The same episode had Grylls building a Polynesian-style raft using only materials around him, including bamboo, hibiscus twine and palm leaves for a sail. Weinert said he actually led a team of builders to construct the raft.

It was then taken apart so that Grylls could be shown building it on camera.

In another episode, viewers watched as Grylls tried to coax what seemed like a wild mustang into a lasso in the Sierra Nevada.

"I'm in luck," he told viewers, apparently coming across four wild horses grazing in a meadow. "A chance to use an old Native American mode of transport comes my way. This is one of the few places in the whole of the U.S. where horses still roam wild."

In fact, Weinert said, the horses were not wild but were brought in by trailer.

[Eleazar]

That sucks. Kind of liked that show.

[HonestChieffan]

I hear that the same reporters plan a breaking story on Herm Edwards. "Head Coach" seems to be an overclaim and its said he is catually controlled by aliens.

This will shatter the dreams of HermFan everywhere.

[kepp]

No surprise there. I watched the show with the "wild" horses they talked about and it was obvious they weren't wild. My family had some horses in my youth and even they (tamed) would kick your butt sometimes when you tried to get them in a bridle/saddle. If those would have been wild horses: 1) he wouldn't have gotten within 50 yards of them and, 2) if he did, he would have been laying on the ground with a dislocated head.

I do like the show though.

[Silock]

Anyone with half a brain already knew this. Let's see... one episode, he's floating down a river with "only his backpack" as a floatation device. Except for under his clothes, you can clearly see his float vest. Whoops. In another, he says "Well, looks like I have to eat these maggots." Except, they were mealworms, not maggots. Whoops. He crosses a freezing river, soaking him to the bone. In the next shot, his clothes are completely dry. Whoops. His parachute gets tangled in a tree. He says that he has to jump down about 20 feet. Is that shown on camera? Nope. Just a cut shot to him landing, which is clearly NOT a 20 foot drop landing, and he rolls on the ground, panting and in pain. Except, he's not. Whoops.

Survivorman, as a show, is more boring, but it's way more informative. Man vs. Wild is better to watch, but you'd have to be a complete idiot to do some of the things that Bear does in an actual survival situation. Everything Les does, though, you could actually do and not put yourself in any more harm.

[HonestChieffan]

Im waiting for the Aussie show "Sluts in the Outback". Till then Im not emotionally attached to shows like M vs W

[JimNasium]

Just the fact that he has a camera man with him made me believe that it was not at portrayed.

[JBucc]

Meh, Man vs. Wild is pure entertainment. If you did 90 percent of the shit he does on that show you'd kill yourself instead of "survive". Climbing down an almost vertical waterfall, climbing up a 60 foot tree with your shoelaces, etc. Anyway, while the settings and scenarios may be fake, most the stuff he does on there is real. And most of it is crazy and that's all that really matters. I do like Survivorman though. There's a new season coming up shortly.

[chagrin]

Is this the one where the guy is supposed to be a former French Legionnaire?

The announcer guy sounds like he ahs a hard on for the guy "his name is bear, and he's coming"

[trndobrd]

Watch his shoes. In several episodes he is wearing boots then, when he has to do some rock climing, has climbing shoes on his feet.


edit: In all fairness, some people, most notably my wife, would have at least two pair of shoes in any situation.

[DJay23]

It's a TV show. If you are offended by this then you are an idiot.

[FAX]

Watch his hands. One moment he's supposed to be eating Arum tubors wrenched from the ground and the next, he's sampling a cinnamon raspberry croissant.

FAX

[the Talking Can]

Originally Posted by FAX

Watch his hands. One moment he's supposed to be eating Arum tubors wrenched from the ground and the next, he's sampling a cinnamon raspberry croissant.

FAX

[trndobrd]

Originally Posted by FAX

he's sampling a cinnamon raspberry croissant.

FAX

Yeech. Whatever it takes to survive, I suppose.

[kepp]

Originally Posted by FAX

Watch his hands. One moment he's supposed to be eating Arum tubors wrenched from the ground and the next, he's sampling a cinnamon raspberry croissant.

FAX

So that's why I heard, "Bear! Put down the chianti!", from the background once.