Caught Off Guard by "The Deadliest Catch"

I readily admit that I'm not a regular viewer of "The Deadliest Catch," Discovery's documentary series on Alaskan crab fisherman who work under extreme conditions. I never watched any of the episodes before last Tuesday's, but I can understand the appeal of the program. The series presents an unvarnished look at a difficult profession and the tough-as-nails, blue-collar men who make their living from it. It's been so popular, the reruns are in syndication, similar programs like "Ice Road Truckers" and "American Loggers" followed in its wake, and there's even a spinoff, "After the Catch," where crew members discuss past events during the off season. Prominent sponsors include Coors and Acura, which went so far as to slap its logo on all the maps used in the show to track the locations of the ships, forming their own little hood ormanent-shaped archipelago right off the coast of Alaska.

I remember one of late night talk show hosts' monologues making reference to the show, complaining that all the episodes had the same plot. The ships would go out into frigid Arctic waters, they'd catch the crabs, and then they'd come back and collect their payday. This was a serious misrepresentation. My first episode opened with Captain Phil Harris of the Cornelia Marie finding one of his sons stealing his pain medication for a fix. On another ship, the Northwestern, a deck hand's father had gone missing back home, and a tense phone call with his mother revealed a worrying development. And on another ship, the Time Bandit, the captain was debating whether to train his son or another crew member to succeed him as captain of the vessel. And all of this was before Harris's stroke occurred, in the closing moments of the episode.

And there's the elephant in the room. I have to admit I never would have given "Deadliest Catch" a second glance if I hadn't heard about Harris's stroke. And I would be lying if I claimed that there wasn't any rubbernecking impulse involved with my decision to tune in, but I had personal reasons too. My own father suffered a stroke a few months ago. Luckily he survived and is recuperating just fine, but there was a lot of uncertainty in the first few weeks, and since then all mentions of heart attacks and strokes in the popular media seem to stand out a little bigger. When Harris's passing was announced, it was impossible to avoid the eulogies and some lively discussions of the (im)propriety of incorporating the event into the show. I'm glad that they decided to go ahead and show us the brunt of the stroke and its aftermath.

The experience of watching the episodes, especially Tuesday's follow-up, was one of the most cathartic experiences I've had watching any kind of live television. I started tearing up when one of the deck hands was persuading Harris's older son Josh to go to Anchorage to be with his father in the hospital, instead of staying behind with the Cornelia Marie, because his own father died and he regretted not being there. Of course no one on the show knew at that point that Captain Harris wasn't going to make it, and I had no idea whether Josh would be in time or not. These were people I had known for all of an hour and a half of screen time, but the intensity of the situation was so affecting, I couldn't tear myself away from the television set.

It's apparent that the "The Deadliest Catch" crews consistently let the camera get very up close and personal, and it almost feels voyeuristic to see these events being caught on film for broadcast, but there have been reassurances from the family in recent media coverage that filming proceeded with their approval. Captain Harris reportedly even told the crew explicitly that he wanted his story to have an ending. I'll be watching in the weeks to come, probably bawling my eyes out and phoning my father after each episode. This is why I like watching reality shows, and refuse to write off the genre, despite all the nasty, exploitative, gossip column horrors wrought by the worst of them. As much as the television producers shave off the rough corners and play their editing tricks, sometimes the genuine moments come through.

"The Deadliest Catch" airs Tuesdays on the Discovery Channel. And yes, this means Comcast cut me a deal and I have basic cable again.