Fall TV Preview » Discovery Channel

Gold Rush

jpfeiffer — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 20:20:16 +0000

Where We Left Off: Last season, the Hoffmans and their crew battled Mother Nature – and each other – to mine their way out of financially hard times. The Hoffmans sold everything they owned that wasn’t nailed down to fund their dream of striking it rich in Alaska, leasing the Porcupine Creek claim. But after sinking $250,000 into the project, they found only $20,000 worth of gold by the end of their long, hard rookie season. A dismal end to a summer filled with injuries, broken machinery, constant fighting and an unhappy claim owner.

What To Expect: With the skyrocketing price of gold, the Hoffmans decide to keep their dream alive. With a case of gold fever, they go back bigger and better than before, selling everything they own that was nailed down – including leveraging their small airport in Oregon – to fund a second mining season. This spring, they headed north once again to Porcupine Creek, Alaska to settle unfinished business and find the gold at the bottom of the glory hole. But right as things finally start to go their way, unforeseen circumstances threaten to jeopardize their dream of striking it rich in the frozen north. With the mining season slipping away, the Hoffman crew is forced to come up with a new plan in order to salvage what could be their last mining season.

On Oct. 28, a one-hour special at 8pm called “The Off-Season” catches us up with what the Hoffmans have been up to between seasons. The new season officially kicks off with the “Twist of Fate” episode Oct. 28 at 9pm.

American Guns

jpfeiffer — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 17:42:20 +0000

What’s It All About? This series follows the Wyatts, a suburban family who happen to own one of the premier firearms facilities in the world. Rich Wyatt and his wife, Renee, own Gunsmoke, located outside of Denver, where they buy, sell and trade guns — from hand cannons to hunting rifles. And if you don’t see what you want, they’ll build one for you from nothing more than a block of metal. When the Wyatts — Rich, Renee, son Kurt (age 21) and daughter Paige (age 16) — aren’t building or selling guns, they are testing and shooting them.

Guns features in the premiere season of American Guns include:

Knuckle Duster – This gun, built in the late 1800s, was both brass knuckles AND a firearm. It was used for ‘close combat’ because it was small and easily concealable. It’s no surprise it was the weapon of choice for many card cheats, thugs and prostitutes at the turn of the century. When a customer brings one in that can’t be repaired, Rich does what he does best – builds him an exact replica from scratch.

‘Colt’ Single Action Army – This is the quintessential gun of the American West, carried by outlaws like Jesse James and lawmen like Wyatt Earp. Rich builds a one-of-a-kind Single Action Army from scratch for a Baptist preacher who wants a specialized and extremely fast six-shooter to help him win Cowboy Action Shooting competitions.

Hand Cannon – Before there were handguns, there were cannons. The Hand Cannon is the first cannon that could be held in a soldier’s hands and fired. Some argue that this is the first firearm, the predecessor to everything we today know of as “guns.” Rich and his team build one from scratch for Rich’s friend Gary, an explosives fanatic who owns every type firearm built to blow things up … except this one.

Adaptive Hunting Rifle – A young Colorado man lost most of the use of his right arm when his Humvee struck an IED while on patrol in Iraq. As a right-handed shooter, his injuries have made it difficult for him to hunt with his father, the thing that will make him feel normal again. Rich boldly steps up to the challenge to build this American hero a rifle that adapts perfectly to his physical limitations and helps him feel whole again.

American Underworld

jpfeiffer — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 16:27:29 +0000

What’s It All About? In this new series, journalist Mark Allen Johnson enters some of the most extreme, violent and hard-to-access subcultures in the country, from drug manufacturers to the sex trade, to tell the stories of an underground world that could be right next door. Using unorthodox methods, Johnson uses a mix of brains and bravado to gain access to highly secretive worlds. Securing the trust of his subjects alone can be a deadly business, often requiring months of negotiations. Pointing a video camera at them truly puts his life at risk. Entering these worlds – sometimes blindfolded and separated from his crew – Johnson brings back some of the most raw and compelling footage on television.

Penn & Teller Tell a Lie

jpfeiffer — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 20:41:53 +0000

What’s It All About? Master magicians Penn & Teller just spent eight seasons debunking crazy conspiracy theories and misconceptions on their hit show Bull@#$%!. Now, the duo is ready to do some lying of their own.

In Penn & Teller Tell a Lie, viewers will be treated to a collection of science-based, Ripley’s Believe It or Not!-type stories, one of which will be untrue. Or, as the laconic Teller (who speaks freely during interviews, but rarely on camera) puts it, “It’s unbelievable truths, and one believable lie.”

Can you believe, for instance, that it’s possible to use bacon as a blowtorch? Or that you could hang a Mustang by using human hair? If you like those, just wait till you hear the one about the restaurant that serves helium-filled desserts that float.

