Has anyone been watching Deadliest Catch on The Discovery Channel? I’ve caught an episode here and there, and it’s always interesting. One minute the guys on the crab boats are playing a practical joke, the next they’re hauling in crab pots. They work tired, they work wet and cold, they work injured. And sometimes something truly scary happens like a man going overboard or getting a serious laceration that requires the boat to make waves toward the clinic in Dutch Harbor.
Deep sea fishing is one of the most dangerous jobs in the world, nothing I’d ever do in a million years unless my life depended on it. But just like tales of Mother Nature’s fury, I’m fascinated by these looks into that world. While I was saddened by the outcome, I enjoyed the movie The Perfect Storm. And while the movie itself wasn’t taping real life, it was based on a true story of loss at sea. I’m always curious about the people who go out time after time in what is a miserable and dangerous job most of the time.
Deadliest Catch, by contrast, is filming the actual people doing the actual jobs. And that makes it more real to the viewer even though we’re not really there. And from a writer’s perspective, it’s a great way to glean some male point of view.
April 26th, 2007 at 7:21 am
YES. I love this show. From moment to moment I never know whether I’m going to laugh, or cry, or cuss Blake out. I never would’ve thought that I could be so riveted by a show about guys hauling in crab pots.
My favorite boat is the Cornelia Marie, though after this past Tuesday’s ep I have to admit I’m in absolute awe of the crew on the Time Bandit.
April 26th, 2007 at 7:19 pm
Wasn’t that last show intense, where they pulled the guy out of the water?
The captains of the Cornelia Marie and Time Bandit crack me up. I told the hubby that they could have just as easily called it Rednecks Go to Sea.
April 26th, 2007 at 7:20 pm
It’s hard to pinpoint what makes the show go, but it’s one of the most engaging things on TV. Maybe it’s just such a different environment that just watching people work is entertainment.
Maybe that and watching them haul up a pot with $1000 worth of crabs in it.
April 27th, 2007 at 7:48 am
That was intense, yeah. I was beyond on the edge of my seat - I was jumping up and down, shouting, “Go, go, go!” That was as real as anything ever gets right there. Captain Johnathan’s reaction afterward, too.
I love the rednecks and their lack of sophistication.
They’re good at laughing at themselves and at each other.
April 27th, 2007 at 12:27 pm
The whole family LOVES the show… and, oh man “Rednecks Go to Sea” is perfect. No wonder my DH, being a true redneck, doesn’t miss an episode.
Those guys are seriously crazy. Man.