Watching Reality TV

Maybe it’s a sign that I’m becoming a “reality TV snob”. Suddenly the dippy shows on network television seem so dang boring while the more “highbrow” cousins on the cable networks are infinitely more interesting. Though, I’m not entirely sure you could call Discovery Channel’s “Dirty Jobs” necessarily “highbrow”. Yep, this is the second time this week I’m bringing up “Dirty Jobs”. There hasn’t been a whole lot on TV this week and Discovery Channel has been running repeats of the show every night this week. And who am I to resist the lure of Mike Rowe? Last night, on their 100th episode special, Mike (and friend) sang this song to a montage of “dirty jobs” and I just had to look this one up on YouTube to share with you all. And just my luck; YouTube had it. So enjoy!

In other news, I know I said I was going to mention “Ice Road Truckers” and I still haven’t. Basically, all I can say is that this show is really, really awesome and you really, really need to watch it. Basically, these are truckers who have to truck supplies to diamond mines up in the arctic north of Canada. Supplies can only be brought up for about 4 months of the year, when the many, many lakes up there are frozen solid and can be driven upon. That’s where these truckers come in. If the supplies don’t make it up in time, then the mine is set back for a whole ‘nother year and since this is the diamond industry, that’s a lot of money lost. Oh, and while these guys are driving on the ice, it’s actually moving. And they can’t go too fast or a wave will form underneath the ice, causing it to break open and the truck to fall in. They can’t go too slow or the ice will break and the truck will fall in. Oh, and they ARE driving on ice here so they have to watch for wheels spinning out, jackknifed trucks and every other dang thing. It’s about 30 below zero and blowing snow can cause the drivers to not be able to see past the hood of their truck. This? Is INTENSE. You just gotta watch. It’s so good.

You’ll notice I’m not talking about “On the Lot” today. I didn’t watch it last night. Because, frankly, I give up. That show tried hard but it was too little, too late. I’ll keep an eye on any major news concerning the show and let you all know what I know, but I’m not going to watch it if I can at all help it. I don’t get paid THAT much.

The History Channel’s new reality show, “Ice Road Truckers” debuted on Sunday with 3.4 million viewers, the cable channel’s most watched show ever. I’d like to think the reason is because “Ice Road Truckers” is a reality show set up much like “Deadliest Catch” is and we all know how much I love THAT show. “On the Lot” brought in a depressing 2.5 million viewers this week, down nearly a half a million viewers from the week before. They’re losing huge chunks of their audience every week. I don’t know about “Pirate Master”’s ratings yet (it just aired last night and I didn’t even watch… the horror!) but I imagine they’re equally dismal. The thing is, “Ice Road Truckers” airs on a more obscure cable channel (we’re not talking TBS or USA here) and “On the Lot” airs on a network channel that virtually every television in America can tune in to. Yikes.

“Ice Road Truckers” follows six truckers for two months as they haul important supplies to diamond mines that are located across frozen lakes that actually act as roads. This all happens in Canada’s Northwest Territory and men actually die doing this job (sound familiar). I mean, who wouldn’t want to watch that? I’m already kicking myself for having missed it on Sunday and am setting up my TIVO right now to remedy the situation. You’d be wise to do the same, sounds like.