Other Pete, I agree with most of what you have said. And for the purposes of the show mapping out a route ahead of time to keep the show moving is probably a good idea. My concern is that others with less common sense may take away from the show that they can just wing it in a survival situation. I can imagine someone saying to themselves "I'm stranded on an island with no idea how far it is to any other land mass but, hey, Bear built a raft and did ok so I'll do it even though I have no idea where I'll end up." That's a scary thought and I am sure that is not what he is intending for people to take away from the show but it is a possibility. There was a story about someone who survived using techniques they saw on his show. I am afraid it is only a matter of time before those same techniques get somebody killed.
Here are the things I wonder about in Man vs. Wild. First, there are quite a few times when Bear winds up needing to spend the night in an improvised shelter under less-than-ideal conditions. For example, his clothes are soaking wet, it's getting dark, and it's getting cold. OK ... so he lights a small fire. That helps a bit. But with wet, cold clothes it's still a miserable night - 12 hours of freezing darkness lasts a long time! Does he actually DO the whole night out? Or do they just cut the film making, and then everyone goes back to the hotel to drink a lot of beers?
Also, he will occasionally demonstrate how to get liquids for drinking, such as by squeezing bits of cactus or chopping the ends of a jungle creeper. But either way, if you see how much water he gets from this operation - it's really minimal. Just a small trickle of water at best. It's not even close to what he would need to survive while trekking energetically across rough country or paddling a raft across a stretch of ocean. So again - what do they do? Just cut film making for 20 minutes so Bear can quaff down a quart of gatorade??
Those are the parts of the show where I have some serious doubts about what's going on.
From what I have heard that is exactly what Bear does in between takes. Throwing on an extra coat, changing into dry cloths, standing by heaters, quaffing down water or other fluids, even going back to the motel to wait for more favorable weather conditions. Other times I would guess they edit out some of the more tedious parts like water collection, although it does leave you wondering how much was actually collected and how much was just poured from a bottle.
Like you, I still watch the show even though I know these things. He is entertaining and the techniques he uses are less drama than Les Stroud's sometimes (the enema thing seems to have upped the ante some though). He does do a good job of showing how to keep an upbeat attitude in a survival situation (as does Les Stroud). Again my only concern is for the viewers with less common sense that think a survival situation is winging it. Especially impressionable younger viewers.
Les Stroud does extensive research. I'm sure there is a link, but he's mentioned a few times in Survivorman that he uses local guides to get a lay of the land, especially for plant life. Every place is unique, and he needs someone to tell him what is good and what is lethal. If I recall, in his shows, you'll hear stuff like "XYZ plant is plentiful in this region, it provides...can be cooked/eaten raw...". I believe he also has a pretty good idea of which way is out. The point is to show surviving for 7 days, not necessarily what to do if you get lost!
And he should do research, as anyone should, before entering an unfamiliar area. I am sure Bear does as well. I wouldn't dare hike in an Arizona desert or enter a Peruvian jungle without first doing extensive research on the area. I don't have a problem with that. And Les does know the way out; like you said his show is more to demonstrate survival skills. However he seems more genuine because he doesn't accept immediate support from his crew while filming (although I did watch one show where he had to call for rescue on day 6 due to lack of water). They are always there for support in an emergency but he can't quaff a bottle of water or put on an extra coat between takes.
That being said I still like both shows for the techniques they present. But like Max said , take it with a liberal dose of salt.
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