Gold Rush Alaska Fake? I guess So

[Formula Indy]

What is it with reality tv anymore? It is staged, fiction. Check out this link to Dorsey's blog.
He talks about what is real, and not real.

The Glory Hole

I also read that through the whole summer they only mined 20k worth of gold.

[stnkypete]

You can sum up all these shows on Discovery with the following statement:

Dudes with facial hair screaming obscenities at each other. Doesn't matter if they are making motorbikes, extracting crabs or salmon from the ocean or gold from the earth. It's the same show.

[indyracefan]

I don't watch network television except for the news and sports, which means I don't usually watch sit-coms, drama's and I don't watch any reality shows no matter what channel they're on. I usually only watch informative & educational programming on channels such as Discovery Science, Discovery ID, History Channel, History International, the Military Channel, etc..

I used to watch the History Channel non-stop but lately I'm getting disgusted with shows that keep cropping up such as Axe Men, Ice Road Truckers, Pawn Stars, American Pickers, etc. that really have nothing to do with History. That forces me to another channel where I can find the kind of educational programming I enjoy. Even though the History Channel went on the air in 1995 there's still plenty of history they can create programs for without having to regularly repeat the same thing. And they definitely shouldn't be jumping on the reality-show band-wagon like too many other channels just for ratings...IMO.

[KevMcNJ]

Pawn Stars and American Pckers sort of are back door history lessons. They tend to tell stories about whatever piece of junk that winds up on their counter so its sort of educational
I can watch 3 or 4 Pawn Stars episodes in a row. The 2 clowns on American Pickers start annoying me about 2/3 of the way thru one episode
Both showss can be entertaining.
Neither show belongs on History Channel

Ive seen the promo for the Ax Men & Gold Rush shows. Looks to me like the on air talent for those shows have been told OK the talent on the other reality shows on history channel yell and fight but are friends again when the credits roll so thats what you need to do

"Deadlist Catch" gets a pass cuz they were first in line for this new genre so there really was no template for them to follow IMO

[Frank Capua]

But the "Deadliest Catch" got it's message across in it's first episode. I sure am glad I don't have to catch crabs for my pay.

[Doyouloveit?]

I'm a sucker, I watch Gold Rush, Ax Men, Alaskan State Troopers, Deadliest Catch et al.

I must say golf rush is pretty darn boring, but with DVR it is much easier to stomach some of the shows.

[badart]

I'm a sucker, I watch Gold Rush, Ax Men, Alaskan State Troopers, Deadliest Catch et al.

I must say golf rush is pretty darn boring, but with DVR it is much easier to stomach some of the shows.

Yeah, golf rush isn't fun to watch, but it's a hoot to play!

[MoparsRule]

What is it with reality tv anymore? It is staged, fiction. Check out this link to Dorsey's blog.
He talks about what is real, and not real.

The Glory Hole

I also read that through the whole summer they only mined 20k worth of gold.

I'm not clicking ANY link with the title "GLORY HOLE"!

[greg b]

One thing I saw the other day on Gold Rush that cracked me up was when one of the guys called his wife back home to tell her that her little son saw a grizzly bear near the camp. Why the husband felt he needed to worry his wife is beyond me but I love how they show the wife on the phone. As if they had a camera crew sitting at the house waiting for a phone call. One of these days once this reality craze is over I hope some of the producers spill the beans on how fake so much of these shows are.

[Formula Indy]

To me, Deadliest Catch seems authentic. You guys think it is semi fiction as well?

[indyracefan]

To me, Deadliest Catch seems authentic. You guys think it is semi fiction as well?

Deadliest Catch was one 'reality show' I initially liked & watched. I do believe as it moved on into later seasons much of it was scripted or at least heavily influenced as far as the confrontations and animosity between crew-members for the audience's sake.

[Jim Wilke]

'Flying Wild Alaska' is the real deal. Excellent portrayal of a situation that doesn't need any extra drama. You think fishing in bad Alaska weather is tough, try flying in it.

I was born in western Bush Alaska and lived there for 30 years. I don't know anyone who died on a fishing boat - but I can't count the number of pilots and passengers I know who have been killed. To sort that out, you have to go by years, who was killed in 2010 and so on. I once flew with a guy whose father and older brother had been killed in separate accidents. He later died as well as a close cousin. His twin brother is the only one left surviving. He's a state legislator and still flying, crashed a 310 last summer but walked away. This time.

Alaska has less than 1/3 of 1% of the US population but almost a quarter of the aircraft fatalities.

[Frank Capua]

More real than Sarah's Alaska??

[KevMcNJ]

To me, Deadliest Catch seems authentic. You guys think it is semi fiction as well?

It was real when it was new. I met the wife of one of them. Remember the wife with the heavy accent that went out with the crew one time? May have been Sigs wife.
She said its all real and that was what life on a boat really was like.

Also when I was in Seattle I met a few of the fishermen as they were coming home for a few weeks. No one from the boats you see on the show, just anonymous crabbers
They were wore out, ready to be home and not in the mood for talking. but they said the same thing
Now that was a couple seasons ago so maybe theyve juiced it up a bit since then but its hard to fake 60lb blocks of ice hitting a kid in the head or Coast Guard pulling guys out of the Bering Sea

I have noticed the crew often wears Deadliest Catch sweatshirts and their wet weather gear has alot more messages written on them lately so theyre playing to the camera a little bit, but on that deck I bet they forget the cameras are rolling.

[Jim Wilke]

And it gets worse. Animal Planet channel is "casting" in Alaska for a new reality series, 'Alaska Fishermen's Wives.'