DWilson

Here's another entry in the latest rash of "Survival" shows. Here's the pitch from Discovery's website:

Naked and Afraid takes "survival of the fittest" to the next level. Each week, a new pair of complete and total strangers - one man and one woman - will find themselves stranded in and, quite literally, exposed to some of the world's most extreme weather environments. Each duo will be left high and dry with no food, no water...and no clothes. They must survive on their own for a full 21 days, with nothing but one personal item each and the knowledge that the only prize is their pride and sense of accomplishment.

In Naked and Afraid, these brazen and bold couples will get acquainted with each other and their new surroundings very quickly, forcing them to question and test everything they may think they know about their acquired survival skills and instincts.

Will the nude castaways have the brains and brawn to endure the harsh conditions? Or will the challenges prove to be overbare-ing? Watch as each couple battles the elements, each other, and their own inner weakness to see who will triumph over the terrain or fail under the force of nature.

I just watched the first episode and I was impressed, -this is more in the "serious" vein of "Discovery" shows like "The Colony": the pair's survival skills are assessed before and after the experience, including video comparisons of the physical toll of the experience. And, yes, they're naked, with a lot of "bare ass", though everything else is blurred. Obviously, the nudity is a bit of "carnival" to get you in the door, but it works in getting your interest and also in making them seem incredibly vulnerable.
The first episode makes for a grueling hour. There's a lot of genuine danger and depravation (the nudity leaves them very vulnerable) and there's also the relationship between a forty-year-old guy with anger issues and a twenty-two-year-old Minnesota girl who's just too, -immature, -for his tastes. I constantly found myself trying to decide when he was being an ass, and when I thought, "yeah, that would have pissed me off, too".
I don't watch a lot of non-competition shows like this, but I'll be back for the next episode.

PhantomStranger

If the editing for the show was honest with the two personalities, I didn't really understand the complaints made by the guy against the younger woman in the first episode. He seemed to have problems of relating to other people in general, likely due to his troubled childhood.

And the show should have struck a better balance between survival and comfort. We basically saw two people practically starve to death in a rain forest, which makes for tedious viewing since the production would always save them if a serious medical situation arose.

Spiderbite

Anybody watching this?

I just discovered this show thru a friend and I am now hooked. It's like Survivor on steroids. I find it interesting that the women in the shows I have seen so far appear to be far stronger than the men in many aspects.

Kmical

My wife and I really enjoy watching this. In the first few, you see the pairs bond while undergoing shared difficulties. The last one in Panama, however, showed what it might be like to put a married couple on the show. Work together? Screw that!

Other observations:

Loved to see the "survivalist" scared of bats, snakes, caimans, and water. Alone, I think he would have been a goner.

I really felt the two in Tanzania should have made footwear long before Day 8.

mugwump

I Like it as well but cramming 21 days into a 45-minute time slot skims over way too much.

Kmical

I think it moves along nicely in its 45-minute slot.

How much sleeping, unsuccessful fishing/hunting, and collecting coconuts/plants do you really want to watch?

One of the best approaches for the survivalists is to try and conserve energy. However, when was the last time "conserving energy" made for a gripping TV show?

In Panama, I was just hoping for the following:

Laura: I think those are water apples ...
Clint: (takes large bite out of hanging fruit)
Laura: ... or ghost peppers
Clint:

PhantomStranger

It has definitely been edited to suggest the women are the much stronger participants, but there is enough footage from 21 days to make these people appear however the producers want them to appear on television.

A show like this definitely reveals how much easier the contestants on Survivor have it.

Dan1boy

I detest reality type shows but I'm kinda, freakishly enjoying this one. It's so...cruel...?

But ultimately very enjoyable.

Flicker

No real nudity, I won't watch it. I even get pissed off at CBS blurring Survivor and Big Brother. Grow up America.

whotony

Should be called naked and nasty.

zuffy

Thanks to this thread, I checked out the show. I like it. I can't imagine I would survive even a day.