Dirty Jobs

Dirty Jobs is a reality TV show on the Discovery Channel that delves into the nation's dirtiest and most disgusting occupations. Host Mike Rowe visits these locations in person and works alongside the men and women who actually perform these duties every day. The show debuted in November, 2004.

In each one-hour episode, Mike Rowe and his crew travel to places in the U.S. where there is a dirty job to be done. These jobs can range from cleaning outhouses to gutting fish to artificially inseminating turkeys. As long as there is a dirty, smelly or otherwise off-putting element to the job, it's fair game for the show.

Dirty Jobs doesn't just document the offensive occupation. Rowe meets the staff, dons the necessary outfits and equipment, and gets involved in every step of the process, performing as much of the job as he can.

What makes this show work is a combination of Rowe's humor - which is often self-deprecating - and his obvious respect for the people who actually make these jobs their careers.

Mike Rowe transitioned into radio and voice work as well as local television hosting after working as an opera singer. One of the TV programs he hosted featured a segment called Someone's Gotta Do It, in which Rowe highlighted occupations that most people would not want to do.

At the time, Rowe was doing some narration work for the Discovery Channel as well. When viewers began sending in letters and e-mails commenting on the Someone's Gotta Do It segments, Rowe pitched Dirty Jobs to Discovery. The show began with only three pilot episodes which aired at the end of 2004, which viewers responded favorably to. Rowe has said the concept for the show comes from a desire to honor his father and other Americans who perform jobs that aren't very glamorous.

Some of the featured careers are fairly tame, while others have to be heavily edited in order to keep the audience watching instead of changing the channel in disgust. Here are some examples of the wide variety of jobs that have been included on the show:

• Collecting bat guano for use in fertilizer
• Testing shark suits and shark repellent
• Collecting road kill
• Ostrich wrangling
• Chimney sweeping
• Cleaning homes after a sewer backup
• Cleaning animal skulls
• Exotic insect breeder
• Making flower pots out of cow manure
• Testing for West Nile Virus
• Castrating sheep
• Farming maggots
• Making bologna

In an episode during season two, Mike Rowe ended the show with an original song that he wrote about the program, which he called the Dirty Jobs Anthem. The song reappeared as a duet with producer Dave Barsky at the end of the show's 100th episode, and was changed up a bit and performed again for the 150th episode.

The anthem contains a musical list of jobs that Rowe has taken part in, along with a catchy chorus. When featured on the show, it is accompanied by clips from past episodes as well as funny moments and outtakes.

Mike Rowe started out as a singer with the Baltimore Opera company but soon moved into radio and television work. He worked as a presenter for QVC and soon went on to host shows for PBS, The History Channel and a variety of other networks. He also did voice-over work for computer software games.

Today, in addition to hosting this show, Rowe does a lot of narration for reality TV shows on the Discovery Channel including Deadliest Catch, American Chopper and American Hot Rod. He's hosted the popular Shark Week, and often appears as host or narrator for special programs on the network.

The ideas for which jobs to explore on the show come from viewers, who submit their suggestions at the official website. Submissions are in the form of forum posts, with descriptions of the jobs and what makes them "dirty." While the first handful of episodes used occupations that were suggested by Rowe and other staff members, nearly all of the rest have been based on viewer submissions.

• Kelly Osbourne Pics
• Kourtney Kardashian Pics
• Lauren Conrad Pics

• What Couples are Still Together from The Bachelor
• Rock of Love Bus
• CBS Survivor Application
• Kate Gosselin
• Jon and Kate Plus Eight

• Bret Michaels
• Category:Reality Show Information
• List of Reality TV Shows
• Deadliest Catch
• Mike Rowe