Television: Fish or Die Premiers Sunday 4-21-2019 10 PM ET

For some of us this seems like trout bum deja vu.  Brian Jill, Chris Owens, Jay Johnson, and Thad Robinson, fishing together in remote locations and making us hate corporate life.  Let us know what you think.  Link for more info.

VS back on Direct TV

VERSUS Field & Live Sports Return to DIRECTV:
DIRECTV and VERSUS Reach Carriage Agreement

El Segundo, CA, and Philadelphia - DIRECTV and Comcast have reached an agreement to return VERSUS to the DIRECTV programming lineup today. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.VERSUS will return to the same DIRECTV programming packages it was in at the end of August 2009.

"We are pleased that both sides were able to work out a satisfactory deal to bring this programming back to our customers," said Derek Chang, executive vice president, Content Strategy and Development, DIRECTV."We're excited that we were able to come to a fair agreement that puts VERSUS back in millions of homes with DIRECTV in time for our busy spring programming schedule," said Jamie Davis, president of VERSUS. "We look forward to super-serving these fans with NHL regular-season and playoff coverage, our first live UFC event and much more."

Pirates of the Flats

Tom Brokaw, Michael Keaton, Thomas McGuane, Yvon Chouinard, Lefty Kreh and Val Atkin star in the long awaited Pirates of the Flats on ESPN2.

GillznFinz

A few fellow anglers who we are planning on meeting up with at the Charlotte Fly Show. Sounds like it might be a wild ride. Also check out this article about Adam Paul of Greensboro, NC. Adam is the guy behind GillznFinz

James Gandolfini: An Offer You Can't Refuse

This comes via the desk of the Editorial Trophy Wife. Christie's Auction House is holding an auction that appeals to our inner mob boss (lest you forget that our day job is in construction and was once based in Jersey.) James Gandolfini head of HBO's fictional Soprano family is selling the shirt off his back and donating the proceeds to the Wounded Warrior Project.

Black, olive, and cream short sleeve button front shirt by Nat Nast worn by the character Tony Soprano played by actor James Gandolfini in HBO's award winning series The Sopranos. Mr. Gandolfini wore the shirt in "The Ride" (Season 6, Episode 9) during the sequence in the Soprano kitchen where Carmela talks with Tony about Adriana's disappearance and tells him that Ade's mother thinks Christopher may have killed her.

It seems Mr. G got to keep the clothes from the show and has decided to dispose of them while helping out a worthy cause. If you decide to bid be sure to remember that only items worn by Tony create a donation to the Wounded Warrior Project. Uncle Junior must be keeping the money for himself.

Versus Country: Like the NCAA for Fish!

We got word of this a bit too late to fill out a bracket but our money is still on the Tarpon. Some lucky angler will get to fish with Tred Barta.

STAMFORD, Conn. (March 5, 2008) – VERSUS Country is once again on the quest to answer the most hotly debated question among sport fishermen since fish have been caught on rod and reel — pound-for-pound, what is the toughest gamefish? Will last year’s winner, the Tarpon, retain its title or will this second installment of Big Fish Madness determine a new champion successor?

The VERSUS Country panel of angling experts, including Tred Barta, Roland Martin, Bill Dance and Hank Parker, have narrowed the field by selecting the top 32 gamefish and seeded the fish in a bracket split into four regions. This year though, the ultimate decision for the toughest game fish will be chosen by the viewers, not the experts. Viewers can log on to VERSUSCountry.com to fill out a bracket with their selections up until March 21. Over the course of four nights, each gamefish in contention will be featured in some of the most spectacular fishing on television and Huntley Ritter, the host of The Huntley Way, will take viewers through each match-up, round-by-round until the field of 32 is down to just one champion.

For viewers filling out a bracket at VERSUSCountry.com, points will be awarded for each correct selection and tallied after each round with correct choices receiving incrementally more points as the rounds advance. Throughout Big Fish Madness, viewers can go to the website to see how their brackets are faring against other viewers. The viewer with the winning bracket will be announced on the last night of Big Fish Madness on April 4. The entrant with the highest point total will win the grand prize – a 2008 Nitro Z-6 Boat with Optimax Motor and Trailer, courtesy of BassPro Shops and Tracker Marine and the first place winner will receive an all-expense-paid fishing trip with Tred Barta. Other spectacular prizes for top point earners include: 42' Panasonic plasma TV's, iPods, Xbox 360 game consoles, a Bill Dance signature rod & reel package, among others.

