46 Prepper TV Shows | Survival Worth Streaming
As a general rule of thumb, preppers do not watch much TV. When we do, we like to make it count. Television does not have to be a mindless drain turning you into a couch potato- you can actually learn plenty of things from TV if you are selective with what you watch. That is where this list of prepper TV shows comes in.
After a long day of work or knocking out projects, you can unwind in front of the TV but still learn. There are plenty of entertaining and educational survival shows that are easily available thanks to Netflix, Amazon, and YouTube. Kicking back, relaxing, and watching some people struggle through survival situations or explaining their bunker strategy can be a great family activity.
Contents (Jump to a Section)
This is an updated post on Prepper TV Shows. Our first post was published several years ago, and we will continue to update it as new survival shows are produced. When you buy through our links, we may earn a commission. Disclosure»
Top Prepping TV Shows
If you are looking for TV shows that feature preppers or show off survival skills, we’ve rounded up the top 20 to check out. The ratio heavily favors survival shows: just three of the top 20 are focused on prepping. Survival is a much more popular genre for TV shows, and especially competitions. Here are the top 20 shows based on their impact on prepping and shared survival skills:
Doomsday Preppers
Doomsday Preppers ran from 2012 to 2014 on National Geographic and introduced most of America to prepping culture. One of the more interesting takeaways I had from this show is the wide range of SHTF scenarios the featured preppers were preparing for. From natural disasters to nuclear winters, the ‘doomsday preppers’ are thorough in their preparedness, if lacking in their risk analysis.
The show also brings in a group of practical preppers to assign arbitrary ‘scores’ to the preppers so that their survival readiness can be compared. If you have not seen the show, it is worth watching simply due to the impact it has had on how preppers are viewed.
Where to Watch Doomsday Preppers
The Colony
The Colony was an experimental show where ‘colonist’ contestants were dropped off in abandoned areas to rebuild a small society. The show is great at showing group dynamics after an SHTF event, but the production does seem heavy-handed.
Producers introduce traders, marauders, and other post-apocalyptic interventions throughout the series that make the show seem less convincing. Even still, the show is worth watching to see how ingenuity, great survival skills, and resourcefulness can easily be compromised in a group setting.
Where to Watch The Colony
Doomsday Castle
What is better than a medieval castle to survive the apocalypse? Not much, according to this North Carolina family that let National Geographic document their preparations for an EMP.
The castle itself is a labor of love by the patriarch of the family and a project for almost two decades. He enlists the help of his five grown kids, where, naturally, infighting and power struggles affect their progress.
Where to Watch Doomsday Castle
Top Survival TV Shows
Wilderness survival falls under the umbrella of prepping, but it is a whole skill in and of itself. Survival really shines in competitions and educational shows, where contestants or hosts get to prevail against survival situations. They have been around for a while, as you’ll see with some of my older picks, but they have been evolving over the years to examine the human condition and mental state as well.
Survivorman
Les Stroud may be Canadian, but he is tough as nails. When other shows were filming segments with film crews, costumes, and gimmicks, Les grabbed a camera and went to remote areas on his own for a week. The show spanned a decade, from 2004 to 2015, on OLN, Discovery, and the Science Channel.
Les understood the mental stamina that a camera crew would provide in a survival situation. Removing this ‘crutch’ made for some compelling TV and set the stage for a slew of other shows that would follow suit over a decade later.
Where to Watch Survivorman
Alone
Alone is another reality show that is similar to Survivorman in that the contestants record themselves alone, without a film crew. The History Channel offers up half a million dollars to the winner, which has drawn out some skilled survivalists. The survivalists attempt to out-survive each other to collect the giant check.
The contestants who try to conserve calories often have a rough go of it, since the competitions go well past 27 days (unlike Naked and Afraid). The Alone contestants get to bring only 10 survival tools from a predetermined list, which can allow for different approaches.
This is my (Sean’s) personal favorite on this list, and I’m glad that it’s widely available and was picked up by Netflix. Many contestants go on to be in other shows or make a name for themselves on wilderness survival YouTube channels.
