Survive This
Encyclopedia
Survive This is a Canadian
reality TV
show on which eight teenagers with limited survival skills training
are taken into a forest and confronted with a number of survival challenges to test their skills and perseverance. The series airs on YTV in Canada
and Cartoon Network
in the United States
. The show is hosted by Les Stroud
, who narrates each episode, provides the teens with survival challenges, and assesses their performance. The show premiered on April 7, 2009, in Canada and on June 17, 2009, in the United States
. Cartoon Network ceased to air Survive This after August 19, 2009, and screened the final three episodes only on the network's Web site.
The series' second season debuted on YTV, a Canadian English-language
cable television
specialty channel
, on Monday, April 19, 2010.
and to introduce the participants to their first survival challenges.
Les Stroud, star and host of the television program
Survivorman
, introduces each episode and provides narrative commentary for the events depicted during the episode. Stroud also appears on camera at the beginning of each episode to meet with the participants, discuss their health and emotional status, and present them with the day's survival challenge. Stroud then departs. Stroud sometimes appears at halfway points in each episode to check on their status. Each challenge concludes with Stroud visiting the participants again, re-assessing their physical and emotional state, and asking whether anyone wishes to leave the show and go home.
ed in 2007 by 9 Story Entertainment
, a Canadian entertainment company. Survive This is produced by 9 Story Entertainment, and two 9 Story executives (Vince Commisso and Steven Jarosz) serve as executive producers for the series. Les Stroud and his Survivorman production partner, David Brady, are also executive producers. Craig Baines is the producer.
The series was originally titled Survivorman: Kids Edition. The original concept was to create two teams of teens (age 13 to 17) and pit them against one another, testing their survivalist skills. This concept soon changed, however. In April 2008, 9 Story announced that the show (now called Survivorman Kids) would feature a single team of six 14- to 16 year-olds surviving in the wilderness for three weeks. The number of participants expanded to eight by the time filming began in summer 2008. In its final form, unlike other reality television shows, Survive This intentionally did not have a cash prize or other reward at the end of the season. Instead, the producers decided that contestants would leave the series with the knowledge that they survived a number of physically and mentally daunting challenges. Stroud refused to allow participants to vote their peers off the show or to win "immunity", arguing that this would change the focus of the series toward "backstabbing social networking" and away from survival skills and the wilderness experience.
Cast members were recruited in a variety of ways: Online, via forms at summer camps, and by several other means. After each person's application was screened by the producers, participants had to pass a telephone interview and a video interview before they were chosen for the show. Stroud was not involved in the actual selection process, but did provide some guidelines for the production company before the process began.
Once selected for the show, a camera crew filmed each teenager at home to get footage of them acting naturally in their home surroundings. The eight teenagers were taught for a week how to survive in a wilderness with limited supplies. They were also constantly filmed during this time, to acclimate them to the ever-present cameras and filmmakers.
, Canada
, and initially asked to "survive" a school bus
crash and spend two nights in the woods with limited food and other supplies.
The series was filmed on location in the forest north of Huntsville, Ontario
, Canada
. Filming occurred in the summer of 2008. Three days were spent on a small island northwest of Sandy Island on Georgian Bay
in Lake Huron
. Jeff Beitz, owner of the Georgian Bay Marina, acted as a location scout for the show, transported the participants to and from the island, and appeared on screen in Episode 11, "Island Castaways." Many of the challenges presented to the participants were based on situations Stroud himself faced on Survivorman.
A camera crew remained behind to film the participants as they carried out their survival challenges, some of which lasted several days. However, the camera crew was instructed not to interact with the participants. Several participants were also given hand-held video camera
s and permitted to film their actions. A paramedic also was always on-site to provide emergency health care. Participants were forbidden to have any electronic devices with them, and could only speak to the producer or Stroud (who were both on-site). Stroud says that the participants constantly played to the camera, positioned themselves at the right camera angle to achieve the best pose, and—even though they were forbidden to do so—talked to the cinematographers to try to put themselves in a good light. Several of the participants were upset at the way their videotaped comments appeared on television. Some also expressed shock and surprise at the things others said about them in privately videotaped moments which later aired during the series. For his part, Stroud purposefully adopted a serious demeanor that involved never smiling in front of the participants. He later told TV Guide Canada that not providing suggestions, encouragement, or other assistance was difficult for him.
The participants were given little in the way of supplies. They had no camp stoves or sleeping bags, and at times water was so scarce that they squeezed liquid from moss.
A one-hour Season One finale featured a search and rescue
(SAR) operation to locate and extract the remaining participants. The Ontario Provincial Police
(OPP) and the Georgian Bay Volunteer Search and Rescue (GBVSAR) participated in the filming of the final episode, which involved a GBVSAR search team and the OPP's K9
, marine, and air units. Filming of the finale took a single day.
