Having seen Mount Everest up close, from the summit of the relatively diminutive 5,545-metre peak of Kala Patthar, I can testify first-hand to its imposing majesty and awe-inspiring stature. And having experienced the nausea and fatigue brought on by altitude sickness in the thin air at this height - more than 3km shy of Everest's apex - I have nothing but admiration for those who manage to summit what the Nepalis call Sagarmatha. That admiration only intensified as I watched Everest: Beyond the Limit (Discovery Channel, Tuesdays at 10pm), a six-part documentary series that follows an expedition up the mountain in April and May of last year.
Led by New Zealander Russell Brice, who has 25 years' experience scaling the peak, the dauntless group comprises 11 climbers, three professional guides, 24 Sherpas and 15 film production staff. Among the climbers shelling out about US$40,000 each to make it to the top of the world are: Terry O'Connor, an emergency-room doctor from Oregon in the US; Brett Merrell, a fireman from California making his second attempt at the summit after a failed bid in 2005; former Iron Man competitor Mogens Jensen, from Denmark; Tim Medvetz, a larger than life Californian who designs Harley-Davidsons and who vowed to climb the mountain after a near-fatal motorcycle crash; and New Zealander Mark Inglis, who had both legs removed below the knees after getting severe frostbite while climbing New Zealand's Mount Cook in 1982, and who is attempting to become the first double-amputee to summit Everest.
The first episode introduces the climbers and guides as they ascend to Advanced Base Camp, a dizzying 6,400 metres above sea level. Matters quickly turn serious when one of the Sherpas dies from altitude sickness; it's the first man Brice has lost on the mountain. Elsewhere, O'Connor is forced to put his medical training to use when a member of another team collapses with a life-threatening cerebral oedema, while the other climbers are surprised to discover just how severely the altitude and the minus 40 degree Celsius temperature can affect their bodies and minds.
For anyone with a passing interest in adventurous pursuits, Everest is a fascinating look at one of the most extreme journeys on Earth. For anyone who's travelled to the region, however, the show is likely to bring thoughts and feelings surging back, along with a yearning to return. Even if mountaineering holds little appeal, it's worth watching the first episode for one scene alone: when Inglis supplies Teelay, an old Sherpa friend of his who also lost both legs to frostbite, with a pair of prosthetic limbs and teaches him to walk. 'This is one of the best moments of my life,' says a teary-eyed Inglis as Teelay takes his first, poignant steps.
Over on Star Movies, a journey of a different kind begins this week in On the Lot. This new show, from director Steven Spielberg and reality-television guru Mark Burnett, gives aspiring filmmakers the chance to compete for a US$1 million development deal at DreamWorks. The format will be familiar to fans of American Idol, with competitors' short films screening on Tuesdays from May 29 (9pm, then 8pm from June 5); viewers then vote for their favourite flick before Wednesday's results show (starting May 30 at 9pm, then 8.30pm from June 6), which sees the director with the lowest-rated effort sent packing.
The series launches with two hour-long episodes (Wednesday and Friday at 9pm) that document the process by which the final contestants were chosen. From more than 12,000 entries, we begin with 50 semifinalists, who must pitch their film project to a panel of celebrity judges, shoot and edit a short film in 24 hours then film a one-page scene in no more than one hour. The judging panel, who must whittle the field down to a final 18, comprises directors Jon Avnet (Red Corner), Garry Marshall (Pretty Woman) and Brett Ratner (X Men: The Last Stand), as well as actress-turned-author Carrie Fisher.