[4] The series focuses on four friends (Ben, Duncan, Jonnie and Dave) as they travel across North America in a purple transit bus named "Penelope" to complete a list of "100 things to do before you die."

[8] The idea for the name originated from an 1852 Matthew Arnold poem entitled "The Buried Life".

It tells the story of four friends who make a list of 100 things to do before they die and their journey across North America to accomplish it.

The film was shot in locales throughout Canada and the United States including: British Columbia, California, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Texas and Washington, D.C.[10] In 2007 The Buried Life was offered a television show in Canada but ultimately turned it down citing they were not willing to give up creative control of the project.

On April 18, 2009, an article in The New York Times announced that a serial television version of their documentary titled The Buried Life was chosen by MTV for development.

The show was selected as a flagship reality program that would usher in MTV's shift away from the superficial content currently dominating the network's programming, toward the production of more socially conscious media, something the Times dubbed "MTV for the era of Obama.

"[11] The Buried Life has been cited as an inspiration by some of the world's biggest social media stars and YouTube Influencers, including David Dobrock, The Yes Theory, Logan Paul, Jake Paul, The Nelk Boys, and Shawn Mendes.

In April 2012 The Buried Life organized and set the Guinness Book World Record for the biggest speed dating event in history.

[13] In 2010 The Buried Life appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show where they helped a young girl conquer her fear of heights.

[16] In October 2010 The Buried Life set the record for the largest roulette spin in Vegas history making a bet of $250,000 on black at The Golden Gate Casino.

The PRISM Awards honor productions that are not only powerfully entertaining, but realistically show substance abuse and addiction, as well as mental health issues.

Appearances by Fox, Kendra Wilkinson, Jon Voight, Peter Cullen, Michael Bay and Isabel Lucas.

Meanwhile, Dave and Jonnie help a girl build a ramp in a local skate park in honor of her dead best friend.