Josh Gates et les trésors perdus

I first started watching this show at the start of the pandemic and the episode I first watched was season 6 episode 4, Scotlands Lost Gold!! After that I was immediately hooked, I watched every episode ever and I feel like I learned a lot more about History, Mythology, FBI cases, urban myths, etc than I ever learned in high school!! I love how Josh adds jokes and humor to his shows while still teaching viewers!!!

Gates must be one of the more personable hosts on TV today. The premise is basically the same as his former show Destination Truth on SyFy; insofar as as with Destination Truth the show starts with some spurious rumour and homemade 'newspaper article' relating to some 'lost' artefact or place (as opposed to a mythical creature in DT) followed by Gates heading off around the globe in search of the artefact or place, followed closely by Gate's goofing around while he gets down on the the more serious track of the legends, which he then hunts down in the most annoyingly melodramatic ways possible.

All in all while the content is hokum in the extreme, overly melodramatic in parts, as a travelogue to some pretty interesting places conducted by an intelligent, well travelled, funny and entertaining host.

It's a helluva lot of fun to watch at that. I've been catching EXPEDITION UNKNOWN since the beginning, and, true, while there haven't been any major discoveries (keep in mind it's tough to unearth a hidden treasure in an hour), it remains a worthy travelogue and documentary on just about everything in the world that's been clouded in mystery or controversy. And that's it. Take it or leave it. Josh Gates, with that degree in archaeology, is the host we would all like to be as he travels a bumpy and occasionally dead-end road with a terrific sense of humor and a burning desire to explore the unknown. There are some truly fascinating episodes, well researched at that, giving the viewer a bird's eye view on some incredible case histories, ranging from lost treasures to Nazi hide-outs. If anything, EXPEDITION UNKNOWN remains a campy entertainment of sorts, with a host of unexpected turns and surprises, throw in some good camera work (whether it be underground or underwater) and Josh in pursuit of it all, and sometimes in disguise. Check out his salute, and in full military dress, to General Patton. Or is that George C. Scott? Carry On.

I understand some of the lower ratings and their critiques. You get an appetite for answers and actually finding something significant and then....well I guess we'll never really know. Still....the show takes you to places and people that you may otherwise never encounter. It takes the time to provide cultural background and often rich historical information. My 13 yr old daughter loves learning from this show.....and most adults don't know much more than she does about many of the things covered in it. So it certainly isn't a waste of most peoples time. It's much more intellectually minded than most crap on TV today. Ya wanna tune out and watch reruns of Sienfield instead? Josh does well conveying facts while being entertaining. In this show, I think it keeps peoples attention to actually listen to the 'lesson'. Now I cannot say the same for his show 'Destination Truth' which is so very UNlike Expedition Unknown in every way. Don't even try going there. I will always look forward to EU though. To quell above 'the never find anything' complaints....it seems that, in this season at least, they do. We just saw a reconstruction of what 'may' be Cleopatra. An overall fascinating show with many learning opportunities. I much more enjoy Gates in this role than as ghosty guy selling tours of the local haunted house.

The production isn't quite as good as Cities of the Underworld but I still thoroughly enjoy this show. I've seen all the Cities of the Underworld episodes a few times so Expedition Unknown has replaced it on my DVR list as my Sunday morning coffee drinking show. Josh Gates being an actual Archaeologist makes it better for me as well. He really does have the best job in the world. He hasn't completely replaced my man crush on Don Wildman (I still watch Mysteries at the Museum) but it's close. Great show, and if the producers read this I am available to be an assistant (though my wife may not let me travel the historical world and leave her at home...she already nixed me volunteering for VetPaw, an organization for combat vets that fight poachers in Africa). Slight tangent there but yeah definitely a show worth a watch.