Man vs. Wild

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Man vs. Wild
Man vs. Wild title screen
Format	Adventure
Starring	Bear Grylls
Country of origin	United Kingdom
No. of episodes	40 (List of episodes)
Production
Running time	45 Minutes (without commercials)
Broadcast
Original channel	Discovery Channel
Original run	October 27, 2006 – present

Born Survivor: Bear Grylls, also called Man vs. Wild^[1][2] or Ultimate Survival^[3][4] , is a survival television series hosted by Bear Grylls, on the Discovery Channel. In the United Kingdom, the series is shown on both the Discovery Channel and on Channel 4. The series is produced by British television production company Diverse Bristol. The show was first broadcast on November 10, 2006 after airing a pilot episode titled The Rockies on October 27, 2006. There have been three seasons aired. Bear Grylls has signed on for a fourth season with thirteen episodes. Grylls also said he has been approached about doing a Man vs. Wild urban disaster 3-D feature film, an idea he said he would "really like to do".^{[citation needed]}

In addition, media outlets are reporting that Bear Grylls is currently working on an episode at an undisclosed location with the comedic actor Will Ferrell. Bear Grylls said it will be the "trial of his life".^[5]

[edit] Background

Episode locations in Man vs. Wild (updated Sep 2008).
red - season 1, part 1
blue - season 1, part 2
green - season 2, part 1
yellow - season 2, part 2
orange - season 3, part 1

In the show, Grylls both demonstrates and narrates techniques for wilderness survival in regions around the globe. The general format of each episode is that Grylls is left stranded in a region. The episode documents his efforts to survive and find a way back to civilization, usually requiring an overnight shelter of some kind. Bear also tells about successful and failed survivals in the particular area he is in.

Each episode takes about one week to shoot. Before each shooting the crew does about a week of reconnaissance, followed by Bear Grylls doing a flyover of the terrain. Grylls then undergoes two days of intensive survival briefings. "I spend two days on location prior to dropping in – I go through all the safety and comms briefing as well as being briefed on local conditions, and flora and fauna by local rangers and a local bushcraft expert." He is followed on the program by a cameraman and a sound engineer. To show various survival situations, some aspects of the show are staged.^{[citation needed]}

Given the premise that Grylls completes the episodes unaided, the amount of help Grylls receives off camera and during filming the show has been debated and attracted press^[who?]. In the pilot episode, Grylls was made to wear a concealed lifejacket for one scene for health and safety reasons.^{[citation needed]} In several episodes, Grylls has attempted many different "stunts" even though he can avoid them to display what to do if you were caught in that situation. He does not try to hide the fact that he is being aided, in fact he talks to the camera crew throughout the show and is given different items to aid in his presentation of survival.

In April 2008, Grylls and Discovery released a book that includes survival tips from the TV show.

[edit] Episodes

There have been three seasons of Man Vs. Wild. Season four will begin airing during the summer of 2009.

[edit] Criticism

After a series of exposés by the Daily Mail,^[6][7][8] the show was put on hiatus while Discovery reviewed claims that it deceived viewers.^[9] The show resumed on September 24, 2007, with a disclaimer at the beginning of each episode, scenes removed, and altered voiceover indicating where situations were staged. The decision to rebroadcast the show on British Channel 4 is yet undecided.^[10]

[edit] Realism

Grylls has stated numerous times on camera that he is not to receive any assistance unless his life is in danger.^{[citation needed]} However, in July 2007 it was reported in the mainstream news media that Grylls allegedly received aid during some sequences of certain episodes. In response to criticism, British Channel 4 issued a statement saying that:

"The programme explicitly does not claim that presenter Bear Grylls' experience is one of unaided solo survival. For example, he often directly addresses the production team, including the cameraman, making it clear he is receiving an element of back-up."^[11]

An article on the BBC News website also reported on the sentiments of Channel 4 towards the allegations:

"The broadcaster [Channel 4] said Grylls carried out his own stunts and did place himself in perilous situations, "though he does so within clearly-observed health and safety guidelines required on productions of this kind"".^[11]

The Discovery Channel said that future airings would be edited (including a disclaimer at the beginning of each episode) so as not to imply to viewers that Grylls was left alone to survive during production of the show. Since then, Grylls has stated on camera when he has received assistance in order to demonstrate survival tactics or is exiting the setting for a period of time due to safety concerns. Grylls also tells the cameras filming behind the scenes footage how the film crew sometimes assists him in order to film certain sequences.^{[12][13][14][15]}

On August 3, 2007, Grylls posted on his blog that the "press accusations of motels and stagings in the show that have been doing the rounds, all I can say is they don't always tell the full story, but that's life and part of being in the public eye I guess."^[16]

In response to allegations of spending nights in local hotels as opposed to staying in the shelters built during filming, Grylls clarifies in an article in the December 3 issue of People Magazine that:

“Episodes take about ten days to tape, explains Grylls: “The night stuff [shown on camera] is all done for real. But when I’m not filming I stay with the crew in some sort of base camp." Episodes now clarify when Grylls gets support from his crew and when situations are staged, “We should have done that from the start,” he says. “The more you see, the more real it feels.””^[17]

In spite of allegations, The Discovery Channel has released behind the scenes footage showing how sequences of Man Vs. Wild are filmed. In the footage, while setting up a scene, each production crew member is introduced and their role is briefly explained, including a safety consultant who served in the Royal Marines. During the scenes, Bear Grylls tells how each crew members' role ensures his safety while he explains survival tactics. The footage includes open discussion over safety and other precautions.

The DVDs contain a notice stating that Bear will receive help from the camera crew on occasion, that he will in certain situations use provided safety equipment to minimize risks, and that he will sometimes deliberately put himself in perilous situations to demonstrate survival techniques.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Man vs. Wild Discovery Channel official site
• Man vs. Wild at the Internet Movie Database
• Bear Grylls official website
• Bear Grylls personal blog
• Bear's photos on Picasaweb
• Review of Man vs. Wild Book at Letters On Pages