Nature documentary strikes chord with urbanites yearning for rustic lifestyle

Holding zucchinis, Lee Seung-yoon, the host of the TV series “Into the Wilderness,” stands behind Kim Yong-ho while shooting the first episode that aired in August, 2011. Kim lived in the isolated location in South Chungcheong Province for 30 years without wearing anything but he wore a white shirt only for the photo./ Doo Seung-tack photo

TV series ‘Into the Wilderness’ goes popular

By Kang Hyun-kyung

Sohn Doo-gyu, 59, walks 10 kilometers in the pine forest behind his home in the middle of nowhere in South Chungcheong Province, a ritual he does every morning to “take a wind shower.”

His long gray hair is tied back and he wears no shirt. The bearded man said the daily walk is his way of interacting with Mother Nature and it helps him stay healthy by removing toxins from his body. He said a 10-kilometer hike every morning was unthinkable for him two decades ago when he lived in the city.

Just like other urbanites, he was tied to a hectic schedule and his urban life was stressful. He had constant acute back pain, an affliction he came to have after a decade of working for a multinational corporation as an auditor, and his health worsened year after year. He heard Mother Nature calling and went back to his hometown to seek natural remedies. He is the only man living in the region as the dozen other households moved out decades ago for better lives in urban areas.

Sohn has no neighbors. His home which he built 19 years ago when he first arrived there has an iconic view — the sea stretches out in front of his house and low mountains sit behind it. Sohn said it’s a perfect place for people like him who seek a self-sufficient life far from civilization because organic food and seafood are abundant all year round.

Sohn starred in the 244th episode of the TV series “Into the Wilderness,” an hour-long documentary that airs on cable network MBN every Wednesday at 9:45 p.m. The series, produced by Image 3, features comedians Lee Seung-yoon and Yoon Taek. Lee and Yoon take turns hosting the weekly program. The program highlights people who cut themselves off from the outside world and lead their own lives in isolated locations, such as deep in the mountains, the woods, or other remote areas with no neighbors around them.

Since it premiered in August 2011, the TV series has become a hit. Its viewer ratings have hovered at five to eight percent, depending on the episode.

“Into the Wilderness” has become one of the top 10 favorite TV programs of Koreans, according to Gallup. The polling agency took a poll of 1,004 people from May 16 to 18 to determine Koreans’ favorite TV programs of May and the nature documentary rose to eighth place with 3.3 percent from 10th in the April survey. MBC’s award-winning entertainment program “Infinite Challenge” topped the survey with 9.9 percent, followed by JTBC’s debate program “Ssulzun.” The Gallup survey found “Into the Wilderness” is popular among people in their 40s, 50s and 60s.

Program host Lee Seung-yoon said the success of the “Into the Wilderness” series is unexpected but no surprise.

“Honestly, I shot the first episode six years ago with some skepticism,” he said. “It’s an ultra-simple story starring only two people — me and the person living in the elements. I was wondering how such a simple, seemingly bland story could appeal to the viewers... But I was wrong.”

He said the TVshow is not funny but it makes people feel comfortable, noting this trait seems to encourage loyal viewership. “I think the natural green setting gives people some sort of comfort. So once they watch it, they stay tuned in until the end of the program.”

His early years with the program were full of odd experiences. He said the first episode starring senior citizen Kim Yong-ho, who had lived in the wild in South Chungcheong Province for 30 years as of August 2011, was unforgettable.

“He didn’t wear anything. He was naked all during the program and lived in a small dugout which was so small that I couldn’t share his place at night. In a sense, he was a true wilderness man,” he said.

On the second day, Lee was served with a “special meal.”

“There were lots of fish heads inside the dish. Although it was boiled, I could feel those fish went bad,” he said. “I tried it because that’s my job. As a host, I was supposed to let the wilderness man live his life to show it to our audience... Regarding its taste, I don’t want to comment in detail.”

The fish stew was one of the gross dishes Lee tried while shooting the TV series. He said he tried a raw liver of a red deer and vegetable stew boiled with a stone.However, he said most of the dishes he tried were very good.

Each episode of “Into the Wilderness” follows the general format that comedian Lee or Yoon visits a man or woman living alone in a remote area with a camera and audio crew and joins the wilderness people to explore their lifestyle for three days. The people in the bush have their own recipes for meals and hunt for herbs for ingredients and natural remedies.

Some of their organic recipes and herbal medicines went viral as internet users capture them and post the video clips on You Tube. Some popular video clips have hundreds of thousands of viewers.

Among producers, “Into the Wilderness” is considered a cost-effective program. It’s a low-budget documentary and its budget is about a tenth of a TV drama.

The crew working on the TV series only has 10 people, including the host, camera crew and audio and video staff, according Doo Seung-tack, the head of Image 3’s Into the Wilderness Division.

Doo is one of the early members who conceived the idea of the nature documentary series highlighting people living in the wild with their self-sufficient, rustic lifestyles.

He said he and other staff involved in the program were inspired by Discovery Channel’s nature documentary “Man vs. Wild” which premiered in November 2006.

“Among people in television production companies, the nature documentary series were a popular topic and we talked a lot about if we could pull together a Korean version of Man vs. Wild,” Doo said. “We realized shooting such a TV series would be impossible here in Korea because we have no such rainforests or wild nature that can be comparable to the natural setting of the British program.”

Asked why he thinks viewers are drawn to his program, Doo said deep in their hearts, many urbanites seem to yearn for pristine nature and a simple, healthy lifestyle because they are stressed out from their hectic urban lives.

“They face survival-of-the-fittest-like competition in their daily lives almost every day and many of them naturally long for a stress-free, organic life,” he said. “I think Into the Wilderness strikes a chord with those who are exhausted in their stressful urban lives.”

The growing interest in health food and the organic lifestyle are also behind the popularity of the low-budget documentary series.