Film and TV

Odd jobs, slednecks, Palin TV: Our trip through Alaska reality TV history concludes

All right, Reality Check readers. We are in the seventh-inning stretch of our look back at every Alaska reality TV show ever produced.* For the last week, it's a lot of cold weather and odd jobs.

First up is the History Channel heavyweight "Ice Road Truckers." As I discussed recently, it no longer takes place in Alaska, but is an important part of the history of truckers in cold climates.

"Iditarod Unleashed" is the yearly coverage of the Iditarod on the Sportsman Channel. It plays like reality TV, so I'll count it.

There were two shows that were basically identical and aired at almost the same time in 2014: "Kodiak" and "The Hunt." One was narrated by James Hetfield of Metallica, but I couldn't tell you which one.

[Related: A look back at every Alaska reality TV show ever produced, part 1 and part 2]

"Land Rush" was a series that annoyed the state's Department of Natural Resources when it followed four people who purchased land through the Remote Recreational Cabin Sites program. The show said they purchased the land for "pennies on the dollar," but the state said they mischaracterized the prices. Regardless, what do I actually remember about "Land Rush"? That as the narrator said, "bringing only the bare essentials: guns, chainsaws, a generator and a tent," we saw three dudes carrying several cases of Coors original onto their Bush plane. #NarratorFail #CastingWin

One of the longer-running shows that takes places in the Arctic is "Life Below Zero." It follows some real characters (example: one woman frequently talks to foxes) as they live above the Arctic Circle. Similarly, "The Last Alaskans" follows the people who live in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Both are still airing.

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[Related: Finally, a show about real Alaskans doing real Alaska things]

I already talked about "Buying Alaska" last week, which is exactly the same as "Living Alaska," so no need to rehash this one.

"Looking for Love: Bachelorettes in Alaska" was a 2002 network reality dating show. See this article I wrote about this amazing program for all the feelings.

"Mounted in Alaska" was a 2011 series about Knight's Taxidermy. Confused about how you could get 16 episodes of content out of a taxidermy business? Me too.

One time, back in the aughts, the Discovery Channel dropped a bunch of cityfolk in the wilderness and made them survive. It was called "Out of the Wild: The Alaska Experiment." I never watched it, but it sounds like "Survivor" except that the contestants wear warm-weather clothes instead of bikinis.

"Port Protection" is about the tiny town of Port Protection in Southeast. A pretty straightforward show about a pretty straightforward town.

"R5 Sons" is a strange one, because a family-run lodge (Rainy Pass Lodge) produced their own TV show about their family. They also called it "R5 Sons" instead of "Our Five Sons." It's aired on Hulu, GCI and Alaska Airlines digiplayers.

[Related: A moment for Alaska reality shows gone by]

I'll say it again. "Railroad Alaska" is a boring show about the boring Alaska Railroad. But at least they are epically self-aware.

Now on to the Palin shows. There were three of them: "Sarah Palin's Alaska," "Sarah Palin's Amazing America" and "Life's a Tripp." Both "Sarah Palin's Amazing America" and "Life's a Tripp" only partially took place in Alaska. All were bizarrely mesmerizing in their own way.

What can I say about "Slednecks"? It was a short-lived MTV show about a group of friends/frenemies who lived in Wasilla and liked to get turnt on cheap beer and blow stuff up. I hated it. I loved it. I hated it. I miss it.

Another early one, "Tougher in Alaska" was kind of like "Dirty Jobs." It followed people with tough Alaska jobs.

"Ultimate Survival Alaska" was the one show to rule them all. It featured all sorts of outdoorsmen and women competing in races around the state. It had so much potential, but was canceled after three seasons.

"Wild West Alaska" is an office workplace comedy about a gun store in Anchorage. It is so filled with terrible scripted dad humor that it's hard to even call it a reality show.

Finally, there is "Yukon Men" and "Yukon River Run." I'm too tired after the other 56 to say anything about them.

Next week we'll be back to our regular reviews. Thanks for following along these past few weeks; it has been a fun walk down the dusty Wikipedia pages of television history.

*Or at least every show that I have found. Thanks to a reader who pointed out that I missed one in the last batch — "Clinically Wild Alaska" was about the Anchorage Pet Emergency Treatment hospital; it aired in 2008 on Animal Planet.

Emily Fehrenbacher lives in Anchorage, where she reviews Alaska reality TV. You can reach her at realitycheck@alaskadispatch.com or on Twitter @ETFBacher.

Emily Fehrenbacher

Emily Fehrenbacher lives in Anchorage and writes "Reality Check," a regular look at reality television set in Alaska.

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