Bear Grylls is back, starting the filming of the remainder of Man vs. Wild Season 2. From the looks of things, we’re going to see more extreme environments, longer episodes, and a more transparent process:

The new shows will also now be two hours long, instead of one - partly because so many of the locations are so remote, but also so we can go into greater detail, and show the behind the scenes work, including the crew’s role.

Believe it or not, despite the negative things I have said about BG and MvW on this site, I’m actually excited to see these new episodes. I’ve been watching Survivorman in the absence of MvW reruns, and while I enjoy it, Les Stroud just doesn’t have the same charisma and “it” factor as Bear.

Two hours seems a bit excessive, though I’ll reserve my judgment until I see how well the new format works.

Still, I can’t wait. Friday nights were a family event for us as we’d gather around the TV to see what crazy ol’ Bear was up to next. Let the fun begin resume.