Thrilling Adventures: 4 Reality Shows Like Deadliest Catch You Can’t Miss
For fans of shows fronting tales of man and nature, and folks seeking fortune and glory in perilous locales, the reality TV craze has become a legitimate content gold mine. And, as fans of such fare know, Discovery’s “Deadliest Catch” and National Geographic Channel’s “Life Below Zero” have risen to become luminaries of such programs in the past decade or so.
The former series is, of course, set largely on the icy, oft-deadly waters of the Bering Sea, and follows various fishing crews and their dauntless captains as they seek to earn a living in the King Crab fishing game. The latter details the day-to-day struggles of the hardened folks who choose to live their lives in the dangerous realm of the Alaskan wilderness, with both shows serving up a steady mix of human drama and survivalist thrills set to the backdrop of breathtaking Alaskan vistas.
The series have also developed wildly devoted fan bases, who continue to make them ratings hits for their respective networks. Yes, that success has led to multiple other series riffing on their narrative formats. And if you’re looking for small-screen adventures to binge beyond “Deadliest Catch” and “Life Below Zero,” you might also enjoy the likes of “Bering Sea Gold,” “The Last Alaskans,” “Ice Road Truckers,” and “Yukon Men” — each of which puts its own spin on life in Arctic locals and is available to stream in the digital realm.
Bering Sea Gold is a compelling mix of Deadliest Catch and Gold Rush
Fans of “Deadliest Catch” can no doubt attest that the Bering Sea is as much a character in the series as any of its famed ships, greenhorns, or captains. It’s every bit as much a character in “Bering Sea Gold” too, which cleverly tries to blend the sea-set thrills of “Deadliest Catch” with the gold fever fervor of another reality hit in “Gold Rush.”
It largely succeeds in that savvy endeavor, by the way. In case the title of the series didn’t make its focus clear enough, “Bering Seas Gold” follows miner-sailors as they head out on floating mining rigs to dig for gold under the frosty waters of the titular body of water. And watching those gold-hungry miners work on — and sometimes off — those intricately designed mining boats is every bit as fascinating as it sounds.
“Bering Sea Gold” debuted on Discovery more than a decade ago, and recently began running its 15th season of episodes on the network. So if you’re all caught up on “Deadliest Catch,” and are in desperate need of more Bering Sea stories, there are now more than 177 episodes of “Bering Sea Gold” action to tide you over. You can currently stream the series in its entirety on both Max and Discovery+.
The Last Alaskans is a compelling study in man vs. nature
If watching well-meaning folks try to scratch out a living in the unforgiving wilds of Alaska is your bag, you might find “The Last Alaskans” a fitting companion to “Life Below Zero.” The series is set in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and the survivalist saga follows several tight-knit families and loner-type trappers as they seek to live their best lives as far off the old grid as possible.
That means they are choosing to live almost entirely on the proverbial fat of the land. If you know anything about the Alaskan wilderness, you know it takes more than a little good look to not just carve out a sliver of that fat for yourself, but to do so without succumbing to the elements is a different challenge completely.
Debuting in 2015 on Animal Planet, “The Last Alaskans” jumped to Discovery for three more seasons. Rest assured knowing that each ensuing season of the show is as riveting as the one that preceded it. Unfortunately, only four seasons of “The Last Alaskans” were ever produced, with the show tallying a total of 36 episodes. But if you’re interested, each one is now available to stream on Max and Discovery+.
Ice Road Truckers is a pulse-pounding thrill ride
When one thinks about the Alaskan wilderness, icy terrains, massive grizzly bears, flowing rivers, and feisty wolves are a few of the more prevalent images that likely come to mind. Whatever it is that comes to yours, it’s safe enough to assume big rigs and the briny truckers who drive them are not at the top of the list. It’s also pretty safe to assume that might change once you’ve watched a single episode of “Ice Road Truckers.”
The Alaskan-set drama made its History debut in 2007, doing so with a credit sequence fronting Aerosmith’s hard-rock hit “Livin’ on the Edge.” That song proves more than suits the tone of the series, which finds truckers doing just that as they navigate the famed Dalton Highway ice road in trucks that often weigh in at more than a ton. Though it eventually lost that pitch-perfect theme song, “Ice Road Truckers” would go on to deliver edge-of-your-seat thrills all the way through to its 2017 cancellation.
It continues to do so in syndication, and via History reruns, as well. But if you can’t seem to catch the series in reruns, you should know it’s also now streaming on Disney+ among other platforms.
Survival is the name of the game on Yukon Men
There’s an old saying that goes, “There’s more than one way to skin a cat.” While it might seem that “Yukon Men” is just another of several series that explore survival in the Arctic arena, it more than sets itself apart by largely focusing on a single village in a remote region of the Yukon.
That village is called Tanana. And if you want to see parts of Alaska barely glimpsed in any other reality program set in the region, “Yukon Men” really is a must-see. The show unfolds as equal parts stirring family drama, and full-on survival tutorial, spending as much time with the families it follows as it does detailing the hows and whys of hunting, trapping, fishing, and, well, pretty much anything else one needs to do to make a life by the Yukon River. Unlike many of its Alaska-set contemporaries, “Yukon Men” also refreshingly checks the testosterone at the door, with fathers, sons, and everyone in between focusing on living in peace with both nature and one another.
