Gold mining shows have been done to death. In an effort to make their show stand out in a crowded market, the producers have turned to giving their shows a unique twist. We've been treated to an Alaska 7 New York 2 ice dredge owner, father son feuding river dredgers, repair guys driving around fixing sluice boxes, rejects from other shows looking for land, an obsessed military vet who desperately needs to find another profession, and now senior citizens who should know better looking for an urban myth we're constantly told they are sooooo close to finding yet somehow never will.
The beauty with this show is the same as with all these gold mining shows. The characters are (usually) people you can root for, and so bang average you can picture yourself doing better in their shoes. Once in a while something goes right for one of them, and if they can do it you can do it! It fuels the gold mining get-rich-quick fantasy.
The problem with this show is the same as with all these gold mining shows. No one is making money in mining without doing a *lot* of tedious manual labor. And despite an animated narrator and thrilling background music, getting excited watching guys operate heavy machinery is something most of us outgrow by the time we're five years old. Equipment breaks down, water leaks, trucks get stuck... all pretty routine stuff and frankly rather dull viewing. Out of desperation, the producers try to fabricate drama where it doesn't exist. If the truck falls off the cliff everyone will die! (They don't). If the mine collapses everyone will die! (They don't). If they don't find gold everyone will starve to death! (They don't). And so on.
Six stars for this show for having likable characters, the occasional interesting mining fact, and for being decent background noise while doing something else. Zero stars for inventing yet another Oak Island type nonsensical treasure myth. Six stars.
The beauty with this show is the same as with all these gold mining shows. The characters are (usually) people you can root for, and so bang average you can picture yourself doing better in their shoes. Once in a while something goes right for one of them, and if they can do it you can do it! It fuels the gold mining get-rich-quick fantasy.
The problem with this show is the same as with all these gold mining shows. No one is making money in mining without doing a *lot* of tedious manual labor. And despite an animated narrator and thrilling background music, getting excited watching guys operate heavy machinery is something most of us outgrow by the time we're five years old. Equipment breaks down, water leaks, trucks get stuck... all pretty routine stuff and frankly rather dull viewing. Out of desperation, the producers try to fabricate drama where it doesn't exist. If the truck falls off the cliff everyone will die! (They don't). If the mine collapses everyone will die! (They don't). If they don't find gold everyone will starve to death! (They don't). And so on.
Six stars for this show for having likable characters, the occasional interesting mining fact, and for being decent background noise while doing something else. Zero stars for inventing yet another Oak Island type nonsensical treasure myth. Six stars.