“Naked and Afraid” producer: “We didn’t develop the show to be exploitative, ever”

Sun, 23 Jun 2013 21:00:00 +0000

"Naked and Afraid," Discovery's new reality show premiering Friday, follows two different people each week as they are deposited in a taxing, remote wilderness environment where they have to survive for three weeks without food, water, shelter or clothes. When the first clips of "Naked and Afraid" hit the internet, the show got a lot of attention, as shows with naked people tend to do. It seemed like the latest series to push the bad taste envelope: "Survivor," but nakeder.

“Naked and Afraid” not nearly as sexy as it promises

Fri, 21 Jun 2013 15:52:00 +0000

“Naked and Afraid,” the new reality show that premieres Sunday night on Discovery, would more honestly be titled “Cynical and Earnest.” The show takes two trained survivalists, a man and a woman, drops them into an extreme, unpopulated environment without food, water or shelter, and leaves them there for 21 days. The twist — or rather the reveal, pun intended — is that the participants are also naked.

“Naked and Afraid” is not, however, some Playboy bunny version of “Castaway.” It’s more like an extreme version of the parts of “Survivor” in which Richard Hatch took off all his clothes. On-screen nudity has rarely been less sexual, but it’s also rarely been used as brazenly to sell a show. Anyone coming to “Naked and Afraid" for titillation — or camp or absurdity or over-the-topness, all things suggested by the title and premise — will find, instead, a focus on the difficulty and spirituality of the experience. "Naked and Afraid" decidedly does not belong in the Hugely Exploitative Reality Show Hall of Fame, and I’ll admit, that with my lizard brain, I found this a little disappointing.

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“Naked and Afraid” producer: “We didn’t develop the show to be exploitative, ever”

“Naked and Afraid” not nearly as sexy as it promises