Walking The Amazon Comes To The Discovery Channel!

I've made little secret of my admiration for Ed Stafford, the man who walked the length of the Amazon River. Ed spent 860 days in the jungle, covering more than 4000 miles in the process, and setting the standard for which all 21st Century expeditions will be measured.

He completed the trek last August, and has been home to the U.K. since, and while Ed works away on a book about his exploits, the Discovery Channel is preparing to share his journey with their audience. They'll air two shows on successive Wednesdays, on February 2 and 9, at 10 PM, which will give us a glimpse into what it was like for Ed to make his epic hike. Check out the trailer and a preview clip below.

Survivorman Les Stroud Returns with New Show!

It seems like just yesterday that the online outdoor community was divided into camps over who was the better wilderness specialist, Bear Grylls or Les Stroud. The two men went head to head with Grylls' Man vs. Wild taking on Stroud's Survivorman. For those of you who missed those stimulating conversations, you're in luck! Les is about to return with an all new show for the Discovery Channel.

The new show is called Beyond Survival, and it will begin airing on Friday, August 27th. This time out, Les will be venturing into the remote corners of the globe once again, but he'll be living amongst the indigenous people there, and learning from them about how to survive in the harsh environments that they call home. Some of the places he'll be visiting include Madagascar, the Kalahari Desert, and Papua New Guinea. Some of the things he'll see and do in these places have never been witnessed by an outside before, which should make for interesting television.

Checkout the preview below.

Want To Be On Discovery Channel's Out of the Wild Season 2?

Casting is about to begin on the second season of Discovery Channel's Emmy-award winning Out of the Wild, a show that dropped nine amateur adventurers into the Alaskan backcountry and followed them as they learned to survive in the harsh environments there. The second season of the show will follow a similar formula, but will send the new team of explorers off to South America instead.

Pilgrim Films, the company that produces the show, is now looking for people to join this new reality show expedition. To be eligible you must be at least 21 years of age, and be available for a series of interviews coming up in October. If you're selected to be a part of the team, you must also be available for approximately a month later in the year for filming the show as well. If you're interested in being a part of the show, send an e-mail to OTWCasting@gmail.com with your name, phone number, a recent photo, and a brief explanation of why you should be on the show. For more information on the casting process click here.

The interesting thing to me is that they are headed to South America this time, but they don't say where they are going. The possibilities are nearly endless with places like Patagonia springing to mind, as it would provide a similar environment to Alaska. But even more intriguing is the thought of them going to the Amazon Jungle or perhaps the Atacama Desert or some place else that would provide an extreme environment that is very different from the last season. Could be interesting. If any of you try out for the show, good luck!

Discovery Channel Launches New Survival Television Program

For years fans of the Discovery Channel were split down the middle on the debate of who was better, Bear Grylls or Les Stroud. The debate went back and fourth and was often heated, with both camps steadfastly defending their guy. Then Les did the unthinkable by deciding he was done with Survivorman, and moving on to other projects. That left us with just Man vs. Wild to quench our need for watching a guy struggle to survive in the wilderness each week.

That's all changing, starting tonight, when Discovery launches its new show Dual Survival, which will throw two unlikely companions together as they struggle against nature and the elements to survive together. The two men in question include the military trained Dave Canterbury and his much more laid back co-host Cody Lundin. As you can imagine, Dave is a much more by the book kind of guy, while Cody is a naturalist who takes a more "hippy" approach to nature and the outdoors. As you can guess, the two don't always see eye to eye on how to survive in the wilderness.

The show makes its debut tonight at 10 PM ET/PT here in the States, and below is a clip of what you can expect. Hmm... could be interesting. Think it'll replace Les?

Thoughts on Everest: Beyond The Limit Season 3

Discovery Channel's third season of Everest: Beyond The Limit began airing this past Sunday, and subsequently finished up last night. The show did offer some amazing views of the mountain, and showed aspects of high altitude mountaineering, but personally I felt that it was mere shadow of its former self, and mostly ended up being a disappointment for me.

In the previous two seasons of the show, Discovery followed teams that were led by Russell Brice's Himex guide service on the North Side of the Mountain, located in Tibet. With the third season, the focus shifted to the South Side of Everest, found in Nepal. Brice's team returned, but the show also added climbers from Eric Simonson's IMG squad to the mix too.

All of this was well known before the show began airing, and it all seemed rather promising, but that was because I kept thinking of the possibilities in reference to the previous two seasons. I thought it would be great to see an in depth, multi-episode show centered around the very different approach to the South Side, with two teams giving us plenty to watch. What we got instead was Everest: Beyond The Limit Lite, a show lacking the depth and focus of the previous seasons, and in many ways it seems that Discovery gave up on the program before it ever aired.