We’ve also picked apart the gear selections on this show and analyzed the top 10 picks from the Alone gear list.
Where to Watch Alone
Dual Survival
Dave Canterbury and Cody Lundin are an odd pair. They join forces on Dual Survival to demonstrate how there are many different approaches to survival. The show ran from 2010 to 2016 on the Discovery Channel.
The divisiveness in America today makes me reflect on this show fondly. Two guys, in the middle of nowhere, often having to work out their differences to get $&%# done. Unfortunately, the showrunners had their share of drama, with some misunderstanding about Dave Canterbury’s background. Hosts were replaced often after season 3, and the show suffered for it.
Dave Canterbury still runs his YouTube channel, though, and wrote the NYT bestseller Bushcraft 101.
Where to Watch Dual Survival
Naked and Afraid
A phenomenon since 2013, Naked and Afraid is a reality-type show that typically puts a male and a female contestant together in a remote area with only a few select tools. Oh, and no clothes. How might someone lose their clothes before a survival situation? It does not matter- it is just a test of skill with plenty of blurring effects in post-production.
Episodes are still airing on the Discovery Channel, and the show is entertaining, to say the least. The tools that the survivalists pick are sometimes questionable, and their strategies can be too. One gripe is that they stay at the location for 21 days, so some contestants opt to just ‘endure’ rather than ‘survive’. Watching someone lie around for 21 days to conserve calories makes for some of the more boring episodes.
A few survival YouTube creators have gone on the show to test their chops, but there have been plenty of contestants with a total of 16 seasons and 142 episodes. Plus, there are many spinoffs. We used to list them out, but since they are now up to 20 spinoffs, including foreign versions, we’ll just keep the original on our list.
Where to Watch Naked and Afraid
Naked and Afraid Spinoffs
It started with a longer timespan (60 days), and now the spin-offs are out of control, with variations ranging from specific survival scenarios to dating-style versions. There are over 20 total, including foreign versions, but here are the most notable:
- Naked and Afraid XL
- Naked and Afraid | Last One Standing
- Naked and Afraid | Apocalypse
- Naked and Afraid | Castaways
- Naked and Afraid | Savage
- Naked and Afraid of Love
Bear Grylls
Bear Grylls is the most prolific survival TV show producer by far. Man vs. Wild aired from 2006 to 2011 on the Discovery Channel and frames survival as an adventure, filled with bug eating, action stunts, and re-enactments, which launched Bear Grylls into the spotlight as a household name.
With his catalog so extensive, I decided to lump all of his work into one spot. They are mostly the same, with slight variations each time based on location, who he is surviving with, and even interactive elements with his Netflix endeavors. His entire catalog is survival-educational shows, and although he gets mixed reviews from the survival community due to his commercialization, no one can deny the broad exposure he’s brought to wilderness survival as a whole.
Best of Bear Grylls
- Man vs. Wild – Discovery+ or HBO Max
- Running Wild With Bear Grylls – Amazon Prime Video (Paid)
- Get Out Alive With Bear Grylls – Amazon Prime Video (Paid)
- Bear Grylls: Survival School – Amazon Prime Video (Included)
- The Island with Bear Grylls – Amazon Prime Video (Included)
- Celebrity Island with Bear Grylls – Amazon Prime Video (Included)
- World’s Toughest Race – Amazon Prime Video (Included)
- Celebrity Bear Hunt – Netflix
- You vs. Wild – Netflix
Naked and Marooned
Ed Stafford was the first person to walk the length of the Amazon River, so they gave him a TV show. Marooned is known for Ed going without his clothes to demonstrate his survival skills. Since the show started showing in 2013 on the Discovery Channel, he has chosen to put on some clothes while filming to make it less of a ‘shock factor’ and more of an educational show.
Ed attempts to survive 60 days in remote locations with very little equipment. This highlights his resourcefulness pretty well.
Where to Watch Naked and Marooned
Man, Woman, Wild
Mykel Hawke Pierce may not be a household name, but he is well known in the survival community. His pairing with Ruth England, his wife, is pretty good and provides some quality entertainment without as much drama as you might expect. The show aired from 2010 to 2012 on the Discovery Channel.
