One of my favorite series this summer has been Ice Road Truckers on the History Channel. If you haven't seen it, a quick synopsis: truck drivers in northern Canada haul critical supplies hundreds of miles across frozen lakes to diamond mines owned by DeBeers and other corporations.
Ice Road Truckers is the kind of reality show I can dig, because it features real people with an extraordinary occupation. There's some drama, but it's never contrived or played up for the cameras. I stopped watching Dog the Bounty Hunter because I got sick of egregious musical cues dictating when I was supposed to feel something, and Ice Road Truckers is mercifully void of such manipulation. The fact that these men are driving heavy rigs with only a few inches of ice between themselves and the water is dramatic enough.
The series has proved popular enough that the History Channel has ordered two additional specials. A one-hour special about the history of ice road trucking called The Ice Road: Then and Now will air on August 26 at 9:00 p.m., and a reunion special, Ice Road Truckers: Off the Ice, will air in two parts on September 2 and 9 at 9:00 p.m.
Before all of that you can chat with trucker Hugh Rowland at HistoryChannel.com on August 17 at 3:00 p.m.
I've complained a lot about reality television, but the truth is that it consists of many sub genres, some not as bad as others. You can have Big Brother and Survivor, and I'll stick with the ice, thanks.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
8-07-2007 @ 4:27PM
Nathan said...
Hugh kind of seems like a dick, as he doesn't want to fix his trucks. Its cold and he feels the other guy should fix the heat.
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8-07-2007 @ 5:07PM
mike m said...
you need to see the top gear north pole race...with a toyota hylux pickup versus dogs...even crazier my friend. :)
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8-07-2007 @ 5:50PM
Kevinc said...
"Ice Road Truckers is mercifully void of such manipulation"- I guess you don't watch the commercials for this show. If you had you would see some pretty desperate manipulation. From the ads you would think a couple of their main "characters" whould have died by now.
The show is alright, but their re-enactments are terrible.
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8-07-2007 @ 8:48PM
nick said...
"There's some drama, but it's never contrived or played up for the cameras."
Did you see the one where Hugh is shooting his gun about the window because he didn't want to be passed? Yeah, that's not contrived or played up for the cameras at all.
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8-08-2007 @ 9:41AM
Big D said...
"There's some drama, but it's never contrived or played up for the cameras."
Are you watching the same show as the rest of us?
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8-08-2007 @ 9:44AM
Alicia said...
4. "There's some drama, but it's never contrived or played up for the cameras."
Did you see the one where Hugh is shooting his gun about the window because he didn't want to be passed? Yeah, that's not contrived or played up for the cameras at all.
I really think Hugh is that darn crazy.
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8-19-2007 @ 9:38PM
Linda said...
Hugh is a dick.. An owner is responsible for repairs (unless physical abuse by the driver is evident) to his trucks. He is just too concerned with himself--he's way too full of himself.
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