article about survival tv shows

[wayno]

http://www.tvguide.com/news/survival-tv ... 88519.aspx

[GPSGuided]

Bring back our gentle Bush Tucker Man!

No surprise really. With audiences being fed ever increasing glam and dares by the producers, those shows can but go in one direction. In a survival situation, one'd think that excitements need to be kept to a minimum. Anything getting too exciting are undoubtedly made up.

[Hallu]

I can't believe they actually made a show called "Fat Guys in the Woods"... What's next ? "Stupid dwarves in the desert" and "Down Syndrome Blondes in the Arctic" ... ?

Now, yes those shows are driven by audiences. After all, let's be serious for a minute, Ray Mears shows can be quite boring. But that's survival after all. Why try to make survival more exciting instead of changing the premise altogether ? Just do a show on climbers, alpinists, on extreme hikers, fast hikers, I don't know... Ultimate Survival Alaska could have been that : a hiking show instead of a fake survival one. Networks producers really *&%$#! this up for everyone now. We all know it's fake, everything is over the top, nothing is worth watching anymore.

[vicrev]

My tele is locked on SBS......commercial tv is an insult to an ants intelligence.. ...

[GPSGuided]

My tele is locked on SBS......commercial tv is an insult to an ants intelligence.. ...

ABC1, ABC2, ABC3 and ABCNews24 object to your statement!

[vicrev]

Oops.......shows how much tv I watch..thought there was only one ABC (kidding),mind you, with the cuts & this Government's hatred, of the ABC ,there probably will be, before long.....

[GPSGuided]

... thought there was only one ABC (kidding)...

Yep, you are absolutely correct. ABC3 is a kids channel.

[perfectlydark]

I thought that was abc2 lol? I dont know just iview and sbs on demand are the only 'tv' we watch. Kids watch whatever the abc kids channel is

[Gadgetgeek]

Its like any other tv show fad, they will push it to death, the only trouble is, unlike many other copy-cat fads, it will likely end when someone dies. And its not likely to be the expert either. As more and more of these shows get done, they are going to end up with production staff out in the wild that don't have the basic skills, and its going to be a camera or sound guy that is going to catch it. I think its inevitable with the number of these shows that are in the works, or being developed, you are going to have people jumping on the bandwagon that don't know how dangerous things are, and might not intentionally cut a corner, but just won't understand the risks enough to assess them accurately. I'm also sure that sooner or later there will be a tragedy where the survivors will blame something from a tv show on the death of one of their counterparts.

TV producers also have no idea what people want to watch. Stuff thats big and flashy gets ratings because the people that report in watch it out of curiosity. The neilson ratings system is so messed up that the networks are making decisions based on bad data, but its the data they have, so they have no choice but to use it. Les Stroud's urban survival program got canned because it got poor ratings, but he has said he gets heaps of mail with people wanting to see more.

I think that the survival experts who want to do good shows will do them online, with patreon or kickstarter funding, and maybe distributed via hulu or netflix, where there is direct viewer information. It gives them the power. One of the reasons that the mythbusters have so much control over their show (don't care if you love them or hate them, its Jamie and Adam's show to run, not discovery) is that they are popular enough that they could walk away from discovery, set up shop online, and still do what they wanted to do. So if discovery wants to keep selling ad space there, they have to keep them happy. The only thing that keeps most of the real survival guys from doing that is that they are not familiar with those methods as much, and so its not something they would naturally gravitate to.

[GPSGuided]

Let's get it right, these shows aren't really there to teach survival but for entertainment of the mass of couch survivalists out there. Make the viewers feel good, make the viewer think they can do similar, make the viewer enjoy the dramatic sceneries and they've served their role. Then, let the broadcast-right money roll in.

[vicrev]

Let's get it right, these shows aren't really there to teach survival but for entertainment of the mass of couch survivalists out there. Make the viewers feel good, make the viewer think they can do similar, make the viewer enjoy the dramatic sceneries and they've served their role. Then, let the broadcast-right money roll in.

..........Right on !!

[Hallu]

Yeah most survival junkies would rather bungee jump or rappel down a cliff than get stuck in the same area for days foraging for food and branches for the shelter. As said in the link, real survival is boring. Instead of adding ridiculous dangers, they should learn how to edit properly...

[Area54]

Real survival is also ugly, real ugly. Mainstream audiences (and key related product advertisers) want the people in the shows to be buff, permanent 2 day growth beards, psychologically balanced enough for their marketing sterotype and look good in a brightly coloured puffer jacket; not blistered, bloated, bloodied and dirty with rat sinew stuck in their teeth.

[vicrev]

Rat sinew too much info.........anybody had rat sinew in their teeth ????.... ..........my worst nightmare (just about!!).......

[wayno]

look at survivor man, and look at man vs wild.
man vs wild. constantly manic,
survivor man, often tired or exhausted and not afraid to say so...
would it be possible one of them is getting more to eat than the bugs and reptiles he eats on camera?

[GPSGuided]

Wayno, survival is all about one's mental attitude!

[wayno]

Wayno, survival is all about one's mental attitude!

note to self: pack concrete pills, to harden up....

[GPSGuided]

Also, worth comparing their respective rating. That's the answer! LOL

[wayno]

Also, worth comparing their respective rating. That's the answer! LOL

also worth comparing the quality...

[Gadgetgeek]

One of the things I appreciate about Les Stroud is those times where he openly wonders if he will get to edit the final footage this time. The fact that in the more recent ones they have taken more gear, and he's been in a generally better positions (well, terra del fuego kicked him around pretty good) But thats not sustainable as a TV show.