The final scenes were shot at the end of the summer of 2008. Some footage and a trailer for the show were shown at MIPCOM
, a market and trade event in the entertainment industry held in Cannes
, France
. The first two completed episodes screened to buyers and markets at the MIPTV Media Market
in March 2009. Corus Entertainment
's YTV picked up the show for broadcast in Canada in April 2008. Time Warner
's Cartoon Network
agreed to air the show in the U.S. in March 2009. The first season ended with a one-hour finale. 9 Story Entertainment sold distribution rights to Cartoon Network's Boomerang Channel Latin America
, YLE in Finland
, and Teleview International in the Middle East in April 2009.
Producer 9 Story Entertainment began to license the show in May 2009, seeking to put the Survive This logo and images from the show on board game
s, books, video games, role-playing game
s, and clothing.85236
, Canada, where they met with the producers and had a screen test
to determine how they came across on television. Participants were selected for the show, in part, based on their strong personalities. The final eight participants were told in early September 2009 that they were selected for the show. The eight teens who appear in the second season were required to sign a confidentiality agreement
prior to the commencement of filming. All the participants were required to take a three-day survival program with David Arama, a wilderness survival expert and close friend of Les Stroud's. Training including how to build a shelter, fire-starting, edible plants, and using a compass.
Principal cinematography for the second season occurred in September 2009 (which meant some of the contestants missed the opening of school in order to finish the show). Most of the second season was filmed around the Georgian Bay
are of Lake Huron
and Algonquin Provincial Park
. None of the teens knew the location of the series, but were aware that they were not close to any cities or towns. The teens were always watched by an adult and were provided warm clothes at night. Initially, many of the contestants did not take the show or host Les Stroud seriously. According to contestant Patricia Robins, "We were calling him Les Stroodle. ...at first we all thought he was kind of a jerk, just because of his attitude.[But] toward the end we kind of adopted him as a father figure. He's really protective. We found that out later on."
As in the first series, the teenaged contestants are introduced into the wilderness via an accident—in the second season, it is a floatplane
crash. Two contestants were separated from the rest of the group and forced to spend a night alone. As in the previous season, the search for food is a major element of the show. In the first season, teenager Adam Deganis killed a pheasant (in the episode "Food") and a porcupine (in the episode "Deep Woods, Part I"). In the third episode of the second season, the participants decapitate and kill a snake for food. The show's format remains much the same, with a different challenge in each episode and Stroud asking the teens if they can survive at the end of each installment. An article about one of the contestants states that only one of the teens "survives" until the final episode, however this is incorrect. The actual number is determined by who drops out, and is mentioned on the official website's 'Synopsis page'.
The second season of Survive This consists of 13 episodes, with a one-hour finale. The second season debuted on the YTV cable TV channel on Monday, April 19, 2010.
and author
. "It's okay to have some competition, it's okay to try out for things," she says. "Those are okay lessons for kids. But doing it on national television, to be watched and judged, that's where I feel it's a little bit exploitive, and I think we need to consider the mental health of the kids that are on that show." But other mental health experts declared the show safe, concluding that the participants merely displayed strong competitiveness and that social ostracization was largely avoided.
Several reviewers have strongly criticized Survive This. For example, the New Bedford Standard-Times was dismissive of the show's lack of originality, noting: "...a gruff, gritty, macho mountain man takes a group of high-school kids and dumps them in the deep woods where they must learn to put aside their 'drama' and adapt. Gee, where haven't we seen that before?" Variety
was equally critical of the show's lack of originality, observing that the show "play[ed] like junior editions of somebody else's reality franchise. The publication was also critical of the way the show pigeonholed and labeled each of the teenagers, eliminating the diversity of the racially and ethnically diverse cast. The Los Angeles Times
also concluded that the show was vapid, but that it had slightly more "depth" than other Cartoon Network live-action programs.
Some critics have also blasted Cartoon Network for showing live-action programs rather than cartoons.
The Sudbury Star
, however, called the show "compelling".
near his campsite at the north end of Horn Lake (near McMurrich/Monteith, Ontario
). Code was on a winter camping trip with few supplies, similar to summer trips he'd taken before in admiration of the adventures he had seen on Survivorman. Learning of Code's death, Stroud said, "It's a terrible tragedy and I feel absolutely terrible for the families involved"—but did not know Code or the situation he was in, and refused to comment further on his death.
At least one reviewer has criticized Survive This for not mentioning Code's death or warning kids not to imitate what they see on the show. The Globe and Mail
reviewer Catherine Dawson March wrote, "You'd think, just seven weeks after Code's headline-making death, that Survive This would make a passing nod to the tragedy. ... Some kind of 'don't try this on your own' advice. But no." Dawson praised the show as "captivating" with "lots of emotional drama", but concluded: "It's great stuff, but YTV should acknowledge Code's death with a warning of their own." YTV replied, "As Survive This does not follow the same premise as Survivorman, there will not be a disclaimer before each episode."