The stories are presented in Penn & Teller’s signature aggressive, comic style — which Penn says will be illustrated by “smashing a lot of glass and blowing @#$% up” — all in the name of championing what they believe is a healthy sense of doubt for the viewer.

I Faked My Own Death

lacken — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 21:45:19 +0000

What’s It All About? Their elaborate hoaxes garnered news headlines. Executing their evil plans required going to extremes: murdering a hitchhiker, digging up a corpse, parachuting out of a crashing plane. Go inside the minds of six convicts to find out what pushed them to the brink and then finally made them take that fatal, extreme step over the edge in this fascinating three-part special. Through first-person, on-camera accounts (some from prison) and cinematic re-enactments, discover how the fakers planned and pulled off their elaborate “deaths.” Candid interviews with police detectives will also reveal how authorities pieced the convincing evidence to ultimately crack each case and realize some of the biggest lies to ever come through our country’s legal system.

Weed Wars

lacken — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 21:42:27 +0000

What’s It All About? In 1996, California voters approved the Compassionate Use Act, legalizing marijuana for medical use and igniting a firestorm of controversy — and ingenuity on behalf of patients who sought out the drug and the people determined to provide it for them. Eight years later, Oakland’s Harborside Health Center — the first and largest medical cannabis dispensary in the U.S. — opened its doors. Discovery Channel goes behind the scenes at Harborside, where its colorful founder Steve DeAngelo strives to provide the best possible product to some 80,000 customers while leading the way in the national cannabis reform movement. It’s an unprecedented and sweeping look at this misunderstood microcosm — from the devoted Harborside staff and the farmers who grow the cannabis, to the rigorous lab testing of the product and the protests, police presence and security sweeps that threaten to send the business up in smoke.

Dinosaur Revolution

jpfeiffer — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 18:49:17 +0000

What’s It All About? First talked about over a year ago, this anticipated four-hour series looks to reset the standard for immersive, inside-out dinosaur storytelling, offering an insider’s view into the private lives and strange behaviors of dinosaurs, with a narrative technique as revolutionary as the science it documents.

Combining the talents of the world’s best dinosaur illustrators and animators — including Dave Krentz (Disney’s Dinosaur, John Carter of Mars), Ricardo Delgado (Dark Horse Comics’ Age of Reptiles), Iain McCaig (Star Wars prequel trilogy) and Pete Von Sholly (The Mask, Darkman) — with the latest paleontological research and the best of Hollywood storytelling, Dinosaur Revolution is presented with sparse narration and the latest cutting-edge animation and computer-generated storytelling techniques to feature never-before-seen intimate behaviors to illustrate the extraordinary lives of dinosaurs. A host of new behaviors will be seen in the series, including exotic mating dances of the Gigantoraptor, the inner workings of T-Rex’s nuclear family and the underwater birthing of Mosasaurs. The series will also introduce new creatures like a Jurassic flying squirrel and frogs so big they could eat dinosaurs.

Wreck Chasers

jpfeiffer — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 16:24:07 +0000

What’s It All About? Philadelphia is the only city in the United States that allows ‘wreck chasing,’ a multi-million dollar business in which tow truck drivers compete to claim wrecks and collect cash. This series introduces viewers to the high speed adrenaline rush of wreck chasing. There are more than 200 registered towing companies and as many as 2,000 trucks prowl the streets of the City of Brotherly Love at any given time, making Philly tow-trucking one of the most competitive and high stakes jobs in America.

***NOTE: SERIES WAS ORIGINALLY SCHEDULED TO AIR ON TLC.

Brew Masters

jpfeiffer — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 17:09:53 +0000

What’s It All About? This new series follows Sam Calagione, founder of Dogfish Head Brewery — one of America’s leading craft brewers — and his team as they travel the country and the world sourcing exotic ingredients and discovering ancient techniques to produce beers of all types. From chocolate to oysters to tomatoes, Sam is constantly pushing his team and himself to innovate and celebrate the amazing world of beer and beer making. The imagination of the Dogfish Head team is matched only by the fun they inject into every facet of their jobs, from employer beer tasting meetings, a bocce ball league in the parking lot, filming original rap videos in the brewery plant and more.

Swamp Loggers

jpfeiffer — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 13:59:05 +0000

What to Expect: In the second season the crew enters summer, enduring scorching heat while battling new challenges ranging from increasing pressure to cut and haul more timber, to dividing the team to log multiple tracts. As they face extreme weather, personnel issues, mechanical breakdowns and the constant push to grow the business during a time of economic uncertainty, the crew of Goodson’s All-Terrain Logging works together to maintain their reputation of being the best swamp loggers around.