History Series / ManVsWild

* BasedOnAGreatBigLie: [[http://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/view/58803Why-SAS-hero-Ryan-cannot-bear-GryllsWhy-SAS-hero-Ryan-cannot-bear-Grylls So says Chris Ryan, actual ex-member of SAS 22, about Grylls's alleged SAS exploits ]]. Later inquiries by reporters seem to show that the host supposedly served in the territorial reserves, SAS 21, which is to SAS 22 about what the US National Guard is to the SEAL units.

Bear also has a new show ''Worst Case Scenario'', which is basically the same show but done with scripted events and special effects in an urban environment.

The series took some flak for orchestrating several of the "natural" or "random" happenings, and for implying that the main character roughs it for the duration of the show, while he has on occasion stayed in a hotel. Some of the more {{egregious}} offenses include Bear taming "wild" horses (actually trained horses brought in for the show) and having a crew member in a bear costume "attack" his campsite. The show has since opened each episode with a disclaimer to explain that not everything shown actually happened as depicted. Furthermore, starting around mid-Season 4, Bear & crew have pretty much given up on hiding scripted events and signs of civilization.

** This was parodied relentlessly and to great effect in the episode "Survivor Man" from TheOffice.

* HiddenBadass: The ''cameraman''. Not only does he do everything that Grylls does, not only does he usually do it first, but he often does it ''multiple times'', to capture footage from different POVs and angles. ''And'' he does it while lugging a camera behind and worrying about getting good shots all the time.

The series is also compared to ''Series/{{Survivorman}}'' and both were once considered DuelingShows... which is odd because they were ''both'' on DiscoveryChannel, and new episodes of one were usually only shown during the off-season of the other.

* {{Badass}}:
** Bear eats weird stuff in every episode, has climbed down a waterfall using a vine, can build anything ranging from traps to a hut designed to help him save water like if he was Angus Series/MacGyver, climbs like the fucking Spiderman, has gotten out of quicksand and other similar stuff several times and every once in a while he decides to do some push-ups like a man instead of reserving the energy for something else. And his past is pretty amazing too.
** In case you're wondering about that past, Bear Grylls is a former SAS Reserve trooper, who not only passed Selection with flying colors, but apparently did ''extremely'' well in the survival training course (he can't talk about it too much, since Selection is a very secretive process).

* TheCastShowOff: Despite complaints about the fictionalized nature of their situation, Bear shows competence in his activities and does all his own stunts, including skydiving from a helicopter.

* DuelingShows: As mentioned, with {{Survivorman}}.
* FollowTheLeader: Count the number of shows with an "X Vs Y" naming motif, since ''Man Vs. Wild'' debuted. The show itself is considered by some to be this to ''Survivorman''.

The series took some flak for orchestrating several of the "natural" or "random" happenings, and for implying that the main character roughs it for the duration of the show, while he has on occasion stayed in a hotel. Some of the more {{egregious}} offenses include Bear taming "wild" horses (actually trained horses brought in for the show) and having a crew member in a bear costume "attack" his campsite. The show has since opened each episode with a disclaimer to explain that not everything shown actually happened as depicted. Furthermore, starting around mid-Season 4, Bear & crew have pretty much given up on [[ViewersAreMorons hiding scripted events and signs of civilization]].

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Man_vs_Wild_4270.jpg
%%[[caption-width:350:caption text here]]

The series is also compared to ''{{Survivorman}}'' and both were once considered DuelingShows... which is odd because they were ''both'' on DiscoveryChannel, and new episodes of one were usually only shown during the off-season of the other.

* GoshHornet: Bear has some trouble getting honey from a bee's nest in season 1.

* EstrogenBrigadeBait: Bear himself, what with his frequent ShirtlessScene[=s=] and all.
** Pantsless scenes too.

* OnceAnEpisode: ...Bear jumps out of a plane, climbs up or slides down something, and eats something digusting.

* {{Badass}}: Bear eats weird stuff in every episode, has climbed down a waterfall using a vine, can build anything ranging from traps to a hut designed to help him save water like if he was Angus Series/MacGyver, climbs like the fucking Spiderman, has gotten out of quicksand and other similar stuff several times and every once in a while he decides to do some push-ups like a man instead of reserving the energy for something else. And his past is pretty amazing too.

* An episode that broadcast in between Seasons 3 and 4 featured ''Will Ferrell'' accompanying Bear through mountains of Sweden. And he was surprisingly competent.
** JakeGyllenhaal appeared on an episode, as well, accompanying Bear through mountains of Iceland.

* DuelingShows: as mentioned, with {{Survivorman}}.

