Maybe I'm living on a different planet. I've never heard of it/him.

Consider yourself LUCKY

BF

So I happened to be flipping back and forth between the Discovery Channel and NBC when commercials poppped on. Apparently there were no more "Dirty Jobs" on so I pop in at the moment that our good buddy Bear Grylls happens to come into fairly close contact with a brown bear in Romania.

He then commenced to not just doing the wrong thing, but also giving the wrong advice about how to deal with coming into close proximity with a bear.

He saw this bear, kneeled down with the camera guy and started to be quiet, trying to hide from the bear and didn't realize they were that close at that point in time. Of course the bear's path happened to be coming in their general direction, yet instead of doing the smart thing, standing in the open and talking, letting the bear know you're there before it gets to close and you startle it, he continued to try and let the bear not know he was there.

Lucky for him the bear saw movement from someone, smelled somebody close or heard something and promptly made a line paralell to where ol' Bear was hiding.

Here's where it gets even worse. He then decides to tell the audience, the best thing to do with a bear charge is to stand your ground. Not horrible advice, they might be just bluff charging and it isn't like you're going to outrun a bear and no reason to trigger that predator instinct by running. Right?

You'd think so. Bu he then tell the viewer option number 2 for a bear charge is running. What?! He tells you to run, throwing your pack on the ground so the bear will go for the pack because that's where the smell is coming from and that'll divert the bear's attention. That's a nice theory, assuming the bear thinks that the pack is food and the thing running away from it isn't the thing it really would rather eat or attack. So pretty much, he told everyone to do the wrong damn thing.

Now I know this is the wrong advice because I've had my fair share of bear encounters, and every time I stood in plain view, talked and let the bear see me without any sudden movements or anything like that. Everytime they've walked away or ran away and that was the end of that. You don't run away hoping the darn thing goes for your pack instead of you. If anything, you keep your pack on and fall to the ground, face first in a curled up position and hope the bear ends up biting the hell out of your pack and you get away with some inevitable injuries and your life. There's no way you're going to outrun an animal that's faster than a horse. Even climbing a tree doesn't guarantee safety.

Just thought this would solidify some stuff because this is some of the worst advice I've seen him give.

Matt:

Good post. What a yahoo! We need to keep exposing this fraud.

I don't think it was a bear - the bear episode was already debunked as an extra in a bear suit + stock bear footage. Or has
he done another one.. good god..

That guy was in another show..."Escape to the Legion" if I recall...about he and a few other guys going through a couple weeks of French Foreign Legion training. At the end, a Legion Commander was to award their efforts with a "Képi Blanc" (a white hat) ceremony. The look on that commanders face was priceless. "Ok, here's you're souvenir hat....now move on..."

Well I don't know what episode might have had an extra in a bear suit, but this bear was a legitimate, real-life brown bear. If it was an extra in a bear suit in this one, well then that has to be about the best bear suit and actor inside ever because they completely fooled me.

The bear suit was one of the very first episodes. It involved him hearing the "bear", causing him to make the decision that he'd better run for it through a forest of trees in the pitch black of night. The episode as shown did not show the guy in the bear suit (probably because it looked fake even to the producers). The story is that the crew tried to get a real trained bear but that fell through at the last minute, so they dressed a crew member up in a suit for the shot.

BTW, this was also the episode where he jumps into a river to "elude the bear" and you can see that he's wearing a life vest under his shirt.

If you want to see all the wool this show has pulled over viewers eyes, check out BearWiki.

This guy's show is going to get someone killed. Unfortunately, a lot of people think it's entertaining - in the same way that "Fear Factor" is. We're watching it to see what other disgusting things Grylls will do in the name of TV. Pretty hard to top drinking elephant dung juice, though. That was even worse than drinking his own urine.

What they need is a disclaimer like The Psychic Network (remember that one?) "For Entertainment Only".

Well there is a disclaimer. It isn't quite so cut and clean as what you suggested, but it is there at the beginning of every show. Of course I'm sure most people don't bother reading it. That's just too inconvenient. Right?

