deadliest catch
Deadliest Catch is a reality show that began broadcasting on Discovery Channel in 2005. That said, this show really has very little in common with any other format of reality TV we’ve become used to seeing so far. This documentary-like programme brings the competition between boats fishing for crab in the North Atlantic to our screens. This programme, styled like a documentary, shows what life and work conditions are like for fishermen in the icy northern seas. What has been screened so far is certainly not for the fainthearted. A figure for you. In the fishing season in the Bering Sea, one fisherman a week dies. Anybody who goes overboard lasts a few seconds and then it’s goodbye. The large, cumbersome and heavy fishing equipment they use also claims a large number of fingers, hands, arms and legs as tribute. Since the beginning of the show, and we’re only talking about boats participating in the programme, a dozen fishermen have never returned to port. Each series also sees members of the television crews suffering some kind of injury or another. The cameras on Deadliest Catch have so far not withstood more than one series of water, ice, rust or whatever other type of accident they have been subjected to.
The show captures the imagination and attention of viewing audiences in more that one way. First of all, there is the everyday life of the fishermen, and there is also the second element of competition between different boats. The captains of the boats not only show their skill at finding shoals of crabs, they also show what tricks they use to try and throw the other boats off the scent. Crab-fishing moves a serious amount of money, so the very scarce chances of heaving aboard those metal cages teeming with tender crab really pumps up the competitive streak in all involved. The ups and downs of the crab market, the quotas involved and all other types of stuff like this appear throughout the series, so the viewer really gets to know the ins and outs of the business. This Discovery Channel produced reality really is worth a watch. They’ve approached the world of reality TV from a completely different angle and instead of lumping 12 half-brained morons together artificially, they’ve looked for a real situation where people try and overcome the harshness and danger of their everyday lives side by side. And they do it in a beautiful and entertaining way. If you get the chance, as soon as you hear the opening notes of Bon Jovi’s Dead or Alive as it signals the start of the show, sit yourself down in front of the TV and spend the next forty minutes in the frozen seas of the North.
The show captures the imagination and attention of viewing audiences in more that one way. First of all, there is the everyday life of the fishermen, and there is also the second element of competition between different boats. The captains of the boats not only show their skill at finding shoals of crabs, they also show what tricks they use to try and throw the other boats off the scent. Crab-fishing moves a serious amount of money, so the very scarce chances of heaving aboard those metal cages teeming with tender crab really pumps up the competitive streak in all involved. The ups and downs of the crab market, the quotas involved and all other types of stuff like this appear throughout the series, so the viewer really gets to know the ins and outs of the business. This Discovery Channel produced reality really is worth a watch. They’ve approached the world of reality TV from a completely different angle and instead of lumping 12 half-brained morons together artificially, they’ve looked for a real situation where people try and overcome the harshness and danger of their everyday lives side by side. And they do it in a beautiful and entertaining way. If you get the chance, as soon as you hear the opening notes of Bon Jovi’s Dead or Alive as it signals the start of the show, sit yourself down in front of the TV and spend the next forty minutes in the frozen seas of the North.
