I was disappointed to read that a lot of the stunts are not only staged, but that bear grylls doesn't even do a lot of the stuff. I always liked Survivor Man Les Stroud a little better, but this solidifies it. There are reports all over the net that he actually stays in hotels while shooting.
Latest TV fake scenes: 'Grizzly attack' on survival show was man in fancy-dress bear costume
By JAMES TAPPER - More by this author ? Last updated at 15:18pm on 30th July 2007
Bear Grylls in his makeshift shelter for the Discovery programme
Apparently in great danger, he bravely filmed a black shape rustling around the embers of his campfire, before telling viewers of the dangers of wild bears and fleeing the camp.
Yet survival expert Ron Hood has claimed the black shape seen in the show was not a man-eating grizzly but actually a colleague in a costume.
The Discovery Channel, which aired the show, insisted that the pantomime bear outfit was hired "as a prank" by the crew and no footage which included the bear costume was broadcast.
But the programme does include a shot of a dark black shape, rustling in the camp a few feet away - something Discovery was unable to explain.
The makers of the show originally tried to hire a tame bear but the plan fell through
Mr Hood, who was hired by producers Diverse TV as an adviser for the show, said the makers originally tried to hire a tame bear, but asked him to find a fancy-dress costume when the plan fell through.
And while viewers are led to believe the 'bear' incident is spontaneous, the scene was scripted long in advance. The Mail on Sunday has obtained a script in which the scene is headlined 'Grizzly Attacks Camp'.
The stunt was filmed for Grylls's Discovery Channel series Man Vs Wild, broadcast last October, in which the Eton-educated former SAS Territorial Army soldier is parachuted into remote regions to survive off the land for five days.
Some episodes were also broadcast on Channel 4 as Bear Grylls: Born Survivor, but not the one featuring the bear incident, which was set in the Rocky Mountains.
Channel 4 began an investigation last week after it emerged that Grylls does not sleep rough in the woods, as is claimed in the show, but instead stays in hotels.
Grylls on his 'self-made' raft in an episode of 'Born Survivor'
The Rocky Mountain programme features several scenes which Discovery admitted were "not natural to the environment".
They included scenes where Grylls apparently killed a snake and ate it (the snake was found dead by the side of the road), cooked a dead badger (actually a steak inside a badger skin), and freed himself when his parachute tangled in a tree (he was pulled up into the tree and wore a safety harness).
But the bear scene was the show's moment of high drama.
Grylls sets up viewers' anticipation by explaining how he has pitched camp, building a shelter in an area of forest packed with grizzly bears ? a species, he makes clear, which is known to attack and kill humans.
The next scene shows Grylls - whose real first name is Edward - hiding in his shelter, full of fear in the darkness, as he speaks into the mike of a hand-held camera.
"There's definitely something out here," he says.
"I just heard a really heavy footstep out there, and I don't know..."
There is rustling and scraping around the shelter.
"I don't like this at all. I don't like this," he says.
The tension builds as Grylls crawls out of his shelter and films a black shadow moving a few yards away. Back inside the shelter, Grylls says: "I haven't heard from it now for a few minutes. And it might well have just moved away, but sure as hell it knows I'm here. And it knows I've hidden food here.
"And I don't know a huge amount about bears but what I do know is that if they come into your camp and they see you there, you need to clear that camp, and fast."
He scurries out of his shelter, pulls on his pack and leaves.
Yet the only thing Grylls was in danger of, according to Mr Hood, was bumping into his film crew.
Mr Hood said the mysterious shape was actually a crew member wearing the bear suit.
"They decided they wanted to somehow dramatise the attack on Edward's shelter," Mr Hood said.
"They filmed the crew shaking the shelter to give the impression that the bear was coming in and then they put the bear's nose in through the side of the shelter which Edward filmed.
"Everyone thought it was all quite funny, but we spent all evening working on it. They were quite serious about it."
An early script shows how the producers conceived the scene, titled 'Scene 10 - Grizzly Attacks Camp'.
It gives directions: "Bear...wakes up in the middle of the night when he hears a loud noise. The camera watches him just as he wonders what the noise is. This will have to look like video diary hand-held.
"The camera peeks out of the shelter and in the darkness we see a movement in the bushes, a roar and somethying (sic) rip the food bagh [sic] from the tree. The pictures will be treated to look like night vision."
Most of the footage was not used, but the sounds of shuffling in the woods was the film crew, Mr Hood said, and the dark black shape was the crew member in the bear outfit.
Last week it was revealed that episodes of Born Survivor screened on Channel 4 included faked or set-up scenes. One showed Grylls making his own raft while stuck on a desert island.
In fact it was built by a team led by a survival expert, and the island was in Hawaii - within close reach of a motel.
A spokesman for Discovery said: "The pranks that were filmed were just that, they were never intended for air, nor did they make the final cut.
"Essential health and safety precautions and incidents which were not natural to the environment will in future be completely transparent, with all elements of the filming being explained to viewers.
