• Maori Land Court

World famous adventurer and survival expert Bear Grylls reveals the true stories of ordinary people who found themselves in extraordinary life or death situations. Bear ventures into jungles, snow-capped mountains, burning deserts and steep canyons to replicate the key moments and terrifying realities of the encounters, from bandit attacks and avalanches, to being lost in ferocious sand storms and being confronted with bears.

He talks about what the survivors did to help their cause, and demonstrates some of the mistakes they made along the way that nearly cost them their lives. Discovery Channel takes the ubiquitous survival show theme to the next level by stripping it to its bare essentials.

In 'Naked and Afraid,' complete strangers - usually a man and a woman - meet in a very unique way: They're stranded in a dangerous, desolate location, without food or water, and they're completely naked. Each episode follows the adventurers as they attempt to survive on their own with nothing but a personal item and the knowledge that the only prize is their pride and sense of accomplishment.

Because there is no other choice, competitors quickly get to know one another - and their surroundings - and hope that their instincts, survival skills and intestinal fortitude serve them well. Adventurer Ed Stafford has walked the length of the Amazon River - he is the first person to accomplish that - so perhaps being stranded on a desert island near Fiji without clothes, food, water and tools and attempting to survive for 60 days isn't that daunting. The only possessions he does have are cameras, and so viewers are provided a fly-on-the-wall perspective of Ed's attempts to find food, make fire, process water to drink, and build a shelter - among many other tasks that will help him stay alive.

Maori Land Court

Extreme survivalists go head to head in a race across the Alaska wild. Using ingenuity, experience and just the gear they can carry in their packs, the participants have 60 hours to reach the finish point of each leg of the adventure - the series features 13 legs - and in addition to navigating treacherous glaciated river valleys, barren ridgelines, and high mountain peaks, the challengers battle hunger, dangerous predators and unpredictable weather. There is no grand prize awaiting each leg's winner, other than the pride of accomplishing a grueling feat. For season three, the 12 competitors are divided equally into four teams - Military, Endurance, Alaskans and Lower 48. TV's most extreme survival challenge just grew extra-large. Veteran survivalists familiar with the stripped-down drill after appearing on 'Naked and Afraid' attempt to survive in a desolate, dangerous environment for 40 days - 19 more than they previously experienced on the show. Pushing the very limits of human endurance, the men and women must all vie for the same limited food, water and shelter while avoiding territorial-sensitive predators and venom-filled reptiles.

Because there is no other choice, the competitors quickly get to know one another - and their surroundings - and hope that their instincts, survival skills and intestinal fortitude serve them well. Noted survivalist and adventurer Bear Grylls presents footage of great escapes and near-death experiences in this program that sees other people in danger instead of Bear. The people who survived the events in the videos - including runaway cars, animal attacks, and parachutes that don't open - tell the stories behind what happened to them. Episodes also feature experts offering survival tips and how-to advice for viewers. At the end of each episode, Bear chooses his favorite clip that aired during the show.