Man vs. Wild

I watched and enjoyed Survivorman well before Man vs. Wild came along, and expected a similar type of show. The producers apparently anticipated the same reaction from their audience, and decided the show needed to be spiced up a bit.

So we have the host, Bear Grylls, performing all sorts of highly adventurous activities, like swimming upstream, climbing cliffs and trees, eating live animals/insects, and so forth. This makes for great entertainment, but much of what Bear engages in is impractical and even dangerous at best in a survival situation.

Now granted, it would also be impractical to assume that this show should be construed as a survival guide. Bear does, however, give a great deal of information and good advice mixed in with the thrills. I find him to be mostly level-headed and good natured, even when faced with very difficult situations. Despite his hardships, I don't believe I've ever heard him complain once. And that really is as important to survival as anything - having a positive attitude and making the best of one's situation.

His credibility does suffer a bit with the admission that he tends to sleep in hotel rooms or base camps as opposed to in the wild. That certainly keeps him fresh and ready to face new challenges, but perhaps most importantly to speak with authority and excitement in order to keep the audience interested.

It's difficult to sort through the good and bad advice, since the show is as concerned with entertainment as it is with developing survival skills. I suppose one must do whatever it takes to survive, but some things can make one even worse off. In one instance, Bear drinks his own urine without much second though, but in another case he is very careful about determining the source of potential drinking water. And a parasitic infection from frequent consumption of live animals might make hunger seem nothing but a dull ache in comparison.

In all, Man vs. Wild is a good show. It is more of a show about personal challenge for Bear than it is for survival education. "The Bear Grylls Challenge" might have been a better name. At any rate, despite the liberally sprinkled good advice, this show is primarily for entertainment purposes. If you want to learn about more practical, albeit less exciting, application of survival technique, then watch "Survivorman."

When i first saw the advertisement for this show i knew that i was going to love it, then 2 years later, I'm watching it every Wensday. Bear is a really good adviser, even though some of the stuff is presented to him, its amazing how he can handle himself out there. I like nature and things like that so its a real treat to see him in other countries and what not. I forget allot of the things that he says that will help, but if i was lost, i think i could manage to live for a while, ha probably not. What a good show. 10 out of 10, this show is a discovery channel original.

If you haven't seen this, SEE IT, it is amazing, good classic discovery TV.

I have been watching this show ever since it commenced & I don't think I have missed any episodes as I find them very interesting and entertaining, to say nothing about the information that is given out. I have read a lot about the supposed falsehoods that Bear Grylls is perpetrating & have read comments about many people who have criticized the show.

I would like to add my own two pence of opinion here...accepted that he has a camera crew & other people running behind him, but I think the main purpose of this show is to show us how to survive...somebody has written that he puts himself into situations that nobody who actually gets lost would ever do (like climbing down a waterfall, getting soaked in ice cold water etc)...again the assumption here is that IF anybody encounters such a situation, this is how they could save their life...

I have read allegations that he sleeps in motels and not in the shelters that he has himself built...clearly the filming of an episode takes several days, so why on earth would he subject himself to the inconvenience of sleeping out all that time??? hasn't he demonstrated the most effective way to build a shelter and isn't that more than enough for a person who is watching the show to learn a few tricks? There is another complaint that he never is in any real danger...in fact being the show's star attraction, he would be fool hardy if he put his life in danger and it makes sense that he takes all precautions...again he is showing us the ropes so why don't people understand that? I commend the fact that he is prudent enough to value his own life (for the sake of his producers, fans, his family & obviously himself)...

As for the comparisons with survivorman, I have not seen the other show...from what I have heard that show is quite informative, though not as entertaining...I feel both of them are doing a good job in their own unique ways...it would be unfair to compare them...

Bear Grylls might be making a lot of money with this show, but so what? I don't feel there is anything wrong with using your skills & abilities to earn money...don't we all try to do exactly the same??? The purpose of this show is to provide information about basic survival in various extreme environments in an entertaining manner...I think, on that score, it delivers perfectly...this is evident by the fact that my 10 year old nephew can watch this show in rapt fascination as does my 60 year old father-in-law...

Lastly for all those who criticize the show, though I respect their opinion, I feel they are being too harsh & overlooking the obvious purpose of the show...this is not a test of endurance for Bear grylls and he is not trying to prove anything (check out his background, he has achieved more than most of us will in 10 lifetimes)...he is merely showing ways of survival in a very entertaining manner & let us not be so naive as to think that this could be achieved without a certain amount of manipulation...sit back & enjoy the ride, guys...

Like it or not this is reality TV hence this show should be taken for what it is: a man applying survival techniques in a moderately safe (but usually horrible) environment. I am not a fan of reality TV but I can't help but to sympathize with Bear in each episode -a truly charismatic and intelligent man-. He will show ultimate survival techniques for different parts of the world, some of them helpful some of them a little too weird but ALL of them fun to watch. The episodes are filled with excellent trivia about the different places and hilarious situations (from a viewer perspective there is nothing funnier than watching a dude eat bugs). I won't deny that this show is not for everyone but I find it hard to believe that any person remotely adventurous won't enjoy watching this fine piece of entertainment.

I've only seen the show a few times, but it totally has me hooked. I just can't believe some of the thing's he'll do. My favorite part was Bear wandering about the Amazon when he decides he's hungry. So he makes a bow from branches and vines, whittles a few arrows and shoots a couple of piranhas for dinner! This man is the Macgyver of reality television.

Yeah, the survival advice may not come in handy the next time I take a drive to the supermarket- but it's seriously entertaining to watch what the man can do with only a flint, knife, canteen and a whole lot of research.