Deadliest Catch

From LoveToKnow Reality-TV

Deadliest Catch is a Discovery channel documentary where two-man camera crews live on Alaskan fishing boats to film the fishermen during the most dangerous crab season in the Bering Sea.

Two fishing ships

Basic Show Format

The popular Discovery show Deadliest Catch follows various fishing vessels through two crab seasons: one for the King crab and one for the Opilio crab. Both kinds of crab - if of desirable weight - can usually net the fishermen a hefty profit. That's why some of the crew members call the Opilio crab "Norwegian Dollars." The main character of the show is danger. There is danger to the fishing crew, the camera crew, and to the ship. Each episode focuses on one or two stories that can take place on more than one ship. Some side stories may involve the competitive nature of the captains, the stress of living on the ship and the plight and sometimes hazing of greenhorns. Greenhorns are the rookies; green meaning "fresh" or "new".

Camera Setup

Two cameramen live on each boat during Deadliest Catch's fishing season. One films on the deck and one films in the captain's wheelhouse. They often switch out so one is in no more danger than the other. There are also four stationary cameras affixed to various spots on the boat to capture additional footage. Lastly, a helicopter is used to nab those flying shots around the boats and over the water.

Deadliest Catch Boats

The following are the boats that have appeared on Deadliest Catch. Some were filmed during the King crab season and some during the Opilio season:

Opilio Season

  • Big Valley
  • Bilikin
  • Cornelia
  • Lady Alaska
  • Maverick
  • Retriever
  • Saga

King Crab Season

  • Aleutian Ballad
  • Arctic Dawn
  • Early Dawn
  • Erla-N
  • Farwest Leader
  • Fierce Allegiance
  • Lucky Lady
  • Maverick (under Blake Painter)
  • North American
  • Northwestern
  • Rollo
  • Sea Star
  • Time Bandit
  • Western Viking
  • Wizard (under Keith Colburn)

The Dangers

It is a fact that commercial fishing is considered one of the most dangerous jobs in the world with a fatality rate of 1.5%. That averages to about one per week, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The weather conditions in the Bering Sea often cause hypothermia, but that's nothing compared to everything else that can happen. It is reported that injuries happen the majority of the time.

On Deadliest Catch you can see all kinds of causes of death and injuries. There is the freezing cold, high winds, wild waves and the possibility of drowning as far as the weather goes. There are even bigger dangers on the boat. The crab traps are constantly being flung about and the machinery used to haul and lower traps into the water have moving parts that swing and slide around. Probably the most dangerous part while on the deck are the cables. Heavy and thick cables are used and sometimes they are the only thing keeping a hovering crab trap from crashing to the deck. Combine that with a slippery deck and it's a surprise that there aren't more deaths attributed to fishing.

Tidbits

  • The opening theme is Bon Jovi's "Wanted Dead or Alive".
  • The Styx song "Come Sail Away" was used in some of the commericials. Me First and the Gimmie Gimmies remade it.
  • Deadliest Catch has been nominated multiple times for awards for Picture Editing, Sound Mixing, and Cinematography.
  • Deadliest Catch was preceeded by a mini-series (America's Deadliest Season) and a documentary (The World's Deadliest Job).
  • It's not all fishing on Deadliest Catch. Even those fishermen have off-seasons, like baseball players and football players. When the fishing seasons were over on Season 4, Discovery created After the Catch, which was a mini-series following the captains of the ships during these off-seasons.
  • If you are interested in additional reading, check out Time Bandit: Two Brothers, the Bering Sea, and One of the World's Deadliest Jobs and Deadliest Catch: Desperate Hours which reveal experiences of fishermen in the Bering Sea.
  • In June of 2008, Deadliest Catch: Alaskan Storm was a video game released for the Xbox 360 and PC and allows you to feel how it is to be a greenhorn or a captain of one of five boats during the Crab Season.
Retrieved from "http://reality-tv.lovetoknow.com/Deadliest_Catch"

 


Comment on Deadliest Catch



(Displayed with your comment)                        (Will not be displayed)
Verification Code:   
    

Reality TV Categories
LoveToKnow Tools
More Articles