This article from the BBC raises a question about the authenticity of the survival show Man vs. Wild. It seems to be based around the allegations of one guy who was involved in the production, and since the production company has not come forward to publicly refute the claims, they have gained some degree of credibility in the eyes of many.
My take? It’s an entertaining show either way, so it doesn’t matter too much to me.
As for the rumors / allegations that he has (on one occasion, which is all the claim states) not stayed out in the wild at night after the cameras were off, I’ll take those reports with a grain of salt. It’s only the report of one person formerly involved with the show (who may or may not have some personal grudges), about a few isolated incidents where there may have been some assistance provided that wasn’t shown in the edited version. If it’s true (and I haven’t seen anything to confirm it), it wouldn’t really detract from my enjoyment of the show.
All that aside, the most interesting parts are when he comes up with some creative solutions for getting food or accomplishing certain other tasks. To take it as an authoritative source of real information for how to survive in the wild is probably not the intent of the show. Especially since he often takes hugely unnecessary risks like jumping off / between high cliffs or rocky mountainsides to save himself some time. Of course, if you actually were stranded out in the wild on your own, you wouldn’t take those kinds of risks (especially if you’re already near a water source, which he often is) because medical attention will be much more difficult to come by than the extra food and water required for taking the extra time to walk around the obstacle.
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Since pownce links don’t come through you missed this article from the NYT and the show pretty much admits wrong doing by going back to edit previous episodes to disclose more to the viewer as well as doing the same in all future episodes.
From watching it I think the show is cool but I think the entire show is plotted out including what he’s going to eat and where he’s going to stay and what he’s going to jump off of and items he uses in the show are most likely propped, like the wire he used for the compass.
That NY Post article was basically just a rehash of the same stuff from the same source (Mark Weinert) in the BBC article. The only new info that wasn’t in the first one was that the show does plan to do more disclosure in the context of the episodes about the exact nature of any additional assistance may have he received. They don’t confirm the specific allegations mentioned by Weinert in any detail.
As for it being as plotted out and prepared as you suspect, I don’t think there is necessarily anything that suggests that. I’m not saying it’s not possible, just that there’s no evidence to indicate either way. Don’t get me wrong, I’m skeptical about most things too, but in this case (where it doesn’t really matter much either way), I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt until something indicates otherwise.
i think the problem is that the discovery channel has two very similar shows with different rules. in survivor man, he starts off the show with a limited number of supplies and is utterly alone. he handles all the cameras himself and must survive seven days.
man vs. wild is more like a show giving context to survival tips. he’s there with a camera crew and often does unnecessary things simply to demonstrate how they’re done. once he made a fire without the use of his flint. another time he did not eat a snake even though it was the only food he found because it was endangered (he said if it was life and death, you should eat it).
there’s no promise of authenticity in man vs. wild, so i don’t understand what the big deal is. even survivor man chooses what items he takes with him to match the conditions…it’s television!
I agree.
Who cares if it’s fake, most television is anyways. It’s entertainment, and to tell you the truth if I’m ever stranded, I’m sure some of Bear’s tips would come in handy. I wish everyone would quit making such a big deal out of this. It’s not like he murdered someone. Furthermore, the dude was in the British Special Forces, he summited Everest at 23(after he broke his back), and he sailed the artic ocean, the guy is plain and simple a badass, so we should just leave him alone. The great thing about tv is you aren’t simply limited to one channel, so if you have a problem with man vs wild, change the F@*$ing channel.