* ShirtlessScene: on a fairly frequent basis (perhaps not quite once an episode, but close). Pantsless almost as often.
* StyrofoamRocks: most of the show. Admittedly, being targeted primarily at adolescents, it has not particularly strained for realism during its conception stage, but it ended up [[{{Kayfabe}} being promoted as "the real thing"]], with many of its fans [[ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve believing it to be one]] - even after the media started publishing leaked stories of Grylls "surviving" in five-star hotels, "constructing" rafts and [[http://www.heraldsun.com.au/entertainment/tv-radio/bear-grilled-over-toughness/comments-e6frf9ho-1226128378659 equipment]] [[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1020498/Bear-V-Mears-BBC-survival-expert-says-Channel-4-rival-just-showman.html pre-made by actual survival experts]], capturing "wild" horses ([[SpecialEffectsFailure with horseshoes]]), [[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-470155/How-Bear-Grylls-Born-Survivor-roughed--hotels.html using special effects to add drama to the footage, and much more]]. Some time after [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UpSlpvb1is a real volcanologist busted one of the show's most notorious episodes]], revealing some of the trickery [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBmhNA7JME4 - such as using charcoal, lighting and lighter fluid to create the "dangerous lava" within walking distance of a tourist parking spot]] - the network started adding a disclaimer at the beginning of the show. The most derided episodes, such as the one with the fake lava, are now sometimes omitted in the show's reruns.

* TelevisionGeography: again, much of the show (though it will usually be only obvious to those somehow familiar with the locations). During an "urban jungle" special, Grylls explored the sewers in "an abandoned Eastern European settlement" (which was actually a disused section of an otherwise normally operating shipyard in Poland), walking through them for a few minutes and eventually "finding civilization", as he emerged in the middle of a street... which happens to be located in another Polish town, about 20 km away.

!!This TV show contains examples Of:

* TheAmazon: and other isolated locales.

* CelebrityStar: An episode that broadcast in between Seasons 3 and 4 featured ''Will Ferrell'' accompanying Bear through mountains of Sweden. And he was surprisingly competent.
** JakeGyllenhaal will appear on an episode, as well.

* HiddenBadass: the ''cameraman''. Not only does he do everything that Grylls does, not only does he usually do it first, but he often does it ''multiple times'', to capture footage from different POVs and angles. ''And'' he does it while lugging a camera behind and worrying about getting good shots all the time.

* TheAmazon - and other isolated locales.

* {{Badass}} - Bear eats weird stuff in every episode, has climbed down a waterfall using a vine, can build anything ranging from traps to a hut designed to help him save water like if he was Angus Series/MacGyver, climbs like the fucking Spiderman, has gotten out of quicksand and other similar stuff several times and every once in a while he decides to do some push-ups like a man instead of reserving the energy for something else. And his past is pretty amazing too.

* CelebrityStar - An episode that broadcast in between Seasons 3 and 4 featured ''Will Ferrell'' accompanying Bear through mountains of Sweden. And he was surprisingly competent.

* DuelingShows - as mentioned, with {{Survivorman}}.
* EstrogenBrigadeBait - Bear himself, what with his frequent ShirtlessScene[=s=] and all.

* FollowTheLeader - Count the number of shows with an "X Vs Y" naming motif, since ''Man Vs. Wild'' debuted. The show itself is considered by some to be this to ''Survivorman''.
* GoshHornet - Bear has some trouble getting honey from a bee's nest in season 1.

* LeParkour - Bear mentions that the French military is now using parkour as a technique for traversing rough terrain quickly, but for what Bear himself looks like when he tries it, see UnnecessaryCombatRoll.
* LuckilyMyPowersWillProtectMe - Bear regularly employs a real-life version of this trope; he pauses at some point in the episode just to explain to the viewers how particularly dangerous a certain course of action would be, often with a story about someone who was killed trying that exact same thing. Then he does precisely that, followed by his crew. To date, he is not dead.

* OnceAnEpisode - ...Bear jumps out of a plane, climbs up or slides down something, and eats something digusting.
* RealityIsUnrealistic - Evidently, when he's not desperately trying to survive in the godforsaken regions of the planet, Bear is a ''vegetarian''.

* ShirtlessScene - on a fairly frequent basis (perhaps not quite once an episode, but close). Pantsless almost as often.

* StyrofoamRocks: most of the show. Admittedly, being targeted primarily at adolescents, it has not particularly strained for realism during its conception stage, but it ended up being promoted as "the real thing", with many of its fans [[ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve believing it to be one]] - even after the media started publishing leaked stories of Grylls "surviving" in five-star hotels, "constructing" rafts and [[http://www.heraldsun.com.au/entertainment/tv-radio/bear-grilled-over-toughness/comments-e6frf9ho-1226128378659 equipment]] [[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1020498/Bear-V-Mears-BBC-survival-expert-says-Channel-4-rival-just-showman.html pre-made by actual survival experts]], capturing "wild" horses ([[SpecialEffectsFailure with horseshoes]]), [[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-470155/How-Bear-Grylls-Born-Survivor-roughed--hotels.html using special effects to add drama to the footage, and much more]]. Some time after [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UpSlpvb1is a real volcanologist busted one of the show's most notorious episodes]], revealing some of the trickery [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBmhNA7JME4 - such as using charcoal, lighting and lighter fluid to create the "dangerous lava" within walking distance of a tourist parking spot]] - the network started adding a disclaimer at the beginning of the show. The most derided episodes, such as the one with the fake lava, are now sometimes omitted in the show's reruns.