I remarked in a previous post on this blog that it was disturbing that Discovery did little in the way of promotion for the show. I could barely find any reference to it on their website, and debuting the show during the week before Christmas and New Year seems like ratings suicide. Looking at what we ended up getting, I think that was a fairly accurate assessment. I can't imagine fans of the previous two seasons being satisfied with what we've been given this year.

For example, in seasons past, we really got to know the climbers well over a series of episodes that showed them making the entire climb, including acclimatization treks up to each of the established camps on the mountain. Watching this season it seems that a climb up Everest is merely five days of incredibly challenging climbing, rather than the month plus spent preparing for a summit bid. The producers of the show really glossed over the process, focusing instead on a different climber or two each episode who are making their assault on the summit, all the while the narrating reminding us that they are moving into the most dangerous part of the mountain. We're suppose to forget that it is a different "most dangerous part of the mountain" than the last time they mentioned it.

I will commend the show for it's solid camera work, which seemed to get better as the episodes went along. It also did a decent job of breaking down the climb into easy to understand sections, accurately indicating when climbers were on the Lhotse Face, the Yellow Band, or the Hillary Step. They also did a fine job of explaining the basics of mountaineering to a mainstream audience, even if they were a bit overly dramatic at times.

Where the show really dropped the ball for me was with building any kind of chemistry with the climbers, which was previously a strength in seasons past. In Seasons 1 and 2, you really got to know, and care about, the climbers, as you watched them work really hard to go after their goal of the summit. This year, it was a brief introduction of the climbers, and then off they'd go on their climb, with little regard to connecting with the audience.

It's a shame that the show has fallen to this level. While it is still interesting to watch, it is a far cry of what it once was, and has pretty much left me disappointed in the end product. I very much doubt we'll see a Season 4.

Everest: Beyond The Limit Season 3 Schedule Clarified

Leave it to Alan Arnette to figure out what's going on with Discovery Channel's series Everest: Beyond The Limit. Last week I posted a story with the news that it seemed the show was set to begin airing on December 30th and would consist of five episodes. This info came from Tigress Productions website, and seemed to counter rumors that show would begin on Sunday, Dec. 27th.

Turns out, both dates were right, but for different reasons. Alan says in this blog post, that the show will air on both the 27th and 30th, and all five episodes will be broadcast on those two days. It seems episodes 1-3 will be shown on the 27th, beginning at 8 PM Eastern Time. Then on Wednesday the 30th, episodes 4 and 5 will be broadcast, bringing the show to a very quick end. Here's what we can expect to see on those episodes according to Alan:

Episode One covers early trips through the ice fall, David Tait’s summit with the rope fixing team and the ice fall avalanche that killed the Sherpa.
Episode Two concentrates on John Golden’s summit attempt with IMG
Episode Three covers the main IMG team summit on May 20
Episode Four is the first Himex summits on May 21
Episode Five is the second Himex summits on May 23

This is very interesting news for a number of reasons. First, and foremost, I know fans of the show have been waiting for news for some time, and I think it's quite odd that two weeks out, we're still waiting for Discovery to start promoting the show. I also think it's odd that there are only five episodes, and that they are all going to be shown in rapid fire succession, a far cry from years past when the show went on for weeks, and was accompanied by another show called "After the Climb" that broke down in more detail the events that transpired on the mountain, usually with the climbers giving us the scoop. I know that Beyond The Limit has a nice following for Discovery, and after a two year hiatus, you'd think they'd be pushing it's return and milking it for all it's worth. After all, this will be a different show, with new climbers, on a different side of the mountain. It sort of seems like the show is being sent out to die, airing through the holidays, a traditionally slow time for television, without much fan fare.

I guess we should take what we can get and enjoy it for what it is.

Update: The Discovery Channel Schedule does go out to Dec. 27th now, and the show is indeed listed for that Sunday. The three episodes listed for airing that night have the following descriptions:

Episode 1: Everest gives up it's first summit of the season, and takes its first victim.
Episode 2: After a knee injury ended his football career, John Golden overcomes a disability to attempt the highest goal on earth.
Episode 3: Astronaut Scott Parazynski attempts to be the first spacewalker on the summit of Everest.

There you go. Set the DVR's now!

Everest: Beyond The Limit Season 3 News

I know a lot of people have been waiting for news on the third season of Everest: Beyond The Limit, which is said to be coming soon on the Discovery Channel. Like you, I've been wondering when we would receive more information on the show, and when it would begin airing, and so far, Discovery has been mum about any of the details.

