I don't watch much TV in general, as I believe most TV shows kill brain cells, and at my age I don't have that many left to spare.

I especially don't watch "Reality TV". I especially, especially don't watch "Survival" shows on Reality TV. And I especially, especially, especially don't watch survival shows on Reality TV that are set in Alaska.

See our own local and sometimes controversial Craig Medred's take on 'Ultimate Survival Alaska': Real, unreal entertainment. Be sure to read some of the comments at the bottom of the article.

with you on that one. I never watch them either.

I don't know which is worse, the lousy un-reality show or Medred's lousy writing.

It has been sad to watch the demise of the History Channel and Discovery. The used to have some decent shows,but are now mostly garbage.

I prefer Science Fiction and detest "reality" TV -- at least good SF has some thought behind it. SF is much more entertaining and if the characters do something that's totally unbelievable, well that goes with the genre.

I don't watch much TV either, but when I do, it's for escapism. So I have favored shows like ST:TOS, ST:TNG, Firefly, LOST (well, at least the first season), Jericho, and even the current Once Upon A Time. Nothing real or believable in these shows, just an escape from the day-to-day routine. Even Gilligan's Island qualified when I was a kid! The only "reality show" that I've watched is The Amazing Race. Not so much for it's content (which is actually pretty bad), but for the filming in different locations - I can pick out and dream about places I might want to visit some day from their photography. I do like Dual Survival though. I like to see how they think through and solve puzzles. Even if it's an artificial puzzle or a stupid one. Sometimes their solution provides me with insight I didn't have before, and other times it provides me a platform to say "I wouldn't have done it that way". Either outcome can be a learning/reinforcement experience.

I gave up on survivor. I watched the first episode last season and Ruperts insane ramblings were too much. I found the whole premise ridiculous. If it's survivor let them survive, don't feed them and send them for massages and helicopter rides.Just MHO

The problem is that people watching this "survival"garbage will think this is actually the way to do things. Whether intended as education or entertainment, "education" (or misinformation) occurs.

I think it is a natural trend in entertainment, to pander to the lowest common denominator. It takes effort to fight it. I also rarely watch TV.

'Survivorman' seemed realistic to me. I like the fact he doesn't even usually carry a knife and uses his multi tool. One in the eye for those who think 99% of gear selection is the knife(just look at how many posts a question on knives gets here).
And he always has some form of fire starter with him. Starting one with just natural items seems very difficult in reality.
It's sobering that in all the ones I've seen it's not as easy as some make it sound. The liferaft kit was faulty in one. In another he set fire to his shelter and in all of them except the South Pacific ones, he was in fact slowly dying. And that's after having special training for each scenario.

But I'm no expert; and might be being fooled. What do people think of 'Survivorman'?

qjs