“After a very successful first installment of Big Fish Madness we decided to bring it back for a second year with an exciting twist—this year, the viewers are the experts as they’ll be deciding which fish is the toughest,” said Jeff Macaluso, Director of Field Sports & New Media Programming & Production for VERSUS. “It’s a great way for our highly passionate anglers to engage interactively with the programming and to see how their opinions match-up against our expert’s for a chance to win great prizes.”

BIG FISH MADNESS PROGRAMMING SCHEDULE (subject to change):

Thursday, March 27, 2008: Round 1 - Field Goes from 32-16

7:00 p.m. ET The Huntley Way
7:30 p.m. ET Hunt for Big Fish
8:00 p.m. ET Sport Fishing Magazine
8:30 p.m. ET The Best and Worst of Tred Barta

Friday, March 28, 2008: Round 2 - Field goes from 16-8

7:00 p.m. ET One More Cast
7:30 p.m. ET LL Bean Guide to the Outdoors
8:00 p.m. ET Hunt for Big Fish
8:30 p.m. ET City Limits Fishing- ALL NEW EPISODE
9:00 p.m. ET The Best and Worst of Tred Barta
9:30 p.m. ET Dollar Wise Fly - ALL NEW EPISODE
10:00 p.m. ET Saltwater Experience
10:30 p.m. ET The Bass Pros

Thursday, April 3, 2008: Round 3 - Field goes from 8 to 4

7:00 p.m. ET Escape to the Wild
7:30 p.m. ET The Best and Worst of Tred Barta
8:00 p.m. ET Sport Fishing Magazine
8:30 p.m. ET Hunt for Big Fish

Friday April 4, 2008: Semi-Finals and Championship

7:00 p.m. ET One More Cast
7:30 p.m. ET The Bass Pros
8:00 p.m. ET Hunt for Big Fish
8:30p.m. ET City Limits Fishing- ALL NEW EPISODE
9:00 p.m. ET Best & Worst of Tred Barta
9:30 p.m. ET Dollar Wise Fly - ALL NEW EPISODE
10:00 p.m. ET Saltwater Experience
10:30 p.m. ET Sport Fishing Magazine


VERSUS celebrates real competition in all its forms across all platforms (VERSUS.com, VERSUS on Demand and VERSUS HD). Now in more than 74 million homes, the network is the national cable home of the National Hockey League (NHL) and the Stanley Cup Playoffs as well as best-in-class events such as The Tour de France, Davis Cup Tennis, the Professional Bull Riders (PBR), World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) and Professional Boxing. The network also offers collegiate sports featuring nationally-ranked teams from top conferences such as the Pac-10, Big 12 and Mountain West. VERSUS features the best field sports programming on television and is a destination for sports fans, athletes and sportsmen to find exclusive, competitive events that audiences can't find elsewhere. VERSUS, a wholly owned company of Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ: CMCSA, CMCSK), is distributed via cable systems and satellite operators throughout the United States.

Say it ain't so Bear!

There is no doubt in our minds that the Man vs. Wild star, former British Special Forces solider, and guy who has been to the summit of Everest, Bear Grylls is one tough guy. You can tell that by the catch and release technique that he is using in this photo from his website, BearGrylls.com.

However, we must confess that we were a little disappointed to find out via Reuters that parts of his show were staged and that he is sometimes whisked away to a cozy hotel room when it appears he is sleeping under the stars.

The network issued a statement Monday in response to an investigation launched by British television network Channel 4, which carries the program under the title "Born Survivor: Bear Grylls." Channel 4 confirmed that host Bear Grylls had partaken of indoor accommodations on at least two occasions when his series had depicted him spending the night in the wild.

"Discovery Communications has learned that isolated elements of the 'Man vs. Wild' show in some episodes were not natural to the environment, and that for health and safety concerns the crew and host received some survival assistance while in the field," the network said in a statement.

We understand. After all we have never been ones to believe everything we see on television. We do however have it on good authority that while filming he only stays at hotels that do not provide room service and is not allowed to avail himself of the contents of the mini-bar.

***Update*** more info arrives via the comments section:

Link to Dailymail.co.UK story about pre-built rafts and folks in bear costumes.

Link to the BearWiki: A site devoted to pointing out bad survival advice from Grylls.

All the more reason we prefer Survivorman.