Yeah, they do have one - it's obviously written by a lawyer or a politician. Instead of just saying the show is scripted, staged, and directed with Bear as the stunt man, they say this:



The problem as I see it is that people take the show seriously - you can see that on Discovery's forum. They really think Grylls is showing them valid survival techniques, and Discovery's moderators take no action to dissuade them. They sure are quick to ban those who point out the show's misinformation, though.

Well, that brings the Discovery Channel down on my respect spectrum if they delete posts "not good" for the show. I might have to go check these forums out just to see what's what. It might prove entertaining.

I can not stand Man vs. Wild, but Survivor Man is a great show.

Well to be quite honest. I only watch his show now to see what kinda major intestinal bug he will ingest next. I was flipping channels after installing my moms new HDTV and stopped to show her some of the crazy stuff Bear does. As soon we started watching he rinsed off something from the bear scat and ate it. I laughed and convinced her that I don't do that kinda stuff. Even though Bear might be trying to abide by the LNT ethic. I would be leaving traces everywhere if I ate or even smelled some of the stuff he eats. Maybe Bear can start a new show. "Things that Bear can eat" Yummm

chaz:

Just as long as you didn't get her "hooked" on Bear, in HDTV no less.

I'm wondering if the "props dept." isn't providing him with chocolate that resembles scat; they might just be carving up Cadbury chocolate truffles in the shape of bugs and deer pellets and such. In fact, I think that last dragonfly he ate was on what looked like a tootsie-pop stick.

I don't think those things are fake. I mean it is possible that he just doesn't care and does it for ratings and money. Which imo is exactly what hes doing.

Sure, well he's got to do something to keep me watching it. Who doesn't enjoy being grossed out once in a while?

Reminds me of Bill Murray in Meatballs describing how the campers get to stalk and kill their own bear.

GDeadphans:

"I don't think those things are fake. I mean it is possible that he just doesn't care and does it for ratings and money. Which imo is exactly what he's doing."

You're right on that, except he DOES care. He eats disgusting things because he cares for the money.

In 1969, Peter Sellers, Ringo Starr and John Cleese were in a movie that did better at predicting the future than any sci-fi film of that era. The style is a bit dated, but they hit it "spot on" with the "vat scene" in The Magic Christian, where Sellers and Starr prove that people will literally dive into a vat of blood, urine and poop for $$$.

It was a prophetic moment; the vat, of course, is television, and more specifically, reality TV. Today, people will do anything, including faking a night out in a tent -- even really eat berries in bear poop -- for $$.

Face it, our negativity on this topic is because we feel Bear has exploited our "sport," our passion, to get a little fame that parlays into books, the show, celebrity-status -- and bucks.

I for one would care less if Bear had eaten bugs and swam in a vat of %&*$ before they recorded his every move surviving a cricket match by delivering the last ball underarm along the ground, preventing the batsman from hitting it. With no interest, I could care less about either his throw or his reality cricket show. But some cricket fans in New Zealand would sure be upset.

"Cut him down, bosun. He's been flogged enough."

i think grylls is smarter than his producers let him be.

its almost as if the show is geared to be like fear factor.

i for one love survivorman with les stroud. you can see the huge difference in production.

[quote=kevonionia]GDeadphans:

"I don't think those things are fake. I mean it is possible that he just doesn't care and does it for ratings and money. Which imo is exactly what he's doing."

<b>You're right on that, except he DOES care. He eats disgusting things because he cares for the money.[/b]

Yea, well, that is the only caring he does.

However, I still watch this show, because it does portray the outdoors. When I watch that show I look at gear, or the places of the world he is at and how nice it is, and how much I wish I was out there. Its not to learn how to cross a raging river with a log, I know I wouldn't do that. I do get annoyed with him hyping up situations that aren't really that bad...

Well, and now it seems he'll have an appropriate co-star:

http://www.comingsoon.net/news/tvnews.php?id=54539

Well I'll probably watch for the laughs even though there won't be any real "survival." Although now I'm totally turned off towards the show and its now apparent open commercialism.