From the BBC News web site

Survival show faces 'fake' claim

Channel 4 calls Grylls "a cross between Ray Mears and Rambo"
Channel 4 is to investigate a claim that it misled viewers in a survival series, in the latest allegation of reality being manipulated on a TV show.
Born Survivor featured British adventurer Bear Grylls dealing with "perilous situations" in the wild.

But a crew member told the Sunday Times some nights were spent in hotels.

Channel 4 insisted Grylls was never billed as working entirely unaided, but promised to raise the matter with the production company that made the show.

American survival consultant Mark Weinert, who was recruited by Diverse Productions, told the paper Grylls claimed to be stranded on a desert island on one occasion.

He often directly addresses the production team, including the cameraman, making it clear he is receiving an element of back-up

Channel 4 statement
However, he was actually in Hawaii and spent some of his time there in a motel, Mr Weinert alleged.

Another time, he added, Grylls was filmed building a raft by himself, whereas the crew had actually put it together and dismantled it beforehand, to ensure that it worked.

And in a further episode, supposedly "wild" horses rounded up by Grylls had come from a local trekking facility, he claimed.

Further investigation

Channel 4 said in a statement that Born Survivor was "not an observational documentary series, but a 'how-to' guide to basic survival techniques in extreme environments".

"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."

The broadcaster 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".

"However, we take any allegations of misleading our audiences seriously and will be looking into this further with Diverse over the next few days."

The series was originally made for the Discovery Channel in the US and was acquired for UK transmission by Channel 4.

Diverse Productions declined to elaborate on Channel 4's statement, while Grylls's agent was unavailable for comment.

Gee, a scripted TV show, who wudda thunk it???

Personally I think you'd have to be pretty simple not to believe most 'reality' on tv is faked. Nothing dramatic ever happens off camera and everything comes together with perfect timing. No one ever says: "why is there a camera crew with you?" They barely try and conceal it.

Thank heaven at least we know wrestling is genuine!
simon

"The programme explicitly does not claim that presenter Bear Grylls' experience is one of unaided solo survival."

I don't think most who frequent this forum are shocked that the show is staged, but the intent of the producers is clearly to deceive the uneducated viewer. One of these days, 'ole Bear is going to get really hurt doing something stupid. Bet that never makes the show!

"One of these days, 'ole Bear is going to get really hurt doing something stupid."

One of these days, someone who watches the show and doesn't know better will mimic one of his actions and probably cripple or kill himself.

And then, like the National Inquirer, the producers will whine, "Well, everyone KNOWS it wasn't for real!"

Cynical Sue is back

It is true that Grylls occasionally says "watch your footing here, guys" when he's needlessly climbing down the steepest part of a cliff that he climbed for no good reason that I could ever figure out in the first place. The "guys" are clearly the camera and sound crew. So I guess they can argue there was no concealment and hence no intent to deceive.

IMO it's entertainment, not education. Move the show from the Discovery Channel to Fox, etc., and most of my gripes go away.


Frank2135

Hey everyone, before you watch bugs bunny please wear a helmet and full body armor.I mean, you may try to stick a finger into the barrel of a rifle to stop a bullet, after watching that. Oh and before you watch any superman movie, be sure to stack some empty cardboard boxes outside of your window. Because you may wanna try to "fly" outta your window after seeing it done on tv. And by all means, stay away from all anvils you come across, you may feel the urge to drop it on someones head after seeing it done on a roadrunner cartoon. And please don't get me started on those two crazies Tom & Jerry, someone needs to sue their pants off...if they wore any..those perverts!!!

Bear is my hero! He works alone... he even says interaction between him and his camera crew is strictly forbidden! He jumped into a bog in Scotland. Go Bear!

I rest my case.

Frank2135

In my opinion, the intent of the show is to deminstrate what CAN be done in a survival situation that MAY help you survive. It's not meant to be a documentary on Bear Grylls surviving in the wild. There is a little bit of good advice throughout his show but there is also a lot of unnecessary risk taking. If the average Joe off the street tried some of the stunts he pulls, I'd wage they would not likely live to see the end of the day.
When it's all said and done though, I would much rather watch his show than Big Brother 8 or any of the other nonsense that seems to dominate the boob-tube these days.

smitty

"...Cynical Sue is back..."

Oh boy, she is my favorite!!!

Rumor has it that Criss Angel Mindfreak is fake too, but with a name like Mindfreak it has to be real. When he split that woman in two it looked pretty real so it's gotta be true

So, you take it for what it is, good entertainment. You gotta admit, Bear isn't the boring type. I might even follow him for a ways, just to see him pull some of his silly stunts and if he wipes out just once.

Stretch, please tell us you are being sarcastic. The man is proof that even Darwin has his off days.

So he is being presented as an instructor; so much for everyone who whines that he's a just for entertainment. That brings in a whole different ethical component than if he was just a sideshow freak. And probably a legal one.

They are going to regret that press release.

"...interaction between him and his camera crew is strictly forbidden..."

So if he is going down for the third time in that bog they are going to just stand there taping and do nothing? Yeah, right...

Agree. They could label it a number of things but calling it an instructional 'how-to' guide is just setting themselves (Bear, DSC, et al) up for a huge lawsuit by the survivors victims relatives.

Hehehe. The sarcasm was dripping, my friend. You knew that.

There was a woman named Muriel Gray who produced and starred in a series called "The Munro Show" for STV (Scottish Television) in the early 90's, in which she would take a camera crew up one of Scotland's famed "Munros" (hills which are over 3000 feet high, according to the original classification by Sir Hugh Munro, after whom they are named).

