"I, Caveman" on Discovery channel

powernoodle

powernoodle

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Starting tonight at 8:00 EST are two episodes of I, Caveman on the Discovery channel. Description: "Morgan Spurlock joins nine average men and women in an attempt to survive in the wild using only Stone Age technology." Its apparently a new series. [Edit: its a 2-parter, not a series].

Thought this might be interesting for you guys. I'll be watching. :thumbup:

PN
 
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Hell yeah, as long as nobody get "voted" off I'll tune in. Thanks for the heads up man!
 
Oh my god - these people are idiots.

"Hey honey - I just got accepted on a show that will start filming in a year about living like a caveman - and I think I will prepare for it by doing NOTHING for a year."

I get so tired of watching idiots not know how to do the simplest stuff be accepted on these shows.

They have a massive water area - no one is fishing or trying to make water traps. They set up a few traps - and then sit around. You should have HUNDREDS of traps after sitting for hours.

They have no skill in knowing even the basics - down wind hunting, stalking, the simple stuff.... and then to watch them cry and quit just makes me want to cut the power to American for a month and weed out the stupid.


TF
 
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So after watching this, I have mixed feelings/thoughts about it. It is always cool to see this kind of programming. I feel the "experiment" was put together quite shoddily. I like the fact that thay included some individuals that brought at least an interest in this area of learning but we got a very narrow snippet of why each individual wanted to participate. That said, I would have appreciated more on camera commentary from the experts and less of the reality show type "testimonials".
Now as for the actual "experiment", your average caveman had a lifetime of learning, physically, emotionally and intellectually to prepare him/her for everyday life. What skills were they taught, if any, in preperation for this. More importantly and what I find invalidating this from being scientific is that the most essential factor, although touched upon, that would have determined the success of any group was not satisfactorily addressed; that of the group dynamic, the cohesiveness of the group. In a real hunter-gatherer group, there would be trust among every member of the group so that someone could have taken charge of Manu (and she would have been open to it) when she became hypothermic instead of letting her suffer alone. The same with the other girl who quit. Roles would have been more clearly delineated and everyone would have fwelt more useful. I found that although very un-PC, Robert's comment about why should he provide for the non-contributing women being that none of them was his mate is a very realistic assessment.
I bet this would have worked better if the participants all knew each other and even included family members. A better level of pre-education would have helped as well. With some tweaking, this show could stand up to at least a season of filming. Oh yeah and some bare breasts for authenticity.
 
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I'm watching it now (replay) it's ok, I see alot of stuff they could/should be doing but aren't . Oh well....it's better than watching American Idol or one of those shows !
 
I could tell by the previews that these "normal" people would fail. It's a bad experiment. "Caveman" or any other hunter gathers had inherited cultural knowledge about how to survive in their environment. A modern city dweller will not know the detailed knowledge of how to survive much less thrive.
 
I think the show was contrived to be biased toward a hunter-gatherer, nomadic existence (for all I know maybe from the movie One Million Years B.C. Raquel Welch version). Weren't real cavemen chiefly scavengers and gatherers? Or maybe in a different ecosystem than the north woods type environment the it was shot in. It was entertaining, but I have doubts about how authentic it was even with a panel of archeologists and primitive living experts. Being a caveman probably was a lot more complex than that.
P.S. The woman who complained about cold feet the first night turned out to be an asset :) She sounded like she was from Australia or New Zealand...she was very impressive harvesting trout and hunting. One of the hunter's application of black "camo" facepaint to the upper part of his face was badass and hilarious at the same time.
 
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A couple of thoughts -

- even if it can be lame, just about anything on the Discovery or History channels is better than just about anything on network tv, and

- I, Caveman was not an experiment in human culture or survivalism or anthropology. Its a tv show. They put a few dimwits on the show in order to have a little drama and enhance the plot.

- I liked it enough to watch. I'd watch some more if it were a series.

- you may have recognized the host, Morgan Spurlock, as the guy who was in Supersize Me about getting fat by eating only at McDonald's.
 
I think this show was less about primitive skills and more about peoples reactions to stress and hardship. Hunger and discomfort make people drop their cloak of civility and wear thier emotions on their sleeve, which is apparently what people would rather watch opposed to actual primitive skills in action. Atlatl bob should have a show.
 
I saw it up to when they killed the elk. After the "hunter" got teary eyed about killing an animal to survive I went back to Sunday Night Football.
 
I caught about 20mins of it.. and decided.. it's lame.. but hey, they did kill an elk.. and then felt horrible about the whole ordeal. If this show becomes a series... oh wait, we are living in age of the REAL lame TV shows. BARE HANDED FISHIN" OH BOY! why not I, caveman. Yay :(
 
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