Thankfully, Tigress Productions, the U.K. based company that produced the show for Discovery, has a bit more information on their website, where they claim that it will begin broadcasting on December 30th and that they have created five episodes for the 2009 season. This contradicts some of the information I had heard, which seemed to indicate that the show would begin airing on December 27th with a two hour premiere. I'm also a bit surprised at the season being just five episodes in length, as in years past, it has been substantially longer.

Two things to keep in mind with this information however, is that the start date listed could be for the U.K., and since they have different approaches to broadcasting there, the 60 minute episodes listed on their Tigress website could be cut for the BBC, which wouldn't include commercials during the show itself. Cut those five episodes down to 40 minutes each, roughly the length of an American show, sans commercials, and you have at least two more full episodes on top of the five listed. Pure speculation on my part, but a possibility none the less. Of course, Discovery could make it easier on us by just letting us know more about the show.

The third season of the show will follow both the Himex team, led by show favorite Russell Brice, as well as Eric Simonson's International Mountain Guides team, as they go for the summit from the South Side of the mountain, a first for the show, which has always been set on the North Side in Tibet in the past. For fans of the past seasons, it should be fun to watch, as we'll get to see a completely different approach to the climb. For instance, while the North does have plenty of challenges, the South has the dreaded Khumbu Icefalls for climbers to contend with. Can't wait to catch it all.

Discovery Channel Plans Follow-Up To Planet Earth

More interesting news from Discovery Channel today, this time it seems they're planning on producing a high definition follow-up to Planet Earth, and they're so committed to the project that they've hired Keith Scholey, the former head of the BBC's Natural History Unit, to head up the project.

The series will once again span the globe, and will focus on each of the seven continents, one at a time. The first edition will be entitled Wild Planet: North America. The show will begin filming later this year and is expected to be a seven-part epic that will use similar camera techniques and high tech gear that were used in Planet Earth.

I don't know about you, but I personally loved Planet Earth. It is one of my all time favorite documentaries and it was the first thing I purchased on Blu-Ray when I got a high-def player. It is stunningly beautiful, and it caught some of the most amazing outdoor scenery ever. If this new program can come anywhere close to it, I'll be very happy. This Reuters article that teases the story doesn't say when the show will start airing, but I'd guess we're at least a year away if it hasn't gone into production yet. Still, should be something to look forward to in the future.

It's been a good week for Discovery. They announce this upcoming program just a few days after they announce they're launching an adventure travel service in conjunction with G.A.P. Adventures as well. I guess the economic downturn isn't effecting them the way it is the rest of us.

Thanks to Engadget HD for this one.

Discovery Channel Jumping into Adventure Travel

An interesting story today from the Hollywood Reporter of all places that indicates that the Discovery Channel is about to jump into the adventure travel industry in a big away.

According to the story, Discovery has aligned itself with G.A.P. Adventures, widely considered one of the top adventure travel operators in the world, to form a new brand entitled "Discovery Adventures". The website for this new venture will launch in July, and offer 30 trips to a variety of locations around the globe.

The move by Discovery is not a complete surprise, as they announced a strategic plan a number of months back to extend their brand beyond television. They've already announced plans to introduce a line of outdoor gear called "Discovery Expeditions" and they are in discussions with other companies to throw the Discovery logo on other products as well.

Obviously this is a big move for Discovery. Their closest competitor is probably National Geographic, who alread has its own line of adventure trips under the National Geographic Expeditions brand. In the case of Nat Geo, you do end up paying a premium for the trip, but they try to include some extras that you can only get from them, such as having the guide on the trip be one of their Explorers in Residence or something similar. I'm guessing Discovery will do the same. Just be careful when you sign up for the Man vs. Wild Treks or the Deadliest Catch Cruise.

Discovery Channel Airs Disaster on K2 Tonight

The Discovery Channel has added another mountaineering special to it's library and will be airing a show entitled Disaster on K2 tonight at 10 PM EDT/9 PM CDT. I haven't been able to find a whole lot about the specifics of the show itself, nor can I find a link to a page dedicated to it on the Discovery website, but their TV listings give the following description:

When enormous ice walls collapse, seven climbers are trapped near the summit of the most dangerous mountain on earth: K2. With footage and interviews with the few who lived to tell the story, we follow this tale of heroism, survival, and hearbreak.

Obviously the show will take a look at the events that went down last August on K2, and hopefully it'll put everything together for us in a solid timeline, laying out exactly what happened and when. It'll be interesting to see who they got on camera to give interviews about the event, as some of the survivors have been tight lipped about the incident.

Anyway, if you're looking for something to watch tonight, definitely tune in. Discovery has a good reputation when it comes to handling these types of shows, and I expect that this should be solid as well. And if anyone has more information or a link to another page, send it my way.

