Alone
Alone is a series produced by the History Channel and it’s unlike any other reality TV I’ve ever seen. A group of survivalists are dropped into sites in the wilderness, usually shortly before winter sets in, and the last one standing wins $500K. They are very strictly limited on what they can bring with them and they will be totally alone. The contestants do all of the filming themselves and their voices are the only narration.
While there are limited interactions with producers for health checks (they can be removed from the game for medical reasons) and replacements of batteries and storage cards for their cameras, this truly is a test of surviving all alone. Building shelter, obtaining safe water, finding food, being able to start fire for cooking and warmth—these are all skills these survivalists are very comfortable with. Living in isolation is the true challenge.
There are two major lessons that become extremely apparent when watching multiple seasons:
Being able to roll with things as they come is more important than having a plan.
Humans are meant to live in community.
Alone is free to watch (with ads) on the History Channel website. It is always fascinating to see different people grapple with both the physical and mental challenges of being isolated and entirely dependent on their own skills and luck.