Mykel is a former Special Forces with the US Army, and it shows in his approach to survival. They chose to end the show because they claimed it was too hard on them and their family.
Where to Watch Man, Woman, Wild
Ray Mears’ Bushcraft
Ray Mears is another mainstay in the survivalist community and specializes in bushcraft. The aptly named show only lasted from 2004-2005 on BBC and the Discovery Channel, but allowed Ray to show off many of his skills.
Ray has had many shows over the years, and Bushcraft was not the first. IMDb credits him with 32 appearances since 1997, so he is no stranger to the limelight.
Where to Watch Ray Mears’ Bushcraft
Dude, You’re Screwed
Take a group of five Special Forces and survivalist guys, and have them play a game where one gets kidnapped by the others and dropped in an unknown remote location. The ‘screwed dude’ has 100 hours to get out, or they lose the game, while the other four provide commentary. Call the series “Dude, You’re Screwed,” and you have an entertaining show.
The show has been airing on the Discovery Channel since 2013 and provides a good blend of entertainment and information.
Where to Watch Dude, You’re Screwed
Primal Survivor
Hazen Audel takes on some treacherous challenges in this show. He uniquely pairs his survival skills with the locals’ knowledge to navigate the Arctic Circle, survive jungle treks, and cross crocodile-infested water. Since 2016, he has been traveling the world, followed by National Geographic film crews. He has learned from natives in Indonesia, Panama, Nepal, and Tanzania, to name a few.
Where to Watch Primal Survivor
Lost Survivors
Mykel and Ruth join forces again with pretty much the same format as Man, Woman, Wild. They are a little older and accustomed to the cameras in this series. The main twist is that they are somehow not clued into what locations they are being dropped off in. It has been shown on the Travel Channel since 2013.
Where to Watch Lost Survivors
Outlast
Outlast is very much a different show from Alone. Without any rules in place, contestants resort to dirty tricks and sabotage to try to win the prize money. It garnered a negative reaction because most viewers expected a traditional survival show.
I thought it was interesting how people chose to behave, and think that it did an excellent job exploring beyond just survival skills- human motivation, greed, and betrayal.
Where to Watch Outlast
Fat Guys in the Woods
Creek Stewart puts his survival skills on display in my backyard, the Appalachian Mountains. The show spanned from 2014 to 2015. Lucky groups are brought in by Creek to be taught primitive survival skills for an entire week. The teacher-student aspect of this show makes it very educational and great for picking up tips or new skills.
Where to Watch Fat Guys in the Woods
Extracted
Extracted is a relatively new survival show from Fox with the twist that family members located in a headquarters controlled the supply drops for the contestants. This created more drama than you typically see on a survival competition show, since there were multiple variables to consider throughout the show.
I wrote up a review and overview of the survival gear used throughout the show: Extracted Gear List | Supply Drop Contents.
Where to Watch Extracted
Extreme Survival
Ray Mears makes it back on the list with one of his earlier shows. Ray goes to Costa Rica, Morocco, Belarus, and New Zealand (among other places) to demonstrate his survival skills. The show aired from 1999 through 2002 on BBC and the Discovery Channel.
Where to Watch Extreme Survival
Out of the Wild
In 2008, the Discovery Channel thought it would be a good idea to drop four groups of ordinary people in the Alaskan wilderness to see if they could survive for three months. The volunteers were easily out of their element but seemed eager to learn.
Where to Watch Out of the Wild
More Survival Shows
TV with survival challenges, goals, and themes has been having a moment lately, with plenty of new shows sprouting up. Most competition shows exist in the shadow of Naked and Afraid and Alone, but some still have interesting twists and are worth watching.
Here are even more survival TV shows to watch:
- Bushcraft Build Off – Amazon Prime Video (Paid) – A seven-day challenge where bushcrafters compete against each other in a different challenge in each episode. There was only one season in 2017 with six total episodes, so the build-off was short-lived but easy to binge-watch.
