New BG Series

[JonathanD]

The new Grylls series is on Discovery now. Put it on in he background while I'm rabbiting on here.

It's a different format. he's not doing his solo gung ho stuff that get's criticism, but is with a big group recreating survival scenarios and testing rescue and survival techniques. I'm about half an hour in, and so far it's a completely new and decent programme with sound advice. Not sure if it will continue this way, but so far, it has my attention.

 

[TeeDee]

Erhh?! , Whats it called JD?

 

[JonathanD]

Bear Grylls:Born Survivor. Same title, different programme format. Still quite good and 25 mins to run. It's on Discovery now and repeated on +1 at 22:00.

 

[Gleams]

Thanks for the heads up. Just set the sky box to record it. I'll watch it when i get time

 

[jonajuna]

thanks for the heads up, forgot it was due to start! eeek, kids wouldve killed me, now on series link

 

[Retired Member southey]

Sky+ has my back here, Alex Polizzi has won the nine O'Clock vote tonight.

 

[jonnie drake]

I thought you meant a bernie garland knife

 

[JonathanD]

BG said he had more clout to make the programme more like he wanted. If this is what he meant, I'll give him a big thumbs up. Early days yet though as it may still creep back to the old format as it has done in past series. So far, so good.

 

[Samon]

just set it to record on +1! one question.. is he using his action man knife?

 

[JonathanD]

just set it to record on +1! one question.. is he using his action man knife?

Hehe, not yet. Just a Silky boy saw and a Light My Fire Scout. No sign of his Gerber branded stuff yet.

 

[Samon]

Hehe, not yet. Just a Silky boy saw and a Light My Fire Scout. No sign of his Gerber branded stuff yet.

haha only time will tell how serious he is about educating then!

 

[JonathanD]

haha only time will tell how serious he is about educating then!

True, I handled the new Gerber. Obviously it's no Bayley, but for the price point and as he is a big hero for the kids and that has to be low. It's actually OK. He really abuses his knives quite badly, so if it survives him, it will be OK for scouts and weekend adventurers without any worries. Us folk here are the minority in terms of people that watch his stuff. He should have gone with Mora, but would they have been able to chuck out the whole range? The firesteel is quite good too. Not handled the other stuff, so could be awful.

 

[JonathanD]

Even better he get's really hurt. I love the muffled 'Aaaaarrrgh' you hear as the camera hits him at 40mph.

 

[Samon]

haha I'll watch it later with a glass of cider when my wife has gone to bed!

I loved it when he got stung in the face by a bee, it showed the kids watching he's just as vulnerable as the rest of us and that his stupid tv stunts are dangerous.

I'm interested to see if he's genuinely trying to remake his 'image' because as it is I can't take him seriously, all the mutilation of those animals and rediculous stunts for the camera..

 

[JonathanD]

This accident is much better than the bee one. I've seen those camera gaurds in reinforced glass and they can stop 9mm rounds (you'll see what I mean in the ep). To smash one with your thigh is well 'ard.

In all seriousness though. I actually liked this format, it was more like RMs Extreme Survival than the usual showman survivor stuff you get from BG. It still leans further towards showman than documentary, but it is a much better balance. I hope the series keeps up with this sort of style. I fear the worst for the Fan vs Wild programme though. He takes two fans on a survivor journey. That can't be good. I'm guessing it will be a cross between I'm a celebrity and Born Survivor, with them eating loads of gross stuff and doing daft ridiculousness.

 

[Samon]

This accident is much better than the bee one. I've seen those camera gaurds in reinforced glass and they can stop 9mm rounds (you'll see what I mean in the ep). To smash one with your thigh is well 'ard.

In all seriousness though. I actually liked this format, it was more like RMs Extreme Survival than the usual showman survivor stuff you get from BG. It still leans further towards showman than documentary, but it is a much better balance. I hope the series keeps up with this sort of style. I fear the worst for the Fan vs Wild programme though. He takes two fans on a survivor journey. That can't be good. I'm guessing it will be a cross between I'm a celebrity and Born Survivor, with them eating loads of gross stuff and doing daft ridiculousness.

the fan thing sounds aweful, I'm guessing the fans are americans..?

just put it on and one thing that I like already is how he's openly using props to make a soft situation harder. I've heard tales of fake smoke from volcanos and many hotel nights..

Hopefully he can educate and enterain without the silly stunts. Were all his previous episodes shot for american audiences? and is this one?

 

[JonathanD]

All the programs are US targeted and are titled Man vs Wild. This one is no different, but as the US are also criticising him for the same thing, it makes sense to change. He has more influence on the production as the programme is a big hit for Discovery with him as show runner, and I know he always wanted to do the programme as we have seen it tonight. Whether it is a trade off and he has to offer the older format too is yet to be seen. Discovery won't want to lose the massive fan base the old format has garnered. I hope we see more of tonights format, but I'm not holding my breath. And yeah, the 'fans' are big Bear hero worshippers. Might provide a laugh at least... at their expense.

 

[Samon]

I think his old 'style' became nothing more than a gimic to gross people out but it's a shame because he knows his stuff, he's capable of amazing things but strayed into the dark side of television ..

the whole gerber endorsed knife thing just outright put me off gerber and the man himself.

I guess it was the only way to direct the money from the bayley knvies popularity to himself..

didn't your missus get you a bayley bear grylls knife? is it as badass as it looks?

 

[JonathanD]

The Bayley S4 is a superb knife. I sold mine a year or so back when they were fetching daft money and I really regretted it. Emm replaced that for me. Before that I had Rob make me a hybrid between his design and mine and it is more than excellent. It's interesting to note that although BG uses his Gerber in the new programmes, he actually took away two new S4s from Robs workshop well after his official affiliation ended. I would rate the plain edge S4 as being a better design for general outdoors adventures than the Woodlore and most others. It's a little too tactical looking for most people, but the compact and unobtrusive design and detail make it a damned good blade. The compact Raven is just one step higher. The Deval/Raven is almost Godlike in comparison to either Actually it may well be as my missus wants one badly

 

[Samon]

haha of course bear grylls wanted more bayley knives, they surpass his plastic junk by miles!

I did see the Raven and it looks nice, I'm guessing the Deval knife you created was based on that design? Is it pronounced 'devil' or 'dee-val' ?

the serations on bears bayley knife actualy looked usuable too compared to the common design of serations on knives that I really don't find a genuine use for, other than cutting my bread..