Discovery Channel Kills Bear
'Man vs. Wild' adventurer Grylls fired in contract dispute
Apparently, they couldn't bear negotiating with him. "Man vs. Wild" starring Bear Grylls -- the British wilderness adventurer who eats bugs and drinks his own urine -- has been dropped by the Discovery Channel in a contract dispute, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
"Unfortunately, Bear and Discovery have not been able to come to mutual agreement on new programming," a Grylls rep told the trade magazine, "and he disagrees with Discovery's decision to terminate current productions. Bear has loved the 'Man vs. Wild' journey and looks forward to producing further cutting-edge content again soon for his loyal audience."
Bing: More about Bear Grylls | Video: Watch clips of 'Man vs. Wild'
The dispute, according to the report, involved Grylls' participation in two unannounced projects Discovery had been promised.
The show -- which wrapped its sixth season in August -- averaged 1.1 million viewers and earned admirers including Jake Gyllenhaal, Will Ferrell and Ben Stiller, who guested on previous adventures.
Bear's show is meant to be entertainment. All you survival "experts" who have had to train so many of these people who watched the show and disagree with you are probably pitching tents in your backyards and roasting marshmellows on your barbeque.
Sounds like most of you are jealous because he's all man and was blessed enough to make a living off of doing something he likes. Wah, wah.
Good riddance, the show was a total joke anyway.
I want to say something about the Bear vs Les comments here. First, Les has a camera crew filming him as they drop him off and leave, aside from that he is on his own. Bear has an entire production team including stunt coordinators setting everything up with safety gear and the whole nine yards, go to Discovery and look up "hanging in Panama" if you doubt it. Les goes into the bush for several days living off what he can find, Bear returns to base camp every night for a hot meal and warm bed. Les looks for fairly remote locations to film, Bear is never far from the road. Check out his South Dakota episode, in one scene he comments on how tough the going is as he jumps off this cliff into a small pool. Now go to Youtube and look up "hippie hole, black hills", Bears "wilderness" was a popular swimming hole about a mile from the road (been there many times myself). And lastly Les has never killed anyone, two guys died trying to mimic Grylls and get on his "fan vs wild" episode (search-Two Rafters Drown In Virgin River) and who knows how many more have been killed or injured following his ridiculous "survival" or more aptly "suicidal" advice. These are all facts that can be easily verified with a little research.
Been hiking, Backpacking, Camping former USMC Grunt, with over 40 years and 30,000 plus hiking miles under my belt, and well this guy does provide a lot of outdoor knowledge for the unknowing but I find that often the risks he takes in choosing a path are well, avoidable, dangerous, and a safer path could have been chosen to say the least..
Granted I believe he is just trying to show how it would be done in that situation but there have been a few things that lets say are a bit too much or contrived.
I'll never forget him finding a Bear size trap with a Boat Mooring Hawser ( that is a thick large rope used to dock ships with) attached to the trap out in the Desert...Granted he was able to use the Rope by breaking it down but things like that ruin his creditability...
I've actually become fond of the Man-woemen-Wild Show which is more realistic of what a guy would have to put up with in the wilds with a woemen along, or the "Dual Survival" show hich shows how Team work is very important to survival and the sharing of skills in an unselfish manner...And Les Stroud was an excellent example of what it is really like out there to survive,. Food is not around every corner and you have to work for it...Same with finding Medicinal Plants which I have been doing as hobby for 30 years, there are just not many of them that are available all year long...same with Food Plants. One of the best that is available all year long is the common Cattail. It provides flour, vegetable and Reeds in which to make bedding, shelter and even clothing..
And believe me SAS, SEALS, SOPS Units are NOT the survival experts that one needs to hear about on TV.. Their primed and trained for survival in a combat situation whereas most people need a backyard type of survival skill show..
Glad to see him gone. Bear's "survival" advice was more often in the category of "how to kill yourself" advice. As a Marine Recon officer, a Scout leader, Search & Rescue leader, and Leave No Trace educator, I shudder to think how many times within each of those groups I've had to correct what he has taught, and faced strong opposition from those I've been teaching. If it's on TV it must be real, right?
Bring back Les Stroud, one man, carrying two cameras, often with one on a boom attached to a shoulder rig (therefore the boom shadows mentioned in an earlier post). He's mostly real.
I actually liked the show and found Bear to be very entertaining. However, I do have to agree with some of the comments below that the “advice” he gave on the show was very bad at times. I often got the impression that his actions were more stunts driven by their entertainment value rather than solid advice in life threatening situations (such as jumping into cold water in freezing conditions while you are hopelessly lost in the wilderness.) Despite how Discovery and other similar networks position these types of shows, I think you have to look at these programs as “entertainment” and not true educational documentaries.
I enjoyed the show, but anyone with half a brain, knows they are never more than a cell phone call away from assistance. Still having been in some of the same terrain and circumstances in my career as a geologist, I still tip my hat to Grylls. It is clearly a clash between the star and the suits. It never ends. Bean counters will always queer a deal. I have no doubt Grylls will land on his feet, probably on the Military channel or another venue known for its testosternone. The girly Discovery channel was a weird place for him anyway.
As to the Alaskan macho man: I doubt living in a double wide down the street from a filling station quite qualifies you as living in one of the worlds most forbidding climates, especially if you live near the coast. The north slope, yes, but not the southern coast. There are a lot of places in the lower 48 that I would list as being rougher than Coastal Alaska.
One of the few shows I watch on Discovery... Oh well, hopefully someone else picks him up.
Good luck wherever you end up Bear
Bear takes one camera man with him on his excursions. In survivorman I have caught shadows of the Camera boom and crew following him. If you watch close, you'll catch it. I have seen it more then once. None of these guys is totally alone out there. They are but a phone call away from rescue.
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Deanna Barnert | Los Angeles, Calif.
Entertainment journalist Deanna "TVDeeva" Barnert visits sets, interviews industry players and critiques the final product. Buzz's daytime TV queen covers it all for MSN TV, but loves her sitcoms, soaps and any juicy drama that doesn't call itself Reality TV.
