Forget “7 versus Wild”! Now the toughest survival show in the world is (finally) coming to us

Whether it concerns ‘Naked Survival’, ‘Survival Duo’ or one of the many survival shows by British adventurer Bear Grylls: the vast majority of TV productions in this area do not deliver what they promise.

(This post contains no spoilers)

And then there is “Alone” – the gold standard among survival series. No other format comes close to the American original, in which ten candidates fight for survival in complete isolation. There is no camera team, everything is filmed in-house. And whoever lasts the longest wins a fortune.

When the American production team celebrated the premiere on the pay-TV ‘History Channel’ in 2015, almost no one anticipated the enormous interest.

Less than ten years later, ‘Alone’ has become a worldwide phenomenon. The inventors, or rights holders, also make money from the licenses they grant to other TV production companies. There are now more or less successful offshoots on three continents (more on this below). And now the first German-language ‘Alone’ has been added.

What do we know about the new ‘Alone’?

The German private television channel RTL+ starts on February 8 «Alone – Survive the Wilderness». It is the German spin-off of the popular American series. The same rules and preconditions apply.

The most important information has been published in advance on the RTL website. That’s why we know:

The makers of the series write about the psychological challenges for the candidates:

A spokeswoman for the German private television broadcaster confirmed to Watson: the Swiss public can also watch ‘Alone – Survive the Wilderness’ via the RTL+ app.

Who participates?

What does “Alone” have to do with “7 vs. Wild”?

Compared to ‘Alone’, ‘7 vs. Wild’ in every respect a children’s birthday party. The third season, which recently ended on YouTube, is also set on Vancouver Island, but on islands in the north: those responsible chose this location because they wanted to minimize the risk of encountering bears and pumas.

Moreover, it was over after 14 days at the latest for the participating teams of two. With ‘Alone’ the survival specialists really get excited. The winners of the previous ten American seasons lasted at least 56 days, and averaged almost 74 days.

Please note: ‘7 vs. Wild’ is considered one of the most successful German-language productions in the survival sector. The first two seasons caused a sensation on YouTube in 2021 and 2022, after which tech giant Amazon became an investor and tried to capitalize on the hype through its ad-funded streaming service Freeve.

The initiator of ‘7 vs. Wild’, the German outdoor influencer Fritz Meinecke, openly admitted that he was inspired by ‘Alone’ for his show concept.

With the German ‘Alone’ we will find out whether the production team and the candidates meet the high standards and, if the first season is successful, successful YouTube formats such as ‘7 vs. Wild’ or ‘Survival Squad’.

In which countries has ‘Alone’ already been shown and which shows are worth watching?

Anyone interested in the American original of “Alone” can find it on the History Channel website. However, to watch the first eight seasons (out of a total of ten so far) for free, a VPN service is required. Alternatively, all seasons can now also be found on Netflix.

There are also “Alone” branches in these countries:

If you want to see the “Alone” foothills mentioned above, you will have to do some “searching” on the Internet. If you have a tip, write it in the comments! 🙏

From the Watson editor’s point of view, it should be noted that neither the Australian nor the British production comes close in content to the American original. Other users have similar comments about the Scandinavian relays.

What about the ‘Alone’ spin-off shows?

As with any exceptionally successful TV series, the ‘Alone’ inventors tried to score points with the audience with various side productions. There are three official spin-off series worth mentioning, and none of them come close to the brilliantly simple concept of the original.

In “Alone: ​​​​​​The Beast”, three people (per episode) try to survive in the wilderness for 30 days, without help other than their own clothing, but in return the organizers give them a freshly killed animal: a moose or musk oxen, alligator or a wild boar. The biggest challenge is to process, or smoke, the large amount of meat in a timely manner.

‘Alone: ​​​​Frozen’ is the most similar to the original concept: here, six former ‘Alone’ candidates are abandoned in the middle of winter on the east coast of Canada’s Labrador Peninsula, where they have to survive in the freezing cold for 50 days. temperatures. Anyone who lasts that long will share a cash prize of $500,000.

“Alone: ​​​​The Skills Challenge” brings three former competitors back to the screen as they put their bushcraft skills to the test in head-to-head building competitions. They are provided with simple tools and are only allowed to use the natural resources in their environment.

And now you!

What are your favorite survival and outdoor series? What do you think of “7 vs. Wild” and will you follow the first German-language season of “Alone”?

Write to us via the comment function!

Sources