Man vs. Wild -- A FAKE!

About nine months ago, I found a new favorite show and was inspired. Man vs. Wild. I knew after watching several episodes of this show that if ever I get lost in the woods, or the desert, or in the middle of Antarctica, I would surely survive due to the knowledge I have receive from Bear, "the Man vs. Wild guy". It made me want to watch the show even more when I found out that Bear was a devoted Christian and family man.

So it's no surprise that I was shocked and appalled to find out that Man vs. Wild was fake! A fake I tell you. I was shown this article by Gavin, one of our student workers, and another avid MVW fan. Needless to say, a moment of silence was observed in the office.

It seems as though, Bear Grylls, the star of the show, has had a little help going up against "the Wild". As the article states, the Discovery Channel has issued a statement saying that "isolated elements of the 'Man vs. Wild' show in some episodes were not natural to the environment, and that for health and safety concerns the crew and host recieved some survival assistance while in the field."

Survival assistance. I love that term.

It seems as though Grylls had spend the night in a hotel/motel at least twice when the show led viewers to believe that he was actually sleeping outdoors. Also in the episode supposedly set on a deserted island, was actually Hawaii, which is not deserted, it shows him building a raft which was actually made by professionals and then disassembled so that he could easily put it together.

But wait...that's not all. The article also says that although Bear claims to be a horse wrangler (Is this where the name for the jeans came from?), that the wild horses that he happened upon in the Sierra Nevade were not wild. They were from a trekking station.

Now it seems, to keep viewers from ditching the show, the Discovery Channel says that the show will be "tweaked".

"Moving forward, the program will be 100 percent transparent, and all elements of the filming will be explained upfront to our viewers," Discovery said in its statement. "In addition, shows that are to be repeated will be edited appropriately. Bear Grylls is a world-class adventurer and a terrific talent."

I do have to agree. Bear is a world-class guy and a terrific talent. He's easy on the eyes too, and his accent is great to listen to. His wife is a lucky woman.

I love the last paragraph in this article from ABC:

"No word on what 'transparent' means or how fans of the series will react, but perhaps Discovery should add a disclaimer to the show: Survival made possible by hotel stay and dramatization of events. "

Classic.