Post by Spunk McKullins on Aug 13, 2023 8:01:11 GMT
Hello, last year I made a post on r/lostmedia hoping to gather more info regarding a lost VH1 reality show called Surviving Nugent. I've had a few leads since then, but unfortunately have made little progress towards something tangible. With everything I have researched, that post is probably the most comprehensive collection of information regarding the show that I have seen on the internet. so I'll just copy and paste the contents from it with my developments at the end. My hope is that this can finally generate some sort of discussion and there could be some kind of progress made, as all of my emails have gone unanswered.
Surviving Nugent was a reality show airing on VH1 starring batshit-insane rock musician Ted Nugent, first with a two-hour special taking place on Nugent's Michigan ranch, with a follow-up four-part series a year later on his Texas ranch, titled Surviving Nugent: The Ted Commandments. Surviving Nugent had one goal: Survive Ted Nugent. Doing so required participating in Nugent's deranged competitions, where contestants could be eliminated for any infraction that Nugent saw fit. Or even if he just wanted to. It was basically Saw if Ted Nugent was Jigsaw. Season 1 saw the winner go home with $25,000 and a pickup truck, with the cash prize being upgraded to $100,000 in Season 2.
Very little information on this show still exists today, and much of the testimony about its contents date back nearly twenty years on various web forums and news reports. One notorious headline some people may remember from the time detailed how Nugent himself was injured on the set by accidentally chainsawing his own leg, requiring 44 stitches to close.
Of the challenges given to the "city-slicker" contestants, season one is reported to have included getting shot with paint-balls, being forced to sleep in a barn, making the contestants construct their own outhouse, and skinning a boar. Fairly rugged and tough scenarios, but ultimately nothing too awful.
That's where season 2 comes in. Testimony from 2004 recalls various challenges that can only be described as pure unhinged madness. Such challenges include:
Other challenges that can be seen in the Season 2 Opening include:
Some of the seasons 1 and 2 cast included on the IMDB page include:
Archives of Season 1's website can be found here.
Archives of Season 2's website can be found here.
To the best of my ability, I can find absolutely nothing aside from the previously-linked Season 2 intro, a promotional advertisement uploaded to Vimeo in 2014, and a few stills from the show uploaded to a fishing forum 19 years ago.
Where I stand today: Shortly after I made that Reddit post, I was contacted by someone who is actually friends with the drummer of Ted's current band. Unfortunately I am unable to find their Reddit username, as the revamp they made to their DM system a while back seems to have wiped any traces of old messages. He relayed to me that Ted does keep physical copies of just about everything he does, so it is very likely that something exists. He said that Nugent was actually in the process of digitizing much of the contents of these tapes, and it is likely that it would make the cut too, if it was in the archives. However, as Viacom owns the license to the show, there is a next-to-zero percent chance that I would ever assume they would allow him to make it public, or decide to ever release it again themselves.
Any extra information or exposure would absolutely be welcome, as from what I can gather, I've pretty much been the only one searching this show out for the past few years.
Surviving Nugent was a reality show airing on VH1 starring batshit-insane rock musician Ted Nugent, first with a two-hour special taking place on Nugent's Michigan ranch, with a follow-up four-part series a year later on his Texas ranch, titled Surviving Nugent: The Ted Commandments. Surviving Nugent had one goal: Survive Ted Nugent. Doing so required participating in Nugent's deranged competitions, where contestants could be eliminated for any infraction that Nugent saw fit. Or even if he just wanted to. It was basically Saw if Ted Nugent was Jigsaw. Season 1 saw the winner go home with $25,000 and a pickup truck, with the cash prize being upgraded to $100,000 in Season 2.
Very little information on this show still exists today, and much of the testimony about its contents date back nearly twenty years on various web forums and news reports. One notorious headline some people may remember from the time detailed how Nugent himself was injured on the set by accidentally chainsawing his own leg, requiring 44 stitches to close.
Of the challenges given to the "city-slicker" contestants, season one is reported to have included getting shot with paint-balls, being forced to sleep in a barn, making the contestants construct their own outhouse, and skinning a boar. Fairly rugged and tough scenarios, but ultimately nothing too awful.
That's where season 2 comes in. Testimony from 2004 recalls various challenges that can only be described as pure unhinged madness. Such challenges include:
- Contestants being forced to pick up and carry around manure with their bare hands.
- Playing Chicken with Nugent's pickup truck barreling towards contestants at 40 mph, the later they dive out of the way, the more money they receive. This resulted in the first contestant not diving, getting run over, flying over the hood of the truck and into the windshield, falling onto the ground, unconscious and twitching, until an ambulance takes him away.
- Nugent burying four contestants in cold, muddy water until someone gives up. This went on to the point where Nugent was offering $10,000 to whomever gave up and got out of the water first. Nobody took the offer. One contestant was taken away in an ambulance with a body temperature of 91°F (32.8°C)
- A contestant described as "the vegan girl" getting a tattoo on her ass saying "PROPERTY OF TED NUGENT."
Other challenges that can be seen in the Season 2 Opening include:
- Contestants being made to crawl through an electrified obstacle course, a la Mission Impossible laser sensor style.
- Some sort of challenge requiring contestants to run from Nugent through a tall grass field as he attempts to hunt them with a net gun in a helicopter.
- Catching manure with your head using a bucket attached to a helmet.
- Something that resulted in two guys tied up, in a tub of mud or manure, that ends with them kissing. (? ? ?)
- Some sort of challenge or scene involving two demolition derby cars smashing into each other.
Some of the seasons 1 and 2 cast included on the IMDB page include:
- Josh Silberman as "The Bookworm"
- Dawn Arellano, season 2's winner, as "The Bisexual"
- And in true 2000's reality challenge show fashion, Tila Tequila as Herself
Archives of Season 1's website can be found here.
Archives of Season 2's website can be found here.
To the best of my ability, I can find absolutely nothing aside from the previously-linked Season 2 intro, a promotional advertisement uploaded to Vimeo in 2014, and a few stills from the show uploaded to a fishing forum 19 years ago.
Where I stand today: Shortly after I made that Reddit post, I was contacted by someone who is actually friends with the drummer of Ted's current band. Unfortunately I am unable to find their Reddit username, as the revamp they made to their DM system a while back seems to have wiped any traces of old messages. He relayed to me that Ted does keep physical copies of just about everything he does, so it is very likely that something exists. He said that Nugent was actually in the process of digitizing much of the contents of these tapes, and it is likely that it would make the cut too, if it was in the archives. However, as Viacom owns the license to the show, there is a next-to-zero percent chance that I would ever assume they would allow him to make it public, or decide to ever release it again themselves.
Any extra information or exposure would absolutely be welcome, as from what I can gather, I've pretty much been the only one searching this show out for the past few years.
