April 15, 2009–Will Ferrell will join Bear Grylls in an episode of Discovery Channel’s “Man vs. Wild.” Discovery announced Ferrell’s guest stint today at its upfront presentation in Los Angeles.
The segment, which will air in early June, is tied to the June 5 release of Ferrell’s Universal “Land of the Lost.”
Ferrell’s appearance is part of a larger partnership between Discovery and Universal. Discovery previously integrated Universal’s “Frost/Nixon” into an epuisde of “Cash Cab,” while the studio’s “Fast & Furious” was linked into an episode of Discovery’s “Destroyed in Seconds.”
In the “Man vs. Wild” episode, Ferrell joins Grylls in the far north of Sweden, where they spend 48 hours performing tasks such as rappelling down hundred-foot frozen waterfalls, tandem-abseiling off a helicopter and staying warm oversight in sub-zero temperatures. The two also find food in the forest, improvise snow shoes and drink their own urine.
Ferrell called the stint on “Man vs. Wild” “a thrill of a lifetime, even though I did get urine-drunk, which is sad.” Discovery Channel prexy/GM John Ford noted that the duo not only share a snow shelter but eat reindeer eyeballs together.
Discovery Communications ad sales head Joe Abruzzese points to the Ferrell guest spot as an example of working closely with advertisers on content integration, while Universal Pictures media promotions VP Annah Zafrani called it the studio’s “most innovative project to date” with Discovery.