In the sort-of-but-not-quite-a-companion book, My First Fifty, she describes how they climbed one peak, lugging all sorts of camera equipment and other production gear, but for some weather-related reason, they were unable to complete filming. (I forgot whether the weather prevented them from reaching the summit, or merely prevented them from filming.) They dragged all the gear back down to the base of the hill, spent the night at a nearby hotel, and set off early the next morning to do it again. this time, they reached the summit and finished filming successfully - or so they thought.

Later, when editing the final version, they realized that the footage they had shot at the summit was unusable. With no time left in the budget, they were forced to charter a helicopter, fly herself and the camera crew to the summit so they could reshoot the scene. Naturally, there were a couple of hill-walkers already at the summit, so she went over to them, introduced herself, and explained what she was doing - only to receive the icy reply "Oh, so that's how you do it. Most of us just have to walk up."

She wrote that it was all she could do to refrain from grabbing them by their throats, one in each hand, and choking them while screaming "I CLIMBED THE BLOODY THING TWICE IN TWO DAYS, YOU MORONS" (or words to that effect - I quote from memory, and probably do not do it justice).

I've never seen Bear Grylls's show, but I believe some of the criticisms of it are well-founded. However, it may be worth remembering that even someone who is genuinely trying to make a show as realistically as possible may be forced to cheat a little in order to reshoot some scenes or come up with that little bit of extra footage.

I'm not saying this is what happened here, only that it might be.

Well now, I've been considering this: In each episode, the Bear seems to know every indigineous plant, herbicidal medicine, animal, and the history of the indigineous culture. It occurs to me that, not only does he know alot, he also studies up before going into the region. BUT, what seems even more glaringly obvious to me is that, in addition to a full camera crew, motel booking agents, emergency response team, medical staff, and more, he also has local natives with him to advise and council him on the aforementioned plants, animals, herbs, and culture.

While the story of the Munro Show is interesting, I really don;t see that in the Bear's ventures. I can;t fault him for finding a motel (we'd have a brewski together because that's where I'd probably be), but his show remains what it is... fruity entertainment. I've come to love it... those sentiments were cemented with his last episode in Scotland where he jumped into the bog. I just have to admire his innocent idiocy.

Now Les Stroud? He might've had to go back to the summit twice or more maybe.

I wasn't sure, that's why I had to ask.

My sense of humor isn't operating at full capacity these days.

How in the world did this guy become so "important" to us that he gets two separate threads about his hotel usage? Sheese...

The truth is...probably.... we truly admire the guy. He's a likeable enough bloke and he's doing what some of us (me for sure) would love to be doing for a living. The fact that he does seriously dumb stuff keeps us on our toes cheering and begging for more. More stupid pet tricks Bear!

It's the show you love to hate. I don't really know why, it just is. The Discovery Channel gets viewers and Bear makes money, so I'm guessing they're all very pleased with us for tuning in to sneer at him.

I guess you could say it's the Jerry Springer show for the emergency preparedness crowd.

Frank2135

Nighthiker, my mid-western brother, I'm surprised at you. I mean, what good is sarcasm if it has to be announced? Especially if I use it in fun at my own expense. Besides, I can;t find half of these little icons or whatever they are, and it's tough figuring them out.

I like this one though ((( )))

Excellent analogy! I always wondered what would make people so ignorant as to take their selfish perversions on to the Jerry Springer show and expose themselves in front of millions. Your analogy makes me wonder now about the Bear. Certainly, as you say, he must know what's being said (as if he needed others to say it before realizing how dumb some of the stuff he does is)

Forgive me. Geography was never one of my strong points. ....and thanks for a lesson I should've learned in high school or college. Now.....where is New Mexico? Deep south? hehe

I would much like to see these "health and Safety guidlines." The risk assesment section ourght to be of particular interest.....b

From the BBC News website:

Last Updated: Tuesday, 24 July 2007, 09:23 GMT 10:23 UK


Grylls series 'to be transparent'

The US Discovery Channel is to ensure a survival show is "100% transparent" in future after conceding parts could have misled viewers, according to reports.
Man vs Wild - called Born Survivor on Channel 4 in the UK - saw Bear Grylls supposedly abandoned in the wild.

But a consultant said Grylls stayed in a motel and had scenes set up for him.

"Isolated elements" were not "natural to the environment", Discovery said in a statement to the Hollywood Reporter, and promised greater clarity in future.

"For health and safety concerns, the crew and host received some survival assistance while in the field," the channel told the publication.

"Moving forward, the programme will be 100% transparent, and all elements of the filming will be explained upfront to our viewers."

Discovery also promised that any repeats of the series would be "edited appropriately".

Matter 'taken seriously'

The issue of scenes being manipulated was raised by Mark Weinert, a US survival consultant.

He told the UK's Sunday Times that Grylls spent nights in a motel in Hawaii when he was claiming to be stranded on a desert island.

Mr Weinert also alleged that a raft was put together by team members before being taken apart so Grylls could be filmed building it.


Channel 4 has also been in trouble over Gordon Ramsay's show
Channel 4 said the programme never specifically claimed Grylls was coping "unaided".

But it said it took "seriously" any suggestion of its viewers being misled and promised to raise the matter with Diverse Productions, who made the show.

Diverse Productions declined to add to Channel 4's statement, and Grylls' agent was not available for comment.

Respect, yes- I respect any successful con.

Like? There are too many questions about his military service, about his past expiditions, and the stupidity of what he has shown in what he himself describes as an educational broadcast for that to ever be possible. I respect his ability to get away with it; I can't respect him as a person.

Remember? He ran off and found a medicinal plant that happened to be growing nearby, ate it and it cured him.

Which I find totally believable. As I believe in the Easter Bunny and Peace in Our Time.

Frank2135