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
reality TV
Reality television
Reality television is a genre of television programming that presents purportedly unscripted dramatic or humorous situations, documents actual events, and usually features ordinary people instead of professional actors, sometimes in a contest or other situation where a prize is awarded...
show on which eight teenagers with limited survival skills training
Survival skills
Survival skills are techniques a person may use in a dangerous situation to save themselves or others...
are taken into a forest and confronted with a number of survival challenges to test their skills and perseverance. The series airs on YTV in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
and Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network (United States)
Cartoon Network is an American cable television network owned by Turner Broadcasting which primarily airs animated programming. The channel was launched on October 1, 1992 after Turner purchased the animation studio Hanna-Barbera Productions in 1991...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The show is hosted by Les Stroud
Les Stroud
Les Stroud is a Canadian musician, filmmaker, and survival expert best known as the creator, writer, producer, director, cameraman and host of the television series Survivorman...
, who narrates each episode, provides the teens with survival challenges, and assesses their performance. The show premiered on April 7, 2009, in Canada and on June 17, 2009, in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Cartoon Network ceased to air Survive This after August 19, 2009, and screened the final three episodes only on the network's Web site.
The series' second season debuted on YTV, a Canadian English-language
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
cable television
Cable television
Cable television is a system of providing television programs to consumers via radio frequency signals transmitted to televisions through coaxial cables or digital light pulses through fixed optical fibers located on the subscriber's property, much like the over-the-air method used in traditional...
specialty channel
Specialty channel
A specialty channel can be a commercial broadcasting or non-commercial television channel which consists of television programming focused on a single genre, subject or targeted television market at a specific demographic....
, on Monday, April 19, 2010.
Overview
The series began in 2009 with a single season of 13 episodes. A second season of 13 episodes began airing in April 2010. Each season begins with a fictional accident of some sort (a school bus crash in season one; a floatplane crash in season two) as a narrative hookNarrative hook
A narrative hook is a literary technique in the opening of a story that "hooks" the reader's attention so that he or she will keep on reading...
and to introduce the participants to their first survival challenges.
Les Stroud, star and host of the television program
Television program
A television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...
Survivorman
Survivorman
Survivorman is a Canadian-produced television program, broadcast in Canada on the Outdoor Life Network , and internationally on Discovery Channel and Science Channel...
, introduces each episode and provides narrative commentary for the events depicted during the episode. Stroud also appears on camera at the beginning of each episode to meet with the participants, discuss their health and emotional status, and present them with the day's survival challenge. Stroud then departs. Stroud sometimes appears at halfway points in each episode to check on their status. Each challenge concludes with Stroud visiting the participants again, re-assessing their physical and emotional state, and asking whether anyone wishes to leave the show and go home.
Series production
Series creator Les Stroud says that he initially pitched Survive This, as a children's series similar to Survivorman and that several networks turned him down. The success of Survivorman enabled Stroud to pitch his original idea again, and this time the series was greenlightGreenlight
To green-light a project is to give permission or a go ahead to move forward with a project. In the context of the movie and TV businesses, to green-light something is to formally approve its production finance, thereby allowing the project to move forward from the development phase to...
ed in 2007 by 9 Story Entertainment
9 Story Entertainment
9 Story Entertainment is a Canadian animation studio founded in 2002. It produced the third and fourth season of Max and Ruby, Almost Naked Animals, Wild Kratts, Best Ed, the 5th season of Jacob Two-Two, Peep and the Big Wide World, the first 7 episodes of Pound Puppies, Wibbly Pig, and Arthur,...
, a Canadian entertainment company. Survive This is produced by 9 Story Entertainment, and two 9 Story executives (Vince Commisso and Steven Jarosz) serve as executive producers for the series. Les Stroud and his Survivorman production partner, David Brady, are also executive producers. Craig Baines is the producer.
The series was originally titled Survivorman: Kids Edition. The original concept was to create two teams of teens (age 13 to 17) and pit them against one another, testing their survivalist skills. This concept soon changed, however. In April 2008, 9 Story announced that the show (now called Survivorman Kids) would feature a single team of six 14- to 16 year-olds surviving in the wilderness for three weeks. The number of participants expanded to eight by the time filming began in summer 2008. In its final form, unlike other reality television shows, Survive This intentionally did not have a cash prize or other reward at the end of the season. Instead, the producers decided that contestants would leave the series with the knowledge that they survived a number of physically and mentally daunting challenges. Stroud refused to allow participants to vote their peers off the show or to win "immunity", arguing that this would change the focus of the series toward "backstabbing social networking" and away from survival skills and the wilderness experience.
Cast members were recruited in a variety of ways: Online, via forms at summer camps, and by several other means. After each person's application was screened by the producers, participants had to pass a telephone interview and a video interview before they were chosen for the show. Stroud was not involved in the actual selection process, but did provide some guidelines for the production company before the process began.
- All I suggested within that process was get a good, wide selection of kids. Let’s get a wide selection of personalities and temperaments and certainly skill level. Don’t give me a whole bunch of boy scouts who are going to knock it dead out there and don’t give me a whole bunch of absolute beginners who are setup for failure. Give me a wide variety, let’s have regular, normal kids and don’t profile beyond that.
Once selected for the show, a camera crew filmed each teenager at home to get footage of them acting naturally in their home surroundings. The eight teenagers were taught for a week how to survive in a wilderness with limited supplies. They were also constantly filmed during this time, to acclimate them to the ever-present cameras and filmmakers.
