Man vs. Beast

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For the sixth book in the CHERUB series, see CHERUB: Man Vs. Beast

Man vs. Beast is a series of sensationalistic television specials aired in the United States by the Fox television network. The shows were produced by Brian Richardson and directed by Bob Levy. They involve a variety of challenges in which people and animals compete against each other. Although the initial special, Man vs. Beast, was heavily panned by critics^[1] and animal rights groups^[2], Fox commissioned a sequel, Man vs. Beast 2, which aired on February 20, 2004.

The competitions included the following matchups:

Professional eater Takeru Kobayashi lost a hot dog eating contest against a Kodiak bear.
Scott Helvenston, a US Navy SEAL, won a race against a chimpanzee through an obstacle course.
A group of 44 dwarves lost a race against an Asian elephant to see which could pull a commercial jet a certain distance first.
Shawn Crawford, a world-class sprinter, won a 100 meters against a giraffe but lost against a zebra.
A Sumo wrestler lost a tug-of-war against a large, female orangutan.

In 2003, ITV commissioned Granada Productions to re-create the American special for British audiences. A six-part series was filmed, hosted by John Fashanu. However, due to heavy lobbying by animal rights groups^[3], transmission of the series was postponed indefinitely.