Bear Grylls’ stunts not so realz?
In a story certain to shake the entire man-doing-crazy-things-on-camera community to its very core, the New York Post is reporting that Discovery Channel dung-drinker Bear Grylls might be staging several scenes in his very popular and very awesome series Man Vs. Wild. I know, I know, how can something that airs on television be faked? Impossible, right? Not according to newsman Don Kaplan:
According to Weinert [an Oregon-based survival consultant, who said producers hired him as an adviser for the show], 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.
But what about the snake head, because really that’s why I’m tuning in? I could care less if he slept on a bed of soggy grass or a bed with a down comforter seven feet from a plasma HDTV.
The charm of Man Vs. Wild is half the fact that you get to see a guy do absolutely ridiculous things on camera (like jumping out of a helicopter in the middle of the ocean without a parachute, or biting into a live salmon, or drinking the water out of elephant dung) and the other half is knowing that there’s a camera crew right on the other side of the lens. In a way, I’d be more shocked to find out they weren’t staying in hotels at night. I mean, good lord, it’s dangerous out there!
July 25th, 2007 at 3:06 pm
As someone who had a bad experience with a hot tub this weekend, I can only say that the danger of those things is understated.
July 25th, 2007 at 4:42 pm
I agree with you, Rick. If you know anything about TV production, heard Bear on his talk show tour, or decided just to think critically about the show, you’d realize it’s obviously shot over several days. I have to admit, however, that I’m a little heartbroken at the rumor that the “wild horse” he tried to break in one episode was planted from a nearby ranch.
I hope Discovery doesn’t go overboard in simplifying the show in light of all this.
July 26th, 2007 at 4:16 pm
this is just like when we all found out that someone was slipping those “biosphere 2″ scientists candy bars and oxygen tanks. booo. parts of the episodes are “real”, though, right? i just want to keep some of the dream alive.