Season One production
Eight teenagers, all between the ages of 14 and 17, were taken into a forest in OntarioOntario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, and initially asked to "survive" a school bus
School bus
A school bus is a type of bus designed and manufactured for student transport: carrying children and teenagers to and from school and school events...
crash and spend two nights in the woods with limited food and other supplies.
The series was filmed on location in the forest north of Huntsville, Ontario
Huntsville, Ontario
Huntsville is a town in the Muskoka Region of Ontario, Canada. It is located north of Toronto and south of North Bay....
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. Filming occurred in the summer of 2008. Three days were spent on a small island northwest of Sandy Island on Georgian Bay
Georgian Bay
Georgian Bay is a large bay of Lake Huron, located entirely within Ontario, Canada...
in Lake Huron
Lake Huron
Lake Huron is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. Hydrologically, it comprises the larger portion of Lake Michigan-Huron. It is bounded on the east by the Canadian province of Ontario and on the west by the state of Michigan in the United States...
. Jeff Beitz, owner of the Georgian Bay Marina, acted as a location scout for the show, transported the participants to and from the island, and appeared on screen in Episode 11, "Island Castaways." Many of the challenges presented to the participants were based on situations Stroud himself faced on Survivorman.
A camera crew remained behind to film the participants as they carried out their survival challenges, some of which lasted several days. However, the camera crew was instructed not to interact with the participants. Several participants were also given hand-held video camera
Video camera
A video camera is a camera used for electronic motion picture acquisition, initially developed by the television industry but now common in other applications as well. The earliest video cameras were those of John Logie Baird, based on the electromechanical Nipkow disk and used by the BBC in...
s and permitted to film their actions. A paramedic also was always on-site to provide emergency health care. Participants were forbidden to have any electronic devices with them, and could only speak to the producer or Stroud (who were both on-site). Stroud says that the participants constantly played to the camera, positioned themselves at the right camera angle to achieve the best pose, and—even though they were forbidden to do so—talked to the cinematographers to try to put themselves in a good light. Several of the participants were upset at the way their videotaped comments appeared on television. Some also expressed shock and surprise at the things others said about them in privately videotaped moments which later aired during the series. For his part, Stroud purposefully adopted a serious demeanor that involved never smiling in front of the participants. He later told TV Guide Canada that not providing suggestions, encouragement, or other assistance was difficult for him.
The participants were given little in the way of supplies. They had no camp stoves or sleeping bags, and at times water was so scarce that they squeezed liquid from moss.
A one-hour Season One finale featured a search and rescue
Search and rescue
Search and rescue is the search for and provision of aid to people who are in distress or imminent danger.The general field of search and rescue includes many specialty sub-fields, mostly based upon terrain considerations...
(SAR) operation to locate and extract the remaining participants. The Ontario Provincial Police
Ontario Provincial Police
The Ontario Provincial Police is the Provincial Police service for the province of Ontario, Canada.-Overview:The OPP is the the largest deployed police force in Ontario, and the second largest in Canada. The service is responsible for providing policing services throughout the province in areas...
(OPP) and the Georgian Bay Volunteer Search and Rescue (GBVSAR) participated in the filming of the final episode, which involved a GBVSAR search team and the OPP's K9
Police dog
A police dog, often referred to as a "K-9 dog" in some areas , is a dog that is trained specifically to assist police and other law-enforcement personnel in their work...
, marine, and air units. Filming of the finale took a single day.
The final scenes were shot at the end of the summer of 2008. Some footage and a trailer for the show were shown at MIPCOM
Mipcom
-MIPCOM:MIPCOM is a TV and entertainment market which is held in the town of Cannes once every year, normally in October.It is essentially a content event for co-producing, buying, selling, financing and distributing entertainment content...
, a market and trade event in the entertainment industry held in Cannes
Cannes
Cannes is one of the best-known cities of the French Riviera, a busy tourist destination and host of the annual Cannes Film Festival. It is a Commune of France in the Alpes-Maritimes department....
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. The first two completed episodes screened to buyers and markets at the MIPTV Media Market
MIPTV Media Market
-MIPTV:MIPTV is an event which takes place annually in Cannes, using the facilities and infrastructure which the town has developed over the years to host other important events such as the Cannes Film Festival amongst other events....
in March 2009. Corus Entertainment
Corus Entertainment
Corus Entertainment Inc. is a publicly traded Canadian media and entertainment conglomerate.Corus is a leading Canadian specialty television and radio producer, with additional assets in pay television, advertising services, television broadcasting, children's book publishing and children's...
's YTV picked up the show for broadcast in Canada in April 2008. Time Warner
Time Warner
Time Warner is one of the world's largest media companies, headquartered in the Time Warner Center in New York City. Formerly two separate companies, Warner Communications, Inc...
's Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network (United States)
Cartoon Network is an American cable television network owned by Turner Broadcasting which primarily airs animated programming. The channel was launched on October 1, 1992 after Turner purchased the animation studio Hanna-Barbera Productions in 1991...
agreed to air the show in the U.S. in March 2009. The first season ended with a one-hour finale. 9 Story Entertainment sold distribution rights to Cartoon Network's Boomerang Channel Latin America
Boomerang (Latin American TV channel)
Boomerang Latin America is a 24-hour cable television channel owned by Turner Broadcasting System, a unit of Time Warner broadcasting in all Latin America. Initially it was focused on classical series and shows, as the Latin American version of Boomerang from the United States. In 2006, it...
, YLE in Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
, and Teleview International in the Middle East in April 2009.
Producer 9 Story Entertainment began to license the show in May 2009, seeking to put the Survive This logo and images from the show on board game
Board game
A board game is a game which involves counters or pieces being moved on a pre-marked surface or "board", according to a set of rules. Games may be based on pure strategy, chance or a mixture of the two, and usually have a goal which a player aims to achieve...
s, books, video games, role-playing game
Role-playing game
A role-playing game is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making or character development...
s, and clothing.85236
Season Two production
Second season casting opened on June 5, 2009, and closed on July 10, 2009. Applicants were invited to a television production studio in TorontoToronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, Canada, where they met with the producers and had a screen test
Screen test
A screen test is a method of determining the suitability of an actor or actress for performing on film and/or in a particular role. The performer is generally given a scene, or selected lines and actions, and instructed to perform in front of a camera to see if they are suitable...
to determine how they came across on television. Participants were selected for the show, in part, based on their strong personalities. The final eight participants were told in early September 2009 that they were selected for the show. The eight teens who appear in the second season were required to sign a confidentiality agreement
Non-disclosure agreement
A non-disclosure agreement , also known as a confidentiality agreement , confidential disclosure agreement , proprietary information agreement , or secrecy agreement, is a legal contract between at least two parties that outlines confidential material, knowledge, or information that the parties...
prior to the commencement of filming. All the participants were required to take a three-day survival program with David Arama, a wilderness survival expert and close friend of Les Stroud's. Training including how to build a shelter, fire-starting, edible plants, and using a compass.
Principal cinematography for the second season occurred in September 2009 (which meant some of the contestants missed the opening of school in order to finish the show). Most of the second season was filmed around the Georgian Bay
Georgian Bay
Georgian Bay is a large bay of Lake Huron, located entirely within Ontario, Canada...
are of Lake Huron
Lake Huron
Lake Huron is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. Hydrologically, it comprises the larger portion of Lake Michigan-Huron. It is bounded on the east by the Canadian province of Ontario and on the west by the state of Michigan in the United States...
and Algonquin Provincial Park
Algonquin Provincial Park
Algonquin Provincial Park is a provincial park located between Georgian Bay and the Ottawa River in Central Ontario, Canada, mostly within the Unorganized South Part of Nipissing District. Established in 1893, it is the oldest provincial park in Canada. Additions since its creation have increased...
. None of the teens knew the location of the series, but were aware that they were not close to any cities or towns. The teens were always watched by an adult and were provided warm clothes at night. Initially, many of the contestants did not take the show or host Les Stroud seriously. According to contestant Patricia Robins, "We were calling him Les Stroodle. ...at first we all thought he was kind of a jerk, just because of his attitude.
As in the first series, the teenaged contestants are introduced into the wilderness via an accident—in the second season, it is a floatplane
Floatplane
A floatplane is a type of seaplane, with slender pontoons mounted under the fuselage; only the floats of a floatplane normally come into contact with water, with the fuselage remaining above water...
crash. Two contestants were separated from the rest of the group and forced to spend a night alone. As in the previous season, the search for food is a major element of the show. In the first season, teenager Adam Deganis killed a pheasant (in the episode "Food") and a porcupine (in the episode "Deep Woods, Part I"). In the third episode of the second season, the participants decapitate and kill a snake for food. The show's format remains much the same, with a different challenge in each episode and Stroud asking the teens if they can survive at the end of each installment. An article about one of the contestants states that only one of the teens "survives" until the final episode, however this is incorrect. The actual number is determined by who drops out, and is mentioned on the official website's 'Synopsis page'.
The second season of Survive This consists of 13 episodes, with a one-hour finale. The second season debuted on the YTV cable TV channel on Monday, April 19, 2010.
Season One participants
In the first series, eight teenagers were given a week's survival training before being taken into the wilderness. The Season One cast included:
- Adam—Adam Deganis is a 15-year-old native of Mississauga, Ontario
Mississauga, OntarioMississauga is a city in Southern Ontario located in the Regional Municipality of Peel, and in the western part of the Greater Toronto Area. With an estimated population of 734,000, it is Canada's sixth-most populous municipality, and has almost doubled in population in each of the last two decades...
, who attends Loyola Catholic Secondary SchoolLoyola Catholic Secondary SchoolLoyola Catholic Secondary School is a Roman Catholic high school located in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. The school has 1369 students, and is operated by the Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board....
. Labeled as "the sportsman" on the series, his survival experiences consisted of hunting, fishing, and spending summers at his family vacation home. A fan of Survivorman, he applied to be on the series because he wanted to meet Les Stroud. Deganis is an arachnophobeArachnophobiaArachnophobia or arachnephobia is a specific phobia, the fear of spiders and other arachnids such as scorpions. It is a manifestation of zoophobia, among the most common of all phobias. The reactions of arachnophobics often seem irrational to others...
