Deadliest Catch returned with new episodes Tuesday night on Discovery. This is easily one of my favorite shows on television. I could watch a Deadliest Catch marathon every weekend, it's that good.Here are nine reasons why I love this show:
1. Mike Rowe. Yes, the Dirty Jobs guy. He's also the voice of Deadliest Catch and there is no one better suited for the job. He may be a goofball on his own show, but he brings out his deep and foreboding voice to follow the fishermen on Catch.
2. Pranks. This week's season opener had a doozy of a prank. Capt. Jonathon Hillstrand (Reason #7) replaced one of Capt. Phil's crab pots WITH A TRUCK. He loaded a rusted, old pick-up truck onto his ship and sought out Phil's crab pots for his elaborate prank. Last season, one of the captains put a bag of flour on a crab pot so when it went through the crank, it exploded and covered the deck and crew in white powder.
3. Profanity. If you didn't pay real close attention to Deadliest Catch, you probably wouldn't notice just how much these guys curse. It happens a lot. But the editors don't 'bleep' it out. There's always so much background noise happening that they just cover up the curse words with natural sounds from the environment. I like that Discovery didn't ask the fishermen to roll back their profanity-- it makes them more real. If I were working that job, I'd be swearing up a storm too.
4. Big waves. There are a lot of reality shows out there about dangerous jobs, including Ax Men and Ice Road Truckers, but none of them even compare to Deadliest Catch. The other jobs are tough, yes, but not nearly as exciting. On Deadliest Catch, there are always waves crashing onto the decks of the ships. Everyone in an orange jump suit is constantly getting thrown around. It's non-stop action, and non-stop awesome video. Even the shots of the seagulls riding along with the boats are amazing.
5. Capt. Sig Hansen. Fishing is in Sig's blood. He and his brother are on their boat, the Northwestern, and they learned to fish for crabs from their father. Sig isn't the prankster that some of the other guys are. He's serious about fishing and he has a respect both for the Bering Sea and for the long history of fishing it.
6. Greenhorns. This is the emotional part of the show. Every season, some fellas come on board thinking they're going to make a ton of cash in just a few months. Not many of them actually do that, though. I always feel so sorry for them because they're usually fumbling around and falling down a lot-- and being tortured by the grizzled old men who have been fishing for crab their whole lives. I root for the ones who make it through the season and I feel sad for the ones who quit.
7. Capt. Jonathon Hillstrand. This guy has long hair and is covered in tattoos. If you bumped into him on the street, you'd probably be a little bit intimidated. But he's a teddy bear at heart and that's why I adore him. Last season, he rescued a greenhorn who fell off another ship while securing crab pots. Jonathan couldn't contain his emotion- he hugged the guy and cried with him. He drives a smaller boat than many of the other guys, but holds his own against them. And he loves to prank the other captains (see #2).
8. The Yellow Pages Crab Count. Each episode ends with the crab tally so far in the season. So you can root for your favorite boat and crew. While I like Capts. Hillstrand and Hansen, I usually root for the Cornelia Marie and Capt. Phil Harris. He's a gruff old fisherman who is a big pushover for his sons (they're part of the deck crew). He's the guy who seems to be in charge of the whole operation.
9. Video podcasts. A lot of shows are finally jumping onto this podcast thing. It's like a DVD extra. This season, Discovery is planning three podcasts about the topics that interest me but don't fit within the realm of the on-air show. For instance, the first podcast is about life in Dutch Harbor. Who are these people who live here year-round? I'm particularly looking forward to the next two podcasts: one is a behind-the-scenes with the producers and cameramen of Deadliest Catch. The other is about the boat captains and what they do during the off season.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
4-16-2008 @ 10:40PM
Keith McDuffee said...
For you, Anna: http://www.pvponline.com/2008/04/09/on-a-steel-horse-they-ride/
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4-17-2008 @ 12:48AM
Anna TV Squad said...
That rocks, Keith!
I totally forgot about the Bon Jovi intro-- that's reason #10 why I love Deadliest Catch!
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4-17-2008 @ 11:55AM
Oreo said...
It is the waves.
Ax Men and Ice Road Truckers are really boring to watch, the waves and the fact you can fall over makes Deadliest Catch awesome.
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4-17-2008 @ 11:59AM
ORKMommy said...
I moved and don't have cable anymore. I miss Deadliest Catch more than anything. Can you start recapping the show for us?
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4-17-2008 @ 12:17PM
Gordon Werner said...
