Blu-Ray Review: ‘Expedition Africa’ Not Worth the Trip

CHICAGO – Mark Burnett is a man who knows no shame. The phenomenal success he’s found with shows such as “Survivor” and “The Apprentice” have cemented his reputation as the Jerry Bruckheimer of television. There isn’t a moment in any of his reality TV spectacles that feels spontaneous or authentic. And yet his shows are so popular with undiscerning viewers that they’ve basically become critic-proof. As eye candy they’re often delectable, but as brain food, they’re no more substantial than McDonald’s.

Blu-Ray Rating: 1.5/5.0

One of Burnett’s new shows this year was “Expedition Africa,” which premiered on The History Channel in May. It is undoubtedly his most transparent exercise in audience manipulation to date. The show features four explorers who embark on the same 970-mile journey through Africa taken by Henry Morton Stanley to find Dr. David Livingstone.

In other hands, this could’ve been a landmark show on par with PBS’ great House Series, detailing the rich histories of human exploration and African culture. But alas, there is no real history in this show. That’s because The History Channel, in its desperation for viewership, has become as shameless as Burnett in its witless attempts to maintain ADD attention spans while sacrificing the integrity of its material.

Expedition Africa will be released on Blu-Ray on October 27th, 2009.
Photo credit: A&E Home Video

No more than five minutes into the first episode, manufactured conflict rears its loathsome head. Survivalist Benedict Allen has barely met navigator Pasquale Scaturro, before he observes in voiceover that his fellow explorer, “doesn’t seem good at obeying orders!” This leads another explorer, wildlife expert Mireya Mayor, to cheerfully reply, “I think you guys are going to butt heads a lot!” It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that Pasquale and Benedict were cast to respectively represent the differing ideologies of Stanley and Livingstone.

Pasquale charges ahead of the group and declares, “an expedition is not a democracy,” while Benedict drinks in his surroundings and swoons, “Can you smell the history?” That’s not what I smell. Since these superficially opposed personalities are allowed to upstage the historical premise, the show basically amounts to a thirty day camping trip with the Bickersons.

Thus, the viewer is treated to an excess of talking heads and staged altercations. Occasionally, an image of the breathtaking African landscapes or an actual historical fact will emerge like the prize in a Cracker Jack box. Yet what makes the show truly laughable is its incessant need to remind the viewer that its human subjects are actually in peril. The explorers will encounter a deadly situation at every commercial break, only to have it evaporate when the show continues.

A typical example of this occurs in the first episode, when the group loses track of its fourth explorer, journalist Kevin Sites. The show then cuts to the lost journalist…talking into the camera! Sorry “Expedition Africa,” but you’re no “Blair Witch Project.” Do you really expect viewers to buy that these four explorers could get lost when they’re being followed by roughly 100 crew members?

The explorers are so intent on comparing themselves to Stanley that I kept hoping for Stanley to materialize like Marshall McLuhan in “Annie Hall,” and assure them that they know nothing of his work. There are very few occasions when threatening animals are glimpsed in the same shot as the explorers (they might as well be stock footage).

Perhaps the biggest howler of all occurs when Benedict conveniently falls ill of Malaria at the same location where Stanley’s partner fell ill and died (luckily, Benedict quickly recovers). Are we really supposed to believe that a so-called “renowned explorer” wouldn’t get immunized before going to Africa, or that a network would risk a major lawsuit by putting its talent’s lives at risk? “Death comes quickly here,” Benedict warns. Apparently not quickly enough.

The 2-disc Blu-Ray edition of “Expedition Africa” includes all 8 episodes in HD so vibrant your eyes may bleed, but not before your brain implodes. A 20-minute making-of documentary barley does justice to the show’s mammoth undertaking…and missed opportunity.

By MATT FAGERHOLM
Staff Writer
HollywoodChicago.com