 "Photo: MTV")
Dave Lingwood, Duncan Penn, Ben Nemtin and Jonnie Penn are four friends who grew up in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada and set out to change the world with no money in their pockets. They decided to create a list of goals and complete them to entertain and inspire their friends "without being preachy" according to Jonnie.
They started by throwing parties in their home town and moved on from there. No matter how hard things got they kept going with the support of their friends and family.
"Jonnie's got a story of going to buy a yam for $1.39 and not being able to afford it so he had to get the smaller yam for 55 cents, which was not nearly as appetizing. But we've had, you know, really great support from our friends and our family… It's like we started this project for our friends," Dave said.
The guys have experienced this journey for three years. They filmed their work and did all the editing themselves. Eventually, they hired Reveille Productions to manage their editing.
In 2007, they were offered a television show that they turned down. They decided to turn down the offer because signing with the station, which they chose not to name, would mean losing all creative control and that's not what they wanted.
Reveille eventually sent a DVD to MTV. The executives watched the footage and fell in love with the guys and their idea.
"We responded immediately, and when I say immediately it was immediately," said Brent Haynes, MTV's senior vice president of comedy and animation. "There was not a lot of thinking or discussion going on and we called back to Reveille and said we want to meet these guys."
Soon after, MTV offered them a deal in 2009.
The title of the show was inspired by the 1982 poem "The Buried Life" by Matthew Arnold. Jonnie said they were inspired by "The Buried Life" because, "it articulated for us… feeling disillusioned with the world and feeling like we were buried or, you know, there's a lot of crap around and we wanted to get through it. And [the question]: 'what do you want to do before you die?'"
They work hard to make these things happen and any negative feedback keeps them motivated. Skeptics say that their adventures were pre-arranged by MTV but they have set out to prove it was not. They put themselves out there to show the world that anything is possible and you shouldn't give up your dream.
In their first episode, the guys set out to accomplish No. 6 on their list, which was to attend a party at the Playboy Mansion. They did find a way to get in, much to the dismay of Playboy, but before MTV could put it on TV they needed to get permission.
After asking Playboy and being shot down, the guys knew that the only way to get the episode on the air would be to ask Huge Hefner himself. They sent him a handwritten letter and a copy of the episode, requesting to air the show. Hefner gave his word and allowed it to air which set up for an intriguing series premiere.
Aside from accomplishing their own goals, they also head out onto the streets of whichever city they're filming in and ask people what they want to do before they die. They work their magic and try to make these things happen for people who couldn't or wouldn't make it happen for themselves.
Currently the guys are on a press tour traveling across the country. They enjoy being part of this glamorous ride but do not consider themselves celebrities.
"It's a weird thing to think about," Jonnie said. "Every time we get caught up in ourselves and you know we get all big headed about it, we just end up getting slapped down."
There's only two episodes left in the first season. Watch "The Buried Life" on Monday nights at 10 p.m. on MTV, or watch full episodes now at MTV.com!
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