Even when nothing much is happening ... the show is still interesting to watch ... and I have to say is absolutely stunning looking on Discovery HD
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4-17-2008 @ 12:37PM
Brian said...
Best Show Evah! in the real-life genre, anyway..the truck was good, but the flour was better!!
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4-17-2008 @ 1:08PM
Danielle said...
I tell my DH that Mike Rowe will be my next husband. I dont know it is about that man, but I find him so attractive. I think a lot has to do w/ his sense of humor on his show. :D
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4-17-2008 @ 1:09PM
I miss my stars! said...
I'm glad to find out I'm not the only girl that likes to watch Deadliest Catch. I have to admit that I really didn't get into it until after my husband retired from the US Navy. Although the work was in no way related, the way the ships get tossed about in the water used to make me worry more about my own man.
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4-17-2008 @ 1:30PM
Grover said...
Mike Rowe is the man... He Makes Dirty Jobs for me and I couldn't imagine anyone else narrating Deadliest Catch.
@2 - I watched the marathon this weekend and I believe there was something like 9 bags of flour on that line, they kept coming and exploding on the deckhands... Hillstrand (who was behind that prank as well) was dying with laughter, it was great...
I love that these guys are REAL... they don’t put on any facade for the show, they simply do their jobs… and they do their jobs well.
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4-17-2008 @ 1:46PM
maresi said...
Oh, I LOVE Tuesday nights now. The pranks kill me, like when they welded another boat's pot shut after stealing all their crab. Nice!
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4-17-2008 @ 2:28PM
RobynS8971 said...
Deadliest is #1 reality programming in our house, even have the cynicallay hubby watching and holding his breath as the waves crash over the siderails.
ALWAYS look forward tot he last episode with the tally and $$$ for each deckhand, it's hard work, but it pays GREAT!
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4-17-2008 @ 5:25PM
whoosh said...
MEN WHO LOOK LIKE MEN
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4-18-2008 @ 10:34AM
VA1A2 said...
I've become a Deadliest Catch junkie. It's starting to annoy my wife.
Part of what I love about the show is that they trash two dozen brand-new HD cameras each season. The behind-the-scenes show is also interesting - I'm amazed the way video crews rig the crab boats with "weather-proof" cable runs and camera housings. Then they put their own lives on the line to shoot the show. All that effort really pays off.
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4-18-2008 @ 5:53PM
CJ said...
Anna,
How could you not love the best reality show and non actors to come along this millenium. Almost 4 million viewers last Tues. and 59 million worldwide. Thom Beers' Original Production crews/cameramen and the Alaskan King Crab and Opie Fleet may be a dying breed but the info and coverage from Discovery have caught our attention to the highest. Multiply your reasons and come check out F/V Northwestern Forum, F/V Time Bandit Message Forum, F/V Wizard sites. The Captains and crews are cooking, gaming, writing books and appearing on top shows East and West Coast. Although we try to respect their private lives we are thrilled with their sharing their business lives with all of us. They have become extended real family thru Discovery to many of us. They are the last steel horse cowboys of our day. Thank you for your wonderful reasons and agree with most of them as well. We love our crabbers and cant get enough.
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4-20-2008 @ 5:23PM
Bash said...
I mentioned why I am currently not so happy about DC here:
http://www.tvsquad.com/2008/04/18/is-deadliest-catch-doing-some-creative-editing/#c11705994
And, to be honest, I am a bit irritated that you like the crab count. Because if you were really a fan of the show you would've found out until now that the boats buy or get alloted the amount (contingent) of crab they are actually allowed to catch. If they are over they are fined severely. So to not bother the audience with something horrible like math they don't show the amount each boat is allowed to catch, even though in previous seasons (I think the time bandit) was fined because its young skipper was unable to calculate the amount correctly. It cost each crewmember about 5000 US$. But I guess that's to much for the viewer to understand so they put uncomparable boats into a list to be able to plaster advertisement above it. To me that simply sucks big time. Why is it so hard to understand something like PERCENT? Show us the amount of crab they fished in percent and it would be comparable. Since the boats are of different size but the time they are allowed to fish is the same, a larger boat needs more deck hands and more bait boxes to fish the amount they are allowed to. So if one boat with a 10 ton tank fishes 1 ton a week then to be better a ship with a 20 ton tank has to fish 2 tons.
To hard to understand?
I guess.
Math make me brain hurt. Duh.
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