National Geographic is preparing for a new television show, set to begin airing on Saturday, called Alone in the Wild. The premise of the show is not unlike Survivorman, but in this case, show host Ed Wardle is dropped into the Yukon Territory of Canada, and spends the show crossing the remote region on foot, trying to make it out alive.
The unique element of the show is that it is ongoing right now, and you can follow Ed’s adventure on the show’s website. He is currently 18 days into the journey, which is projected to take him three months to complete. Wardle has a background in shooting adventure films and has extensive experience in mountaineering and wilderness survival, and just like his Survivorman counterpart, Les Stroud, he’s shooting all the video himself. You can learn more about that process here.
The website not only keeps a running counter of how long Ed’s been out in the wild, but also has him using Twitter to send updates from the field. There is also more information about Ed’s background, as well as the dangers he is facing in the Yukon.
Lets hope this show is better than Expedition Africa, which turned out to be a big disappointment to me. While the scenery was great and the premise was sound, what we got was a reality show with Type-A personalities being argumentative while the hiked from Point A to Point B, while occasionally taking a ride in a Subaru Outback. (Was there worse product placement in a show ever?)
Set your DVR’s for Alone in the Wild. It gets started Saturday, July 25th at 9 PM EDT.
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"The premise of the show is not unlike Man vs. Wild…"
"…just like his Man vs. Wild counterpart, Les Stroud…"
As I'm sure will be pointed out thousands of times, Les Stroud does the "Survivorman" series.
Of course! Thanks for the correction. 🙂
I agree about Expedition Africa, it definitely had the reality show feel and really failed to offer anything educational about adventure at all. After three episodes I lost interest but found my girlfriend loved it. She also frequents channels such as VH1 and MTV for their "quality" TV.
Nat Geo usually has some quality content and I look forward to see if "Alone in the Wild" will live up to the hype. It seems like a great concept.
Yeah, I think Alone in the Wild sounds great too. It's like Survivorman, but focuses one "season" on one location. I like that it's airing as it's also ongoing.
I can't express how disappointed I was in Expedition Africa. While I did watch every episode, I couldn't help but feel that they really missed an opportunity with the show. I'd much rather have seen a show about the group working together against the environment rather than battling each other while the environment merely looked pretty in the background.
I went to Adventure Mag blog and left a pretty "brutal comment" about the show.
"Man vs Wild…","Survivorman","Expedition Africa", don't we have enough of those " survivors shows "?
As for us ( those who follow "adventures" ), let's just be brutally honest- we WANT to be on one of those shows. Screw the "surviving skills ", I am willing to starve, freeze, experience "psychological effects" of "being alone" for a chance to travel to anywhere.
The interesting thing is : it lasts longer. I like Les stroud and Bear Grylls's shows. They put themselves in risky situations but their health and mind is more or less always to the top.
The human body starts to lack vitamins, be very tired etc… after 3 weeks. So a solo adventure that last at least one month is always putting you to the real test, where your mind and cognitive reactions (thinking) will be modified under stress. From that moment you not only deal with nature and wildlife, but more importantly with yourself. No one knows how he will react after that time on his own with no human contact. But trust me it's a wonderful 'freaking' experience the first time.
And oh yeah, if you wanna do things like that, please go gradully, start with 48hours without seeing anyone, then 1 week, than more.
But the above mentioned show doesnt bring new things except the technology and maybe also the act that it is shown while underway, while adventurers-explorers usually make their doco a few months or years after being back.
My favorite adventure film is "Alone across Australia". If you have the chance to see it, go for it!
Ed,
Thanks so much for the effort, but I have never been more let down. Not even sure what to say. You have rations, a gun, and fishing gear… oh, and you also had the 'team' drop you additional rations because you couldnt do it on your own.
I wanted to see a Survival Special, and I followed it for a few weeks only to see you quit, even with the extra help. What was the point of the Special again? To prove that most people fall of short of reaching their dreams? Thanks Ed, for the let down. I appreciate the effort, but not the quitting.
Better luck next time.
My name is Gary Kelely and I would have been able to do it. 3 months is nothing I know how to survive and I've never been in the wilderness before Give me everything you had and I would do it