Man vs. Wild Returns On Monday!

With Les Stroud, and his Survivorman television show, exiting stage left recently, we've had a bit of a void in our outdoor adventure reality television shows. But fear not, as Bear Grylls returns to Discovery Channel next Monday with all new episodes of Man vs. Wild.

The show shifts to Mondays at 10 PM Eastern/9 Central for the first time, and kicks things off with an episode set in the remote jungles of Belize. Future episodes will have Bear tackling the wilds of Transylvania, Turkey, the Yukon Peninsula, and the Badlands of Oregon. And if that wasn't tough enough, later he'll head to the Dominican Republic during the height of the hurricane season.

For a sneak preview of what to expect from these new episodes, check out the video below of Bear doing his best Tarzan imitation. It's pretty crazy stuff, and about what we've come to expect from the man. And if you're a fan of Man vs. Wild you'll definitely want to tune in for these new episodes. With Bear recently injuring himself in the Antarctic, he may be facing a lengthy rehab that could keep him out of action for awhile. From what I hear, he crushed his shoulder and did extensive amounts of damage that could take some time to recover from. Get well soon Bear!

Final Episode of Survivorman Airs Tonight

Heads up for all you fans of the Discovery Channel's Survivorman television show. The last episode will air tonight at 9 PM EST/8 CST and will drop host Les Stroud into the jungles of Papua New Guinea.

The show became very popular, in no small part thanks to it's host, Stroud, who sets off alone in remote places, and demonstrates how to survive in those environments. Les goes completely alone and does his own camerawork, doing his best to give an accurate indication of the challenges he faces while living off the land.

A few months back it was announced that Les was hanging up his survival gear after three seasons. He admitted that the grind of filming took it's toll on his body, and that he was ready to move on to other projects. It's a shame to see him go, as I always liked his approach, but it's also quite understandable. How many of us would want to starve ourselves for a week, while trying to escape from a remote place, only to reach civilization, and then go do it again the following week?

We'll see Les again. He has reportedly already pitched a new show, and I'm sure Discovery is happy to have him in any capacity that they can. Of course, this being Discovery, Survivorman will continue to live in re-runs for a long while yet as well. Good luck Les, can't wait to see your next adventure!

Survivorman To End The Series

It looks like Les Stroud, the host of the popular Discovery Channel television show Survivorman has had it with living alone in the wilderness, foraging for food and water, while capturing it all on film. Les tells reuters that he's filming his last on screen adventure for the series this month in Papua New Guinea, and after that he'll move on to other projects.

Stroud is wrapping up the third season of Survivorman and feels that the show has run it's course. I think the following quote from the article sums it up best:

"You can only do seven days surviving without food a certain number of times a year. I'm pleased with what I have done, I've been copied around the world, but 25 times I've not eaten anything for a week while sleeping on rocks. I need to move on."

I guess fans of the show had better enjoy this last season while we can, although it doesn't sound like Les will be completely gone from the television screen. He mentions that he's working on a possible new show in which he would follow in the footsteps of famous explorers, which sounds like a great premise to me as well. He also reminisces about his favorite and not so favorite moments on the show that made him famous, such as the time he nearly called in his support crew for help after suffering heat stroke in the Kalahari Desert.

Good luck Les! Thanks for three great seasons of Survivorman.

Discovery Channel Brings The Iditarod Home

A week from today, on October 14th, the Discovery Channel will air the first episode it's new series Iditarod which will take an inside look at the iconic Alaskan sled dog race as it's never been seen before.

Billed as "the last great race", the Iditarod is run each year from Anchorage to Nome through some of the most remote backcountry in a state that is mostly made up of backcountry. The trail itself, which has two variations, is over 1000 miles in length, and tests the skill and strength of both the men and the dogs who challenge it.

The show will follow the 2008 Iditarod, which took place last March, and saw 96 teams set out from Anchorage. Discovery hopes to give us an inside look at the men and women who compete in the event, as well as the strategies and training sessions of the top racers.

Over at the show's official site, you'll find information about the top mushers, including Lance Mackey, Jeff King, and DeeDee Jonrowe. You'll also find more information about the trail itself, with some history of the event and the places along the route. If that isn't enough, check out the Iditarod Quiz and a great feature on these very special dogs.

I've already got the DVR set for this one. I'm not sure how they can top the coverage provided by Versus last Spring, which was excellent and very timely, airing just a few weeks after the race. But this is Discovery we're talking about here, so I have not doubt that it'll be very well done. By the way, the Discovery website got a makeover it seems and it was long overdue in my book. It's easier to navigate now and loads a bit quicker too.