Le Convoi de l'extrême

Basically, it's show of where the premise of possible disaster is the entertainment while also filled with fake scinarios (scripted hostility between main characters).

I had always been baffled about why this shot-in-Canada show, which I'd heard was such a big deal in the US and overseas, never aired on any of the Canadian networks. Then I got around to picking up a season one DVD set on eBay and the mystery was quickly solved. If you've ever done any serious winter driving on any of our worst stretches of highway (e.g., Calgary to Revelstoke at night with road conditions rated "poor") you've already experienced white-knuckle driving that's at least as scary as anything you'll see on this show. For the average Canuck, this series is about as exciting as watching people drive to the supermarket (in fact in most cities that's more likely to be a lethal proposition than is a trip up the Ice Road.) One thing I did appreciate, however, is that -- notwithstanding the stereotypical ice-and-snow motif that forms the obvious foundation of the program -- the producers give Canada a very fair, balanced, and generally positive portrayal. This is one of those rare occasions when we come off more as a modern economic powerhouse that just happens to have some very cold bits, rather than a nation of backwards, mostly frozen eh-sayers living in a 19th-century wasteland denominated primarily by beaver pelts, maple syrup and lumberjacks.

Short and sweet and to the point. Is anyone aware or understand that this show is a Reality Show? So what makes a Reality Show? Google has your answer if you need help in finding what a Reality Show is all about Google it This show was awesome and for anyone who loves to drive them big rigs Watch Ice Road Truckers. In my opinion the music blended right in with the suspense of driving on Ice and making it across to the other side safely. They did an awesome job with the drama on the show. Didn't this make you watch what happens next? I mean really that's what Reality Shows are made for and people criticize too much on the Characters personalities These characters on the show are definitely not the people in real life off camera. Does anyone follow what I'm saying?

I am from Norway and don't think the temperature is so extreme , if i calculate it right -32F is just at water freezing, and they show it as terrible at -42. Also i think the trucks are so different than we are using, many things looks like its been around since the early 80's. Who in his right mind uses steel-wire to load and unload the trailer on the rig. That's my opinion,you're technique and solutions are strange for me. And to use alcohol on air tanks was a system we used 20-30 years ago, now its just air drying system, so many different ways to the job. So I think its a good series but some of the characters are a little over the top for me,they are a little full of themselves :)

So maybe I was a little harsh in the summary, It does have some entertaining aspects. But after so many seasons the only thing really keeping it going is the drama and adding new characters. Which i'm not saying is a bad thing, the show is about the people driving these trucks through lovely weather and of course, ice crossings. If your looking for documentary type show just about ice road trucking though, this really isn't it. That could be made into a 2 hour documentary. Or just watch the 1st season and ya get the picture. If your into the people and the drama though, then keep on watching. There was a separate season where a few of the characters from the show like Lisa Kelly and Darrel Ward, went to South America driving truck on some of the worst roads in the world. I found that to be much more entertaining, and I believe far more dangerous as well. Driving a old piece of a crap truck on a 1 lane road with a mountain on one side and a vertical cliff on the other is somethin else entirely.

What bothers me is EVERY single time a truck goes across the ice they play "life threatening" ice cracking/popping sounds and then as the truck nears the other side they play this climactic siren music as if to scare you into not knowing if the truck is going to fall through or make it across. It becomes SOOO annoying!! In the dead of winter the chance of a truck falling through is very very slim. What they don't show is the tons of other trucks that are going across the ice. At the end of the season is when it becomes much more dangerous. If they were to save the climactic music and cracking sounds till the actual more dangerous times they're crossing the ice, it would make it so much more impactful! Not to mention the narrator over-hyping things as well. When it gets slick, the trucks drifting their trailers/cargo around corners is pretty cool i must say.

So all-in-all if ya like the drama of the show and the characters, keep on watchin, otherwise just watch the documentary or the 1st season. I do really recommend the season that was in South America to anyone. The environment, the native people, the culture, the danger, the language barrier played such a huge roll. I wont spoil anything, but I can see why there was only 1 season of that.