NAKED and AFRAID
Have any of you seen this new show, well
I guess it’s not exactly new, there in fact on the third season now. This show
cracks me up... I can't believe the punishment these contestants put up with,
for what, just to be on television??? This is definitely a show where the
producers thought, “people like survival shows…..but everything has been done,
what can we do now? I know, let’s see if contestants will take off their
clothes and be put into horrible situations for no MONEY!!!! Hahaahaha”
Realistically, I don’t see what the
contestants have to gain from going on this show…I did a little research and
nowhere could I find the amount of money that these people get for going
through all of the sh*t that they have to endure. One of the contestants said
that it wasn’t about the money; it was about the self gratification that you
get by completing the whole 21 days.
Naked and Afraid is a reality show that drops
two people (one male and one female) off naked into the jungle, forest, desert,
or basically wherever there is a need to use survival tactics. The contestants
are suppose to try to survive for 21 days, which at any point the contestants
can decide to “tap” and volunteering to leave the situation if it gets to be too
much for them. This show is brought to you by the Discovery Channel and it airs
on Sundays at 10/9c.
The particular episode that I watched
was season 1, episode 6, “Beware the Bayou”. It originally aired on 7/28/13. In
this episode the two survivalists are dropped into the Louisiana swamp where
they will have to try to survive through storms, poisonous snakes, leaches,
spiders, and alligators.
First the male character in this episode is Billy,
age 39 from Georgia. Hes an outdoor author and he is an expert at primitive
weapons and primitive hunting, he is known as being an outdoor geek. The female
character is Ky, age 39, she is originally from Australia, she now lives in
California. Ky is a survival expert and her job is being a stunt woman, she is
known as being level headed. Both characters are given a primitive survival
rate (PSR) before going on to the show and they are rated again once they have
completed their mission. The rate consists of a 0-10 scale where they rate on
skill, experience, and mental ability. Billy is given a 8.1 PSR and Ky is rated
at 6.3 PSR.
I’ll just do a quick rundown of this episode….. Day
One: the couple meets, they both feel
very awkward because of the naked factor, however it doesn’t take long and they
seem to settle in. The couples are both given bags in which there is a fire
starter and a knife. Their first mission is to get out of the swamp and onto
high ground so they can make a camp. They make it to high ground and begin to
make their camp, in the process they find an old pot and a cottonmouth snake,
which they kill and eat.
Night One: their freezing and getting eaten alive by
all of the mosquitoes.
Day Two: When they wake up they find that there are
cottonmouths everywhere, Billy kills as many as he can…. They eat them.
Jump to day Four: Looks like bad weather coming, Billy’s
pissed off because of the danger of all of the snakes and their shelter isn’t adequate
for the weather that is coming.
Night Four: Starts pouring down rain and their
shelter is leaking like a sieve, it’s completely useless!
Day Five: The couple gets up freezing to find that
the water has risen up so high that it is at their camp, the fires out and there’s
no dry land, so the couple build a mound out of mud and sticks for a fire, they
then build a cover for the fire so the rain won’t put it out.
Night Six: Leaches!!!! In the middle of the night
Billy gets leaches on him.
Day Six: Their feet on in bad shape because they
been standing in water for so long.
Day Seven: Hungry!!! Billys mad again because he’s
starving… all of the snakes have left since the colossal rains. The couple
tries to catch some crawfish with no luck.
Day Nine: Their feet are now getting infected
because of being in the water for so long and now their really starving!
Everything is still covered in water.
Day Thirteen: They want to relocate or quit… one or
the other.
Day Fourteen: They take off searching for dry land;
they finally find some and pass out on the ground because of fatigue.
Day Fifteen: Running on reserves, no energy……STARVING!
Day Seventeen: Still starving, they get up to try to gather
some food….. They end up lucking out and finding a nutrient (a river rat). When
Billy kills it Ky starts crying because it starts squeaking, however she is
thankful to have the food.
Day Eighteen: They took the fur from the nutrient
and made clothes.
Day Twenty-one: Billy and Ky have to trek to the
pick up zone which is in deep waters that are infested with alligators!!! They
end up making it of course…..
Billy started out with a PSR of 8.1 and ended with a
8.9 PSR. Billy lost a total of 42 pounds!
Ky started
out with a 6.3 PSR and ended with a 7.7 PSR. Ky lost a total of 18 pounds.
Here
is a picture of Billy and KY
Overall I would say that this show is directed at people
in their 30’s or 40’s. The contestants always seem to be in that age bracket as
well as all of the commercials that were aired was aimed at the 30-40 year old
bracket age group, consisting mainly of car commercials and Geico commercials. My
family and I watch this show occasionally. I really don’t mind this show that
much, and then again it’s not that great either. There are obviously some shock
factors that I think make viewers keep coming back to watch it. I think that if
you were from a different country, you’d probably think, more American garbage….
Hahahahaha
Overall the critics gave the Season 1 a Metascore of
62
Here’s a few of
the critic reviews: Wall Street Journal
Jun 21, 2013
70
As show titles go, Naked
and Afraid is inspired. Better still, the new Discovery series is even more
entertaining than its title.
Jun 21, 2013
75
It’s interesting, weird,
enjoyable and not like anything you’ve ever seen on TV before.
Jun 21, 2013
60
The experience looks very
difficult, but also a little boring, which explains the need for the
in-your-face title: “Filthy and Exhausted” just doesn’t have the same ring.
Critics sited from: http://www.metacritic.com/tv/naked-afraid
I
included a few links for information, pictures, etc…
I chose to comment on this post because I have watched this show before, my husband is a fan. I agree that at first it seems a little ridiculous to go through all of this hardship for no cash prize, but on the other hand I can absolutely see why people want to test themselves and see how well they can survive in the environment with no supplies or luxuries. First I searched to make sure that they do not receive a monetary prize and found an article from NY Daily News, @ http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv/naked-afraid-stars-talk-nudity-wildnerness-survival-article-1.1861011 , that states the participants do not win a cash prize for completing the challenge but they do get paid for filming time. I think the show is a great opportunity for people to test themselves and being without clothing, that could be used for warmth, hunting, fire, filtering water, and protection from the elements, is a great disadvantage. In one of the episodes I watched the woman had constructed clothing and even baskets out of forest materials. I thought to myself "that is what I would do", to protect "privates" from the ground and insects. Here is a short clip as example @ http://www.discovery.com/tv-shows/naked-and-afraid/videos/leafdiaper.htm . I enjoy the show and agree that it is targeted at viewers 30 and older, as I feel a lot of the programs on the Discovery channel are.
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