- Southern Survival – Netflix – Southern Survival is a show featuring the crew from Battlbox testing out all sorts of survival and outdoor gear. Battlbox is the top survival subscription box, so you may have already heard of it or heard of this show.
More Prepping Shows
Admittedly, we’re scraping the barrel to find all the prepping shows that exist throughout the world at this point. The notable shows were in our top 20, and we’ve covered the fictional shows in the post-apocalyptic section.
Still, if you are curious about how prepping is approached by different people, these lesser-known shows can be worth exploring:
- Prepper Hillbillies – YouTube – Eric and Barry from Georgia hook up their clients with elaborate traps, safe rooms, and ziplines as part of over-the-top preparedness plans. It was released in 2014 and was only a short 6 episodes long, so it was short-lived.
- Preppers – MHz Choice – An international comedy about a woman’s encounter (and acceptance) with a prepper group. There is one season (2023) with 6 short episodes.
Besides the handful of shows that had a run, there were also a few shows piloted to check ratings.
Prepping Pilots
These shows didn’t make it far, but they were made and aired on TV around the time Doomsday Preppers was big. Ratings were to blame for them not getting picked up and run as a series, and the media (for the most part) dispensed with prepping TV shows for over a decade.
Doomsday Bunkers
Doomsday Bunkers was a show that followed the Deep Earth Bunkers company, and the reasons why families were having them installed. Apparently, the pilot was stretched for 3 episodes, and the whole show never made it past the pilot hurdle.
Meet the Preppers
Phil Burns, his wife, and their 8 kids live a self-reliant life in Utah. If the name sounds familiar, it’s because he was one of the creators of the American Preppers Network- the largest prepper social network from the early 2010s (now a much smaller Facebook group).
Both of these short-lived projects appear to be reactions from competing networks to Doomsday Preppers’ initial success on the National Geographic Channel. Discovery and Animal Planet tried their shot, but were quickly shut down.
Post-Apocalyptic TV Shows
While there are plenty of TV shows dealing with post-apocalyptic themes, there are a few that feature preppers, prepping, or survival skills. We kept fiction separate from our top 20, but that doesn’t mean that these shows aren’t great.
- Colony – Peacock – An alien invasion has an LA family making difficult decisions to survive.
- Falling Skies – HBO Max – Some survivors and preppers band together to deal with an alien invasion.
- Jericho – Paramount+ – A small town witnesses nuclear attacks and is forced to deal with the aftermath.
- The Last of Us – HBO Max – A show (based on a video game) where cordyceps evolves to turn humans into hive-mind fungus zombies. There is an entire capsule episode about a prepper (episode 3, season 1) that demonstrates how prepping allows a man to continue his life in control well past the apocalyptic events.
- Silo – Apple TV+ – An underground society (living in a giant silo) has unique challenges.
- The Walking Dead – Netflix – It jumped the shark early, but it still has a huge following with many spinoffs and is worth checking out if you haven’t seen it.
The Final Word
Television does not have to be a drain on your brainpower. There are plenty of educational shows, especially with prepping and survival topics. You can learn a good deal on the couch, and as a matter of fact, we have listed out plenty of other things you can learn, too! Check out 9 Survival Skills You Can Learn Sitting on Your Couch.
Do not let all the prepping TV shows keep you planted on the couch, though! Be sure to get out there and try new things you learn. Preparedness skills and survival gear are not worth a damn without some practice.
Here are some reads our subscribers have found helpful:
- 23 Off-Grid TV Shows Worth Watching
- 100 Survival Movies Preppers Should Watch
- Home Survival Kit List | 53 Essentials
Keep exploring, stay prepared, and be safe.
See more of our expert-written guides, resources, and reviews in your search results – add TruePrepper as a preferred source.
Prepping Your Way
No judgement and no imperatives. Prepare the way you want to with the trusted source millions of modern preppers have relied on.Our newsletter fires out every Monday where you can expect:
- Practical prepping guides and tips
- Thorough survival gear reviews
- Noticeably absent spam and popups
- < 0.4% of people unsubscribe
