Matt and I have recently discovered, and subsequently fallen in love with, a new TV show called, simply, Mantracker. It is quite possibly the best Canadian TV show I’ve seen in a long goddamn time.
The prey are looking for glory, and Mantracker is looking for them.
Mantracker follows Terry Grant, a professional cowboy, tracker, and member of the Foothills Search and Rescue Team, as he hunts and tracks a new pair of contestants each week somewhere in the Canadian wilderness. Each pair of contestants is given a map, a compass, and 36 hours to make it over 40 km to their destination. Mantracker and his horse, along with a sidekick (another cowboy/tracker type who is familiar with each episode’s particular terrain), have no idea who the prey are, or where the destination is. This guy can pick up a busted leaf and come up with stuff like “they were here about an hour ago by the looks of this,” or spot upturned mud and figure out that someone stopped there to check a map, or notice the mark of a stick in the ground and determine what blood type his prey is. I’m totally enthralled by Mantracker. This show has me wrapped around its little finger.
It sounds so incredibly Canadian, I know, but it’s absolutely thrilling. Not only is Mantracker an intimidating dude to being with – he never smiles, he’s got the eyes of a friggin’ hawk, and if you lead him through muddy, shitty terrain, he gets seriously pissed – but being chased by two tough dudes on horseback would be fucking scary, no matter who they were (think of the sound of hooves pounding the ground, mysterious men in cowboy hats chasing you, it’s dark, it’s muddy, you’re in the woods…let’s be honest, that shit is scary). So, quite clearly, this show is really exciting and Matt and I have come to love it (after being introduced to it by Matt’s younger brother), getting totally caught up in it – it’s like a serious horror movie and a comedy all rolled into one. The man may be intense, but he comes out with some pure comedy gold – “what a couple a buttonheads” or “this trail leads to a crick” – which makes the whole Mantracker experience all the more enjoyable.
Thank you, Canada, for making such an awesome reality TV show.
Filed under: Awesome | Tagged: boob tube, Ice Cream Cohen
we really want to know the name of your horse
I watched some episodes this weekend. He was coaxing his horse over some particularly rocky terrain, and if my memory serves me correct, he called his horse Darby.
Good program,but how can it be reality with camera guys all over the place ,and they aren’t hidding. mantracker just has to look for the camera guy and he knows where the prey is.
Yeah I’ve wondered that too – wouldn’t the person with the giant camera be a dead giveaway?! And whoever is filming would have to be mighty athletic to film and run for his/her life at the same time. But you gotta just take it for what it is…which is awesome.