Cord-cutters, busy people, and the DVR-averse, lend me your ears.

Are You Tougher Than a Boy Scout? is coming to DVD this summer.

That’s big news for a number of Scouting constituencies I heard from over the course of the six-episode season, which ended on Monday.

Some of you had meetings on Monday nights, others don’t have cable or have channel packages that don’t include the National Geographic Channel, and still others just forgot to tune in. For that group, consider this your Take 2.

Then there’s a separate subset of Scouters who watched and enjoyed the show and now want to share it with the Scouts in their unit. Pop in the DVD after a weekly pack, troop, or crew meeting — and don’t forget the popcorn.  Continue reading »

All good television shows must come to an end.

And so it is with a heavy heart that tonight we waved goodbye to Are You Tougher Than a Boy Scout?, the six-episode reality series that matched fresh-faced Eagle Scouts against 30- and 40-something adults looking to recapture their teenage glory.

Coming into the season’s final night, the score was Scouts 9, Adults 3. So the adults needed to win every challenge in both episodes to just secure a tie. Call me a pessimist, but I think the BSA National Office softball team has a better chance against the Texas Rangers. (And the BSA National Office doesn’t even have a softball team!)

Tonight’s pair of episodes got off to a good start but ended with a strange, frustrating rule change that nobody saw coming. What was the rule change? And did the Scouts continue their winning ways? You’ll have to read on to find out …

Spoiler alert:This recap will include details that reveal who won the competitions in this week’s episode. Don’t read on if you haven’t seen Episodes 5 and 6 and want to be surprised by the results.

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What’s better than a new episode of Are You Tougher Than a Boy Scout?

Two new episodes, of course. And that’s just what we’re getting as the Tougher season comes to a close Monday night, starting at 8 p.m. (7 Central) on the National Geographic Channel.

So far we’ve been given almost all the canoe-jousting, victim-rescuing, snake-identifying, bridge-rappelling, river-rafting, Scout Spirit-demonstrating, rope-lashing, and orienteering action viewers can handle. I said almost.

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What one tool could help the adults end their losing ways?

If anything can, it’s The Boy Scout Handbook.

For the first time this season, the adult challengers on Are You Tougher Than a Boy Scout? were shown with copies of the preeminent Scouting text before embarking on their first challenge against the Scouts.

In case you’re just joining us, Tougher pits current Eagle Scouts against men who didn’t earn the award as youth or are looking to recapture their teenage glory. But when you’re matching 30-somethings against in-shape teenagers, as we’ve found out in the first three episodes, it’s kinda like sending the Miami Heat to play a team of fifth-graders.

But in Episode 4 of Tougher, titled “Where Eagles Fly,” the adults have a secret weapon. Can the Handbook level the playing field? You’ll have to read my recap and review to find out …

Spoiler alert: This recap will include details that reveal who won the competitions in this week’s episode. Don’t read on if you haven’t seen Episode 4 and want to be surprised by the results.

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We’ve seen nine Scouts-vs.-adults challenges this season on Are You Tougher Than a Boy Scout?, and the adults have lost all but two of them.

You could say it’s been one lashing after another.

But in Monday’s new episode, we’re in for a different kind of lashing — the diagonal, square, and round kind familiar to any Scout who’s earned Pioneering merit badge.

The Scouts should know the ropes, but how much will adults know about joining two poles together? Let’s find out together in the new episode, airing at 8 p.m./7 p.m. Central on Monday on the National Geographic Channel.

We’ll see a fresh group of adults go toe-to-toe against three of the best-and-brightest Boy Scouts around. And, as the promo photo above indicates, we’ll see snakes. (Why did it have to be snakes?) Continue reading »

Did we finally have a fair fight on our hands?

After two weeks of pitting adults who didn’t make Eagle against teenagers who did, Are You Tougher Than a Boy Scout? turned up the heat last night.

Forget excuses like “I came three merit badges short” or “my troop folded.” This time, two of the adult competitors made it all the way to Eagle. Surely that would mean an end to the adults’ dismal run, right? I mean, one win for the adults in six challenges so far? That’s below the Are You Tougher? Mendoza Line. 

Just how did these 30-somethings fare against fellow Eagles half their age? You’ll have to read my recap and review of Episode 3, “Buoy Scouts,” to find out …

Spoiler alert: This recap will include details that reveal who won the competitions in this week’s episode. Don’t read on if you haven’t seen Episode 3 and want to be surprised by the results.  Continue reading »

Whoever said “less is more” apparently hasn’t watched Episode 2 of Are You Tougher Than a Boy Scout?

Tonight’s episode of the new National Geographic Channel show was, to me, superior to Episode 1 because it gave us more of what we Scouters and Scouts love about the Boy Scouts of America.

We got more Handbook-inspired Scout skills, more fast-paced adventure, and more unscripted examples of Scouts living the Scout Law. 

We also saw challenges that were generally more competitive than in the first episode, with the adults holding their own against the Scouts. But which side came out on top? Did any of the adults prove they were tougher than a Boy Scout? Keep reading to find out …

Spoiler alert: This recap will include details that reveal who won the competitions in this week’s episode. Don’t read on if you haven’t seen Episode 2 and want to be surprised by the results.  Continue reading »

More than 439,000 households tuned in to the premiere of Are You Tougher Than a Boy Scout? on Monday, meaning 439,000 homes got a firsthand look at the excitement Scouting offers boys and girls.

(Read my recap and review of the first episode.)

Tougher represents positive marketing you can’t pay for, and it’s a great start for the show. I’m told the numbers are better than the National Geographic Channel usually gets for that timeslot. But with five new episodes still to come, now’s no time to celebrate.

Tell everyone you know to tune in for an all-new episode at 8 p.m. (7 p.m. Central) on Monday (March 11), and let’s keep those viewership numbers strong.

The episode, called “Ninja Scouts,” will introduce us to Lee, a former Marine; Paul, who feels guilty for dropping out as a teen; and David, who left Scouts three badges shy of Eagle. The first challenge will have Scouts and adults rappelling off a bridge before rafting down Class III rapids.

Which of these adults, if any, will be Tougher Than a Boy Scout? I can’t wait to find out.

Related links

“We’ve only joust begun”: My Episode 1 recap/review

ToughScout.com, the BSA’s official page about the show

National Geographic Channel’s official page about the show