Discovery's "Naked & Afraid," VH1's "Dating Naked": The Bare Facts

Much like &#8220;Magic Mike XXL,&#8221; &#8220;Naked XL&#8221; brings back the folks who stripped down and wowed their audience the first time around. Remember, this series is a spin-off -- or, if you prefer, a sequel -- not the fifth season of the super-popular franchise.Specifically, 12 contestants &#8211; six men and six women &#8211; who were among the most successful survivalists during the first four seasons of Discovery&#8217;s hottest franchise that does not feature sharks are reunited for a 40-day challenge way tougher than anything they endured the first time they revealed almost everything to the world and struggled to keep it together in hostile environments. This time, instead of competing with nature only they are also trying to outperform&#160;each other. It&#8217;s a little bit of CBS&#8217; &#8220;Survivor&#8221; and a little bit of NBC&#8217;s just-concluded summer series &#8220;The Island,&#8221; but without clothes and with much pixilation of naughty bits, though never of heinies.The challenges they face in "Naked XL" are reportedly much more difficult than what they endured before, as this clip featuring two men doing battle with an electric eel demonstrates. (You may find yourself rooting for the eel.)&#160;The first four seasons of &#8220;Naked and Afraid&#8221; brought something new to advertiser supported television: Extended full backside nudity.&#8220;Naked&#8221; became so popular so fast that Hollywood A-listers Seth Rogen and James Franco were moved to film their own comical segment of the show.Discovery decided to produce a live talk show titled "Naked After Dark" starring "Shark After Dark" host Josh Wolf. It was telecast after new episodes of "Naked" and featured contestants talking at length about their experiences.&#160;Wolf (below)&#160;now has his own late night talk show on CMT.Meanwhile, Derek Theler of ABC Family&#8217;s &#8220;Baby Daddy&#8221; and his girlfriend Christina Ochoa filmed a &#8220;Naked and Afraid&#8221; spoof of their own."Naked and Afraid" largely dominates the Naked TV genre, but VH1&#8217;s own flesh fest &#8220;Dating Naked&#8221; is firmly in second place.For anyone who may be interested, the magic of season one can be enjoyed all over again in the video below, courtesy of PopSugar:&#160;Eager to generate buzz for the show, VH1 actually did this:&#160;Its second season, titled &#8220;Dating Naked: Playing for Keeps,&#8221; is a true sophomore run, as opposed to a&#160;spin-off. But big changes have been made. Rather than introduce a new man and woman every week to mix and mingle in their birthday suits with members of the opposite sex before deciding who they want to see more of (as if that&#8217;s possible), &#8220;Playing for Keeps&#8221; will keep the same man and woman in place throughout the season. Their names are Kerri Cipriani and Chris Aldrich and they are pictured below.Want a reason to watch beyond the obvious? As I understand it, Kerri and Chris will be on every episode of &#8220;Playing for Keeps,&#8221; which means that by the end of the season (comprised of 10 episodes) they will have logged more time buck&#160;naked on advertiser supported television than anyone else in the history of the medium. That means all students of television should pay attention because history is going to be made.That's the naked truth.The opinions and points of view expressed in this commentary are exclusively the views of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillage management or associated bloggers.

Discovery's "Naked & Afraid," VH1's "Dating Naked": The Bare Facts

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