I know, wasn't it? I particularly like the bit where they sent the folks (who as of yet had absolutely no idea about what they were actually going to be building) into a room full of random junk, all the while narrating: "They're missing the manual for the Citroen! That will be incredibly useful! Look... at... them... miss... that... useful... book!"

Terrible, just terrible.

Junkyard Wars any day of the week. Twice on Sundays.

I know, I have had bowel movements that were more interesting and I was actually one of the contestants on the show. I am embarrassed to admit that..

Hovercraft episodes:

Ex Island:
Two building days.
Parts provided.
Straight race course over sand.

Junkyard Wars/Scrapheap Challenge:
Ten building hours.
Parts scavenged from a seeded junkard.
Race course with turns and water.

Five second penalties? Big deal. How many races of this type are ever that close? Especially when one of the vehicles breaks or doesn't work in the first place.

Junkyard Wars. Ten building hours Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha. It's called T.V. It's more like three days of building. Not to mention the experts coming in after each day to tweak your project.

Let's just clear the air here because I have been getting a lot of negative feedback about this comment. First of all I posted it when I was in a really bad mood. Second of all, the show is a mockery of the intellect of the people who were on it. I have never worked with people as great and intelligent as the cast of Experiment Island. That said, the production crew did not know what they were doing. They asked that we leave behind all of our own gear and use theirs even though there gear wasn't appropriate for the island (We were 200 miles south of the arctic circle for crying out loud) so we froze for the first two days. Second, they didn't have a solid foundation about how the show would play out. Even the camera men companioned that the production staff was breaking union rules because the shoots were taking far longer than the union had negotiated (IE They had not factored in for any contingencies so the crew and cast spent most of its time in a "hurry up and wait" mode). Third depending on whom you asked, the rules changed, and that made for some drastically different outcomes of some of the events. Fourth, the production crew knew how shitty our accommodations were(outside in tents on a ten percent grade in 40 degree weather with 100 percent chance of precipitation) and they thought it would be better to delude us about their accommodations (Inside the hostel in heat and with running water and beds) so they constantly lied to use about how horrible the hostel was, later admitting, when shooting was over, that they had been instructed to lie so that we wouldn't be upset. Fifth, the manner in which the show is edited leaves out several key details. Granted it is a TV show and they have to add drama, but they fabricated it in places where it didn't happen.
My complaint is this. That I felt used. I did not feel like the production company really cared for our well being on the island. I was sick for two weeks when I got back because of the conditions. We were only allowed one shower for the week. We never got to change our clothes. We couldn't sleep right because the sun set at midnight and was back up at 3 am and they confiscated our watches so we never knew what time it was. With the obscured sky you could wake up at 4 am and it would look the same as high noon. They expected us to be ready to start shooting at 9am every day, even though we never, not once, started shooting before 11am. They has us repeat a scene more than ten times which took several hours in which we were standing in the freezing arctic waters of the Hebrides Sea and they didn't even bring in heaters or anything to keep us warm but towels to wrap around our feet between shots. Do I wish it never happened? Well, no, because I got to meet some really great people and I got to do something very unique. Would I do it again? I have had bowel movements that were less painful.

Wow. I think I finally met someone that feels and felt the same way I did on the show.

I'm surprised at the amount of whining coming from contestants on the show. After all, its "ESCAPE from Experiment Island", not "Vacation in Tropical Paradise". The rugged nature of the island adds a great dynamic to the show; after all, if the competitors were staying at the Ritz, who would WANT to escape back to daily life. However, I'm very sorry to here of the incompetence of the crew. Its disappointing to hear that TLC failed to properly plan, implement, and test their ideas when the program showcases these very principles of organization. Nevertheless, I love the show and will continue to watch it despite the complaints posted here.

TLC Didn't film the show. It was filmed by a rouge group from BBC. They were paid by Discovery which owns TLC to film it on a shoestring budget. Less than half a million dollars for the entire series. Most of the production staff was in their twenties except for the segment producer the director, and the TLC liason. it was trial by fire for most everyone involved.