** Of course, ever since the show was revealed to be largely staged (the "wild" locations are often just off the road, and the crew does help him and share their supplies, so he's in no real danger), one realizes that he's just breaking his ethics to make better [=TV=].
*** Not every vegetarian is one because of ethical reasons.

''Man vs Wild'' is a Creator/DiscoveryChannel show in which famed survivalist Bear Grylls (actually a [[OnlyKnownByTheirNickname nickname]]), runs the audience through techniques and strategies to keep yourself alive when lost and lonely in the wilderness. The show ran from 2006 to 2011.

* StyrofoamRocks: most of the show. Admittedly, being targeted primarily at adolescents, it has not particularly strained for realism during its conception stage, but it ended up being promoted as "the real thing", with many of its fans [[ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve believing it to be one]] - even after the media started publishing leaked stories of Grylls "surviving" in five-star hotels, "constructing" rafts and [[http://www.heraldsun.com.au/entertainment/tv-radio/bear-grilled-over-toughness/comments-e6frf9ho-1226128378659 equipment]] pre-made by actual survival experts, capturing "wild" horses ([[SpecialEffectsFailure with horseshoes]]), [[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-470155/How-Bear-Grylls-Born-Survivor-roughed--hotels.html using special effects to add drama to the footage, and much more]]. Some time after [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UpSlpvb1is a real volcanologist busted one of the show's most notorious episodes]], revealing some of the trickery [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBmhNA7JME4 - such as using charcoal, lighting and lighter fluid to create the "dangerous lava" within walking distance of a tourist parking spot]] - the network started adding a disclaimer at the beginning of the show. The most derided episodes, such as the one with the fake lava, are now sometimes omitted in the show's reruns.

* StyrofoamRocks: most of the show. Admittedly, being targeted primarily at adolescents, it has not particularly strained for realism during its conception stage, but it ended up being promoted as "the real thing", with many of its fans [[ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve believing it to be one]] - even after the media started publishing leaked stories of Grylls "surviving" in five-star hotels, "constructing" rafts pre-made by actual survival experts, capturing "wild" horses ([[SpecialEffectsFailure with horseshoes]]), [[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-470155/How-Bear-Grylls-Born-Survivor-roughed--hotels.html using special effects to add drama to the footage, and much more]]. Some time after [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UpSlpvb1is a real volcanologist busted one of the show's most notorious episodes]], revealing some of the trickery [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBmhNA7JME4 - such as using charcoal, lighting and lighter fluid to create the "dangerous lava" within walking distance of a tourist parking spot]] - the network started adding a disclaimer at the beginning of the show. The most derided episodes, such as the one with the fake lava, are now sometimes omitted in the show's reruns.

* AdaptationDistillation: Actually present, in that the show's concept, the pitch and even the first written material was supposed to be a much more realistic show, with genuinely helpful advice. Once the development began, though, it gradually morphed into the eventual "Rolling, Jumping & Eating Bugs."

* BasedOnAGreatBigLie: [[So says Chris Ryan, actual ex-member of SAS 22, about Grylls's alleged SAS exploits http://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/view/58803Why-SAS-hero-Ryan-cannot-bear-GryllsWhy-SAS-hero-Ryan-cannot-bear-Grylls]]. Later inquiries by reporters seem to show that the host supposedly served in the territorial reserves, SAS 21, which is to SAS 22 about what the US National Guard is to the SEAL units.

* StyrofoamRocks: most of the show. Admittedly, being targeted primarily at adolescents, it has not particularly strained for realism during its conception stage, but it ended up being promoted as "the real thing", with many of its fans [[ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve believing it to be one]] - even after the media started publishing leaked stories of Grylls "surviving" in five-star hotels, "constructing" rafts pre-made by actual survival experts, capturing "wild" horses ([[SpecialEffectsFailure with horseshoes]]), [[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-470155/How-Bear-Grylls-Born-Survivor-roughed--hotels.html using special effects to add drama to the footage, and much more]]. Some time after [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UpSlpvb1is a real volcanologist busted one of the show's most notorious episodes]], revealing some of the trickery [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBmhNA7JME4 - such as using charcoal, lighting and lighter fluid to create the "dangerous lava" within walking distance of a tourist parking spot]], the network started adding a disclaimer at the beginning of the show. The most derided episodes, such as the one with the fake lava, are now sometimes omitted in the show's reruns.