.- Becca—Becca Mehaffey is a 17-year-old from Markham, Ontario
Markham, OntarioMarkham is a town in the Regional Municipality of York, located within the Greater Toronto Area of Southern Ontario, Canada. The population was 261,573 at the 2006 Canadian census...
, who has almost no outdoors experience. Her friends and family laughed at her when she applied to be on the show. She was called "the princess" on the show, and practices dance in her spare time.- Becky—Becky Tran is a 17-year-old from Newmarket, Ontario
Newmarket, OntarioNewmarket is a town in Southern Ontario located approximately 50 km north of downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is part of the Greater Toronto Area and is connected to Toronto by freeway, and is served by three interchanges along Highway 404. It is also connected to Highway 400 via Highway 9...
, who was labeled "the environmentalist" on the series, but whom the other participants called "BT." Tran, who is admittedly "addicted" to her hair ironHair ironA hair iron or hair tong is a tool used to change the structure of the hair using heat. There are three general kinds: curling irons, used to make the hair curly, straightening irons, commonly called straighteners or flat irons, used to straighten the hair, and crimping irons, used to create crimps...
, was frightened of dirt, germs, and insects.- Catarina—Catarina is a 17-year-old who was described as "the tough girl" on the series.
- Holden—Holden Adams is a 16-year-old who was called "the city boy" on the show. After the show ended, he admitted that lack of sleep, hunger, and physical exhaustion often led him to rest while others did the work of finding food and building shelter.
- Jen—Jennifer Daub is a 16-year-old resident of Blind River, Ontario
Blind River, OntarioPopulation trend:* Population in 2006: 3780* Population in 2001: 3969* Population in 1996: 3152 * Population in 1991: 3355-Economy:Its main businesses are tourism, fishing, logging, and uranium refining....
. She attends W. C. Eaket Secondary SchoolW. C. Eaket Secondary SchoolW.C. Eaket Secondary School, also known as Eaket, is the only English language high school in Blind River, Ontario, Canada. It is operated by the Algoma District School Board, and as of 2006 it had 312 students and 59 faculty members...
. She was labeled "the hunter" on the series because she had spent time tracking and hunting deerDeerDeer are the ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. Species in the Cervidae family include white-tailed deer, elk, moose, red deer, reindeer, fallow deer, roe deer and chital. Male deer of all species and female reindeer grow and shed new antlers each year...
with her father, and was an expert rifleman, all-terrain vehicleAll-terrain vehicleAn all-terrain vehicle , also known as a quad, quad bike, three wheeler, or four wheeler, is defined by the American National Standards Institute as a vehicle that travels on low pressure tires, with a seat that is straddled by the operator, along with handlebars for steering control...
driver, and camper. One of her older brothers learned about the show and encouraged her to apply. She applied online by sending in a photo of herself with a deer she had shot and killed. She was often frustrated on the show by having to help other participants who had little outdoors experience.- Kareem—Kareem Ali is a 17-year-old native of Toronto
TorontoToronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, Canada. Given the label of "the movtivator" by the producers, he was seen as more competitive than the others. He attends Bloor Collegiate InstituteBloor Collegiate InstituteBloor Collegiate Institute is a public secondary school located at the intersection of Bloor Street and Dufferin Street in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The school is located in the Dufferin Grove neighbourhood.-History:...
.- Zac—Zac Siegel is a 14-year-old resident of Thornhill, Ontario
Thornhill, OntarioThornhill is a community in the Greater Toronto Area of Southern Ontario, Canada, located on the northern border of the city of Toronto. Once a municipal village, Thornhill is now a community and postal designation geographically split into two municipalities along Yonge Street, the city of...
, who attends Westmount Collegiate InstituteWestmount Collegiate InstituteWestmount Collegiate Institute is a high school in the Thornhill, Ontario district of the greater city of Vaughan. It opened its doors in 1996, as part of the multi-purpose Benjamin Vaughan Complex, named for Benjamin Vaughan, the diplomat for which the city is named...
. He applied to be on the show through a survival camp he was already enrolled at. He had extensive wilderness survival skills before he joined the show, has a photographic memory, and a high-level intelligence. He was extremely frustrated on the show because the other participants had so little wilderness survival skill. "In many cases I had to teach people to start a fire or build a proper shelter, collect berries, basically I spent a lot of time with those who didn't have a clue what Les was talking about," he told the press. Labeled as "the camp counselor" by the producers, the other participants saw him as an overachiever.
Season Two participants
In the first series, eight teenagers were given a week's survival training before being taken into the wilderness. The Season Two cast included:
- Colin—Colin is a 15-year-old from Hamilton, Ontario
Hamilton, OntarioHamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Conceived by George Hamilton when he purchased the Durand farm shortly after the War of 1812, Hamilton has become the centre of a densely populated and industrialized region at the west end of Lake Ontario known as the Golden Horseshoe...
