Reality TV's New Extreme: Being 'Eaten Alive' by a Giant Anaconda Snake

Discovery Channel's "Eaten Alive" features filmmaker Paul Rosolie facing off with a giant snake.

Discovery/YouTube

Discovery Channel is promising to go where reality television has never gone before: inside the mouth of an anaconda.

The December premiere of “Eaten Alive” promises to show filmmaker Paul Rosolie being swallowed alive by a giant snake, after covering himself in pig’s blood while wearing a custom-built suit.

“You have to go head-first,” Rosolie says in a clip promoting the program.

The special has already been filmed, and the filmmaker – and snake – are believed to be OK.

Critics have voiced concern, wondering whether the snake was harmed during the filming, but Rosolie defended the program.

“If u know me – I would never hurt a living thing,” he wrote on Twitter.

“Eaten Alive” marks another “shock” reality program for Discovery Channel, which also airs “Naked and Afraid” – featuring survivors learning how to bond and survive sans clothes – and “Tethered,” with strangers bound to each other while participating in survival challenges.

But the programs are drawing viewers, with Discovery Channel reporting double-digit viewership ratings increases for October 2014, compared with October 2013.