TV

The first of the new episodes has Bear dropping into the wilds of Zambia. He tumbles through some whitewater rapids, treks through terrain teeming with crocodiles, hippos and elephants. He climbs down a waterfall, builds a wicked-cool treefort and all sorts of derring-do, man-of-action kinds of stuff. But this episode also contains the most dramatically revolting scene of bug-eating in extreme-o-phile TV history.

At one point he finds a fallen tree which he excitedly informs us is home to a particular kind of larval insect. He pulls out a couple of caterpillar-looking examples and chomps them up, but then he plucks out the biggest fattest worm-looking fellow and puts it in his mouth with most of it dangling over his chis. He bites down and the most disgusting geyser of goo erupts. If that's what it takes to live off the land, then perhaps survival is overrated.

I know some extreme-o-phile TV purists go for Survivorman and its one-man crew/host Les Stroud. He goes it alone, no camera crew, no supoort, no supplies goes the argument, while Bear has a camera crew and off-camera support at the ready. To which I say: Whatever. I like Les, I like his show. But watching his show is a little like getting stuck in an elevator with him. I prefer Man vs Wild because it's more fun to watch. Because there is a camera crew, it is more interestingly filmed and it's not so claustrophobic. Also, you get the feeling Bear Grylls is kind of a nut. I mean that in a nice way. But, seriously, is there anything he won't eat, any cliff he won't climb, any cave he won't go wandering around in?

As someone who has justified his obsessive viewing of extreme-o-phile tv by arguing that I was learging valuable survival skills that may come in handy if I ever find myself shipwrecked on some desolate island or wandering lost in the Yukon, I feel vindicated by Bear Grylls' new book.