"This will also apply to repeated programmes which will be re-cut and include a disclaimer at the beginning."
Latest TV fake scenes: 'Grizzly attack' on survival show was man in fancy-dress bear costume
By JAMES TAPPER - More by this author ? Last updated at 15:18pm on 30th July 2007
Bear Grylls in his makeshift shelter for the Discovery programme
Apparently in great danger, he bravely filmed a black shape rustling around the embers of his campfire, before telling viewers of the dangers of wild bears and fleeing the camp.
Yet survival expert Ron Hood has claimed the black shape seen in the show was not a man-eating grizzly but actually a colleague in a costume.
The Discovery Channel, which aired the show, insisted that the pantomime bear outfit was hired "as a prank" by the crew and no footage which included the bear costume was broadcast.
But the programme does include a shot of a dark black shape, rustling in the camp a few feet away - something Discovery was unable to explain.
The makers of the show originally tried to hire a tame bear but the plan fell through
Mr Hood, who was hired by producers Diverse TV as an adviser for the show, said the makers originally tried to hire a tame bear, but asked him to find a fancy-dress costume when the plan fell through.
And while viewers are led to believe the 'bear' incident is spontaneous, the scene was scripted long in advance. The Mail on Sunday has obtained a script in which the scene is headlined 'Grizzly Attacks Camp'.
The stunt was filmed for Grylls's Discovery Channel series Man Vs Wild, broadcast last October, in which the Eton-educated former SAS Territorial Army soldier is parachuted into remote regions to survive off the land for five days.
Some episodes were also broadcast on Channel 4 as Bear Grylls: Born Survivor, but not the one featuring the bear incident, which was set in the Rocky Mountains.
Channel 4 began an investigation last week after it emerged that Grylls does not sleep rough in the woods, as is claimed in the show, but instead stays in hotels.
Grylls on his 'self-made' raft in an episode of 'Born Survivor'
The Rocky Mountain programme features several scenes which Discovery admitted were "not natural to the environment".
They included scenes where Grylls apparently killed a snake and ate it (the snake was found dead by the side of the road), cooked a dead badger (actually a steak inside a badger skin), and freed himself when his parachute tangled in a tree (he was pulled up into the tree and wore a safety harness).
But the bear scene was the show's moment of high drama.
Grylls sets up viewers' anticipation by explaining how he has pitched camp, building a shelter in an area of forest packed with grizzly bears ? a species, he makes clear, which is known to attack and kill humans.
The next scene shows Grylls - whose real first name is Edward - hiding in his shelter, full of fear in the darkness, as he speaks into the mike of a hand-held camera.
"There's definitely something out here," he says.
"I just heard a really heavy footstep out there, and I don't know..."
There is rustling and scraping around the shelter.
"I don't like this at all. I don't like this," he says.
The tension builds as Grylls crawls out of his shelter and films a black shadow moving a few yards away. Back inside the shelter, Grylls says: "I haven't heard from it now for a few minutes. And it might well have just moved away, but sure as hell it knows I'm here. And it knows I've hidden food here.
"And I don't know a huge amount about bears but what I do know is that if they come into your camp and they see you there, you need to clear that camp, and fast."
He scurries out of his shelter, pulls on his pack and leaves.
Yet the only thing Grylls was in danger of, according to Mr Hood, was bumping into his film crew.
Mr Hood said the mysterious shape was actually a crew member wearing the bear suit.
"They decided they wanted to somehow dramatise the attack on Edward's shelter," Mr Hood said.
"They filmed the crew shaking the shelter to give the impression that the bear was coming in and then they put the bear's nose in through the side of the shelter which Edward filmed.
"Everyone thought it was all quite funny, but we spent all evening working on it. They were quite serious about it."
An early script shows how the producers conceived the scene, titled 'Scene 10 - Grizzly Attacks Camp'.
It gives directions: "Bear...wakes up in the middle of the night when he hears a loud noise. The camera watches him just as he wonders what the noise is. This will have to look like video diary hand-held.
"The camera peeks out of the shelter and in the darkness we see a movement in the bushes, a roar and somethying (sic) rip the food bagh [sic] from the tree. The pictures will be treated to look like night vision."
Most of the footage was not used, but the sounds of shuffling in the woods was the film crew, Mr Hood said, and the dark black shape was the crew member in the bear outfit.
Last week it was revealed that episodes of Born Survivor screened on Channel 4 included faked or set-up scenes. One showed Grylls making his own raft while stuck on a desert island.
In fact it was built by a team led by a survival expert, and the island was in Hawaii - within close reach of a motel.
A spokesman for Discovery said: "The pranks that were filmed were just that, they were never intended for air, nor did they make the final cut.
"Essential health and safety precautions and incidents which were not natural to the environment will in future be completely transparent, with all elements of the filming being explained to viewers.
"This will also apply to repeated programmes which will be re-cut and include a disclaimer at the beginning."
Yeah, I can just see Agent, trapped in the desert, eating bugs and drinking elephant dung. The show is not even as entertaining as Fear Factor - at least those people won something.