. He believes that a balance between a social life and school is important.- Ian—Ian McBain is a 14-year-old from Ajax, Ontario
Ajax, OntarioAjax is a town in the Durham Region in the Greater Toronto Area.The town is named for the HMS Ajax a Royal Navy cruiser that served in World War II. Ajax is a part of the Greater Toronto Area and the...
. Interested in animals and the outdoors and seeking a career as a biologistBiologistA biologist is a scientist devoted to and producing results in biology through the study of life. Typically biologists study organisms and their relationship to their environment. Biologists involved in basic research attempt to discover underlying mechanisms that govern how organisms work...
, McBain was inspired to audition for the second season after seeing the first season episode Swamp: "The episode from the first season that really motivated me to try to get on the show was the swamp episode. "Most people would think 'Oh gross. a swamp, there's leeches and stuff.' That was the turning point for me, I was like 'I have to get on this show, that looks so fun, so many different experiences.'" McBain, who admits to being an unadventurous "wimp", says that he learned to trust other people and believe in himself during the show. For him, the toughest part of the series was getting through the nights and worrying about wild animal attacks.- Jade—Jade is a 13-year-old girl from Ancaster, Ontario
Ancaster, OntarioAncaster is a picturesque and historic community located on the Niagara escarpment, within the greater area of the city of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. This former town was founded officially in 1793 and was one of the oldest European communities established in present day Ontario along with Windsor...
. She was raised on a farm.- Justin—Justin Cutajar is a 16-year-old from Mississauga, Ontario. He had auditioned for the first season but did not make the cut. He auditioned for the second season because he still wanted to see how far he could push himself. He says being on the show was "a life-altering experience." The hardest part, for him, was the lack of food; he lost 12 pounds (5.4 kg) while filming the series. Back at home after the show, he says he never leaves food on his plate and reminds himself every day of how he has a bed to sleep in and home to live in. he cites patience, emotional strength, the will to live, and physical strength as the things which allowed him to get through the show.
- Manaal—Manaal Ismacil is a 16-year-old from St. Catharines, Ontario
St. Catharines, OntarioSt. Catharines is the largest city in Canada's Niagara Region and the sixth largest urban area in Ontario, Canada, with 97.11 square kilometres of land...
. Her mother is a SomalianSomali peopleSomalis are an ethnic group located in the Horn of Africa, also known as the Somali Peninsula. The overwhelming majority of Somalis speak the Somali language, which is part of the Cushitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family...
who is a refugeeRefugeeA refugee is a person who outside her country of origin or habitual residence because she has suffered persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or because she is a member of a persecuted 'social group'. Such a person may be referred to as an 'asylum seeker' until...
from SomaliaSomaliaSomalia , officially the Somali Republic and formerly known as the Somali Democratic Republic under Socialist rule, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. Since the outbreak of the Somali Civil War in 1991 there has been no central government control over most of the country's territory...
. Manaal was born in KenyaKenyaKenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
, but her family emigrated to the United StatesUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
when she was seven years old and to Canada four years later. She attends Sir Winston Churchill Secondary SchoolSir Winston Churchill Secondary School (St. Catharines)Sir Winston Churchill Secondary School is a secondary school in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. It is one of 8 public high schools in St. Catharines, and is located in the Glenridge area of the city...
, loves to read and study, and has never been campingCampingCamping is an outdoor recreational activity. The participants leave urban areas, their home region, or civilization and enjoy nature while spending one or several nights outdoors, usually at a campsite. Camping may involve the use of a tent, caravan, motorhome, cabin, a primitive structure, or no...
. She had not seen the first season, but applied after being urged to do so by her younger sister (who had). She is interested in International relationsInternational relationsInternational relations is the study of relationships between countries, including the roles of states, inter-governmental organizations , international nongovernmental organizations , non-governmental organizations and multinational corporations...
, and wants a career as a human rightsHuman rightsHuman rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
lawyerLawyerA lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
. She is a volunteer in many groups, including her school, the St. Catharines mayor's council, and Save the Children CanadaSave the ChildrenSave the Children is an internationally active non-governmental organization that enforces children's rights, provides relief and helps support children in developing countries...
.- Michael—Michael Lattouf is a 17-year-old from Brampton, Ontario
Brampton, OntarioBrampton is the third-largest city in the Greater Toronto Area of Ontario, Canada and the seat of Peel Region. As of the 2006 census, Brampton's population stood at 433,806, making it the 11th largest city in Canada. It is also one of Canada's fastest growing municipalities, with an average...
, who attends Notre Dame Catholic Secondary SchoolNotre Dame Catholic Secondary School (Brampton)Notre Dame Catholic Secondary School is a Roman Catholic secondary school of the Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board in Brampton, Ontario, Canada....
and wants to be an actor. He had no survival skills prior to appearing on the show. He says that he felt overwhelmed at first. The producers and Les Stroud "just threw us right in, and it was non-stop," and he felt the lack of food was the most challenging aspect of the show. He also felt that having eight teenagers on the show made for a lot of emotion. Lattouf says the show was very challenging, and he learned a great deal from it. "People live like this every day—homeless people, or people in poor countries—and it made me understand their struggles more."- Nicole—Nicole Ponce is a 14-year-old who is heavily involved in school athletics.
