Alaska : La ruée vers l'or

Used to love Goldrush but the last few years it has become repetitive and it hasn't helped bringing the Lewis crew along. I think Frew would be better off in his own 6 part show, a little less of the scripted stuff and it gets a bit tedious and forced them mentioning the ex-marine stuff every single time.

I've watched Gold Rush since day one. Always a favorite until the last couple of years. The Lewis crew story line is by far the most scripted and the hardest to watch out of all the crews. Besides his stupid looking hair cut, the constant mention of Fred's military service and Green Beret status, and lately, his overly dramatic wife interjecting herself into the mix has dragged the rest of the program down into stupid reality show territory. No wonder Parker and his team are hardly seen any more; not enough drama I guess.

I with no doubt say that this is a good TV show. Maybe the story-line isn't nothing new to people but it's really interesting to watch and I completed the whole season in just two evenings. The camera crew had done a really great job. The filming was creative and I always like to think how it is for them.

This TV show actually gave me a few life lessons and I bet that to the crew - even more. Things don't go always the way you want them to go. In this case they faced like tons of problems but they're spirit was unbreakable and the mechanic - amazing. Some may say that Todd's leader skills are poor and that they make some silly rookie mistakes. But, people, don't forget that they are kinda desperate in the situation they are and overall just six "average Joe's" When I watched the last episode I saw that they have really fell in love with gold mining and they wont stop. I think that this adventure has changed their lives. And that is what I love the most about this series - making the dream come true from scratch, facing problems and solving them, filming and simply just seeing the gold.

After watching the last episode I had only one thought stuck in my mind - When is the second season on air?

The "5" is for the part of the show illustrating the gold mining.

If I was grading on the amateur acting of the Hoffman and Schnabel crews, it would be a fat zero.

I do enjoy the Beets portions without criticism - honest workers, no drama.

Schnabel - petulant spoiled brat, perpetual smirk on his face, an idiot that only looks successful due to the hard work of his employee - of which he is a real prick to every episode. What a goof!

Shows like this has an audience not for the fake drama, but just to watch the machines working, illustrate repairs and improvisation, and the final product. It doesn't need anything else! Just like "Ax Men", another great show that the producers ruined by the fake drama, this series is also going to eventually fail, if they keep up with the soap opera scripts.

EDIT/ADDED:

I've just finished watching S08 ep 20, and have to amend my review.

Todd and crew are pathetic, portray themselves as bumblers that have traveled North and South America mining for gold, and obviously don't have a clue about mining, nor understand the machines they use in the show. I see them as a bunch of aimless idiots!

Tony Beets has joined in the soap opera scripts, it seems - behaving like a greedy a-hole that resents anyone else operating a mine to the point of sabotaging others' operations?! Yes, what he does, obstructing the lawful movement and development of another business is criminal, *and if this was real acts of interference* he would be arrested and lose all the rights to his claims - forbidden from mining, himself...but it's fake, so he continues to just behave like a goof for the cameras.

Parker is still a tyrant brat that continues with his own fake crisis, fake feud with Beets, and fake drama.

*All these lands are owned by the State/Province/country, and mining rights/prospecting rights are permitted by the grace of these government jurisdictions*. All the show characters are only temporary guests of the land.

With contempt toward the show producers, that have lost focus on the gold mining, I've reduced the five-stars to a one...because zeroes aren't permitted.

This show is starting to bore the hell out of me!

I love this show and have watched every season, always looking forward to the next. But this season is just way to scripted. Heavy winds with not a single tree swayin. Clear "acting" by new miners. It's becoming more cringing to watch than exciting. Yes, just the mining may not have the drama factor but it does have the realism factor which is what I'd much prefer to sink my time into.