Observations on TV Survival....

[patgund]

We don't have cable, so I'm utterly out of the loop about shows out there. While over at a friends doing costuming and letting Little Bit run the friend's daughter ragged, they had on some Discovery channel show with a "Survival Expert" being plopped down in the middle of BFE and forced to find his way out using his wits, survival skills, and what he has with him.

The fact that there's a full camera crew, helicopters, power supplies, night vision equipment, and the like WITH him at all times is supposed to be ignored it seems.

After a while saying things like:

"It was so bitterly cold, I had to gut the sound man and crawl into his carcass for warmth".

"On the third day, we ate the assistant site director"

"Midway though the rocky desert mountains, the helicopter dropped off a case of Big Macs and beer"

"Thinking quickly, I cut off the cameraman's head and threw it at the bear to distract him while I made my escape"

(while eating skunk in the Baja mountains) "While I was cooking the skunk, the crew were eating MRE packets and looking longingly at my dinner"

"The Sahara Desert can get so cold at night, it can actually drop to 65 degrees in my RV"

Yeah, I knew they weren't SUPPOSED to help him. But I couldn't believe they weren't.

Comments

[jeriendhal.livejournal.com]

Ah, that's probably "Man vs. Wild". You'd probably enjoy "Survivorman" better. Same idea, except the guy getting plopped in the wilderness for a week is carrying his own camera and batteries, which he freely admits can be a pain in the ass to carry around while he walks out of his situation. There is a base camp with a rescue crew relatively close, but they aren't involved in any filming. There's a lot less machismo involved as well.

[dreamingcrow.livejournal.com]

Yes, the Bear Grylls-as-jackass vs. Les Stroud-as-actual-survival-expert argument. Grylls' qualifications are such things as being the youngest person, at the time, to have climbed Everest. Stroud actually teaches this stuff and does his own work. The difference is rather pronounced.

Grylls is regularly mocked in our house, BY MY KIDS. "This is just loaded with Vit-a-min C!", etc.