- Patricia—Patricia Robins is a 16-year-old from Niagara Falls, Ontario
Niagara Falls, OntarioNiagara Falls is a Canadian city on the Niagara River in the Golden Horseshoe region of Southern Ontario. The municipality was incorporated on June 12, 1903...
, who is somewhat socially rebellious. She attends Stamford Collegiate Secondary School. She applied to be on the show without having seen the first season. She believed that only actors were admitted to the show, and felt that this would be a boost to her acting career. After seeing the first season, she resolved to turn down the show if offered a chance to compete and then later changes her mind. Labeled as "the rebel" on the show, she says she is more of a divaDivaA diva is a celebrated female singer. The term is used to describe a woman of outstanding talent in the world of opera, and, by extension, in theatre, cinema and popular music. The meaning of diva is closely related to that of "prima donna"....
.
Season One critical reception
At least one psychologist warned that Survive This risked being exploitative and might damage the mental health of the participants. "You're putting kids into real emotional situations for other people's enjoyment," said Jennifer Kolari, a child and family therapistFamily therapy
Family therapy, also referred to as couple and family therapy, family systems therapy, and family counseling, is a branch of psychotherapy that works with families and couples in intimate relationships to nurture change and development. It tends to view change in terms of the systems of...
and author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
. "It's okay to have some competition, it's okay to try out for things," she says. "Those are okay lessons for kids. But doing it on national television, to be watched and judged, that's where I feel it's a little bit exploitive, and I think we need to consider the mental health of the kids that are on that show." But other mental health experts declared the show safe, concluding that the participants merely displayed strong competitiveness and that social ostracization was largely avoided.
Several reviewers have strongly criticized Survive This. For example, the New Bedford Standard-Times was dismissive of the show's lack of originality, noting: "...a gruff, gritty, macho mountain man takes a group of high-school kids and dumps them in the deep woods where they must learn to put aside their 'drama' and adapt. Gee, where haven't we seen that before?" Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
was equally critical of the show's lack of originality, observing that the show "play
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
also concluded that the show was vapid, but that it had slightly more "depth" than other Cartoon Network live-action programs.
Some critics have also blasted Cartoon Network for showing live-action programs rather than cartoons.
The Sudbury Star
Sudbury Star
The Sudbury Star is a Canadian daily regional newspaper, published in Sudbury, Ontario. It is run by the media conglomerate Sun Media, which is controlled by Quebecor....
, however, called the show "compelling".
Season One ratings
Television ratings information on the show is difficult to come by. However, at least one newspaper said the show was not "catching on with viewers" on Cartoon Network, and that the show had never been among that network's top 10 series.Season Two critical reception
In March 2010, Toronto resident Richard Code, a fan of Stroud's show Survivorman, was found dead from hypothermiaHypothermia
Hypothermia is a condition in which core temperature drops below the required temperature for normal metabolism and body functions which is defined as . Body temperature is usually maintained near a constant level of through biologic homeostasis or thermoregulation...
near his campsite at the north end of Horn Lake (near McMurrich/Monteith, Ontario
McMurrich/Monteith, Ontario
McMurrich/Monteith is a municipality and census subdivision in Parry Sound District, Ontario, Canada.The municipality was formed in 1998 through an amalgamation of the former Township of McMurrich and the eastern two-thirds of the unincorporated Township of Monteith...
). Code was on a winter camping trip with few supplies, similar to summer trips he'd taken before in admiration of the adventures he had seen on Survivorman. Learning of Code's death, Stroud said, "It's a terrible tragedy and I feel absolutely terrible for the families involved"—but did not know Code or the situation he was in, and refused to comment further on his death.
At least one reviewer has criticized Survive This for not mentioning Code's death or warning kids not to imitate what they see on the show. The Globe and Mail
The Globe and Mail
The Globe and Mail is a nationally distributed Canadian newspaper, based in Toronto and printed in six cities across the country. With a weekly readership of approximately 1 million, it is Canada's largest-circulation national newspaper and second-largest daily newspaper after the Toronto Star...
reviewer Catherine Dawson March wrote, "You'd think, just seven weeks after Code's headline-making death, that Survive This would make a passing nod to the tragedy. ... Some kind of 'don't try this on your own' advice. But no." Dawson praised the show as "captivating" with "lots of emotional drama", but concluded: "It's great stuff, but YTV should acknowledge Code's death with a warning of their own." YTV replied, "As Survive This does not follow the same premise as Survivorman, there will not be a disclaimer before each episode."
See also
External links
- Survive This on YTV.com
- Survive This on Cartoonnetwork.comCartoon Network (United States)Cartoon Network is an American cable television network owned by Turner Broadcasting which primarily airs animated programming. The channel was launched on October 1, 1992 after Turner purchased the animation studio Hanna-Barbera Productions in 1991...
- Survive This survivalist expert David Arama offeers wilderness tips he taught contestants - video hosted by Citytv, a Rogers Broadcasting Web site