Kings of Pain
Kings of Pain is an Australian television series which airs on History.[1] The show features Adam Thorn, a wildlife biologist, and Rob "Caveman" Alleva, an animal handler. In the show, they attempt to get stung and bitten by animals and insects from different parts of the world, in order to measure the amount of pain they each receive from each bite or sting.[2]
| Kings of Pain | |
|---|---|
| Starring | Adam Thorn Rob Alleva |
| Narrated by | Jim Pratt |
| Country of origin | Australia |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 19 |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | David Carr Ben Silverman Howard Owens Laurie Girion Brett-Patrick Jenkins J.D. Roth Adam Greener |
| Producers | Isabel San Vargas Lucy Savage |
| Production location | Worldwide |
| Production company | Propagate |
| Release | |
| Original network | History |
| Original release | November 12, 2019 – present |
Amid speculation, the show was renewed and returned subsequently for season 2 on May 26, 2022.[3]
Concept
Inspired by the Schmidt Pain Index, biologist Adam Thorn and handler Rob "Caveman" Alleva test the bites and stings of animals with a new 30 point scale within 3 categories: intensity of initial physical pain, the duration of the pain, and the after effects or "damage". The scores from the three are rated from 1-10 (10 being worst) and then added together and averaged out.[4]
The animal is then ranked among the scale using the honeybee sting as the baseline. Along with creatures from the Schmidt Pain Index, animals from other categories such as reptiles and marine animals are also tested. In addition to testing the bites and stings of animals, Thorn and Alleva have started another pain index which they call the "nature hurts" pain index, which is intended to measure the pain from hot peppers.
Episodes
| Season | Episodes | Originally aired | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First aired | Last aired | |||
| 1 | 9 | November 12, 2019 | January 14, 2020 | |
| 2 | 10 | May 26, 2022 | September 17, 2022 | |
Season 1 (2019–20)
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Species | Location | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | "Nightmare in a Box" | Executioner Wasp, Warrior Wasp, and Goliath Bird-Eating Tarantula | Bolivia | November 12, 2019[5] |
| 2 | 2 | "Stinging Punishment" | South African Bark Scorpion, Lesser-Thicktail Scorpion and Lion Fish | South Africa | November 19, 2019[5] |
| 3 | 3 | "Fairy of Death" | Mexican Harvester Ant, Tarantula Hawk and Crown-of-Thorns Starfish | Mexico | November 26, 2019[5] |
| 4 | 4 | "World of Hurt" | Nile Monitor Lizard and South African Velvet Ant | Africa | December 3, 2019[5] |
| 5 | 5 | "Point of the Dead" | Toe biter and Scorpionfish | Baja | December 10, 2019[5] |
| 6 | 6 | "Fire Down Below" | Fire Urchin and Rove beetle | Bali | December 17, 2019[5] |
| 7 | 7 | "Big Box of Pain" | Bullet Ant and Piranha | Amazon | January 7, 2020[5] |
| 8 | 8 | "Execution Day" | Giant Asian Centipede and Reticulated Python | Indonesia | January 14, 2020[5] |
| 9 | 9 | "Behind the Bites" | Tokay Gecko, Slow Loris, Bolivian Tarantula Hawk and Hot Pepper Challenge | N/A | January 14, 2020[5] |
Season 2 (2022)
References
- Kameishi, Sachi (November 10, 2019). "Kings of Pain premieres on History". Standard-Speaker. Retrieved 25 May 2022.
- "Kings of Pain – About". History.
- "Breaking News - The History Channel's Hit Survival Series "Alone" Returns for Season Nine on Thursday, May 26 at 9PM ET/PT | TheFutonCritic.com". www.thefutoncritic.com. Retrieved 2022-04-21.
- "Is Kings of Pain science or stupidity? An interview with a History Channel executive". 17 November 2019. Retrieved 22 March 2020.
- "Kings of Pain". amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
- "Shows A-Z – Kings of Pain on History". The Futon Critic. Retrieved May 13, 2022.
- "Kings of Pain". amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 8 September 2022.