Talk:Deadliest Catch/Archive 1

Initial text
I had to run before finshing this article. Will complete soon.

Xenocide wm 00:01, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

Season 4?
Any information about a new season being produced? 24.60.255.119 06:14, 13 November 2007 (UTC)


 * According to folks in contact with several of the ships (including the Northwestern), filming for season 4 King Crab is complete; filming for Opilio starts in January 2008. Expect to see new episodes in April/May 2008. Scarletsmith 20:30, 13 November 2007 (UTC)

I couldn't believe it when I saw on this show last night that the Big Valley had sank. I worked on that boat in 1993 and did a scuba dive to cut line out of the wheel in St. George. That boat was a little too old and beat-up and not quite big enough to be out in the Bering Sea. It's hard for me watch this show-too emotionally invested in it. Ironically, before it aired most folks didn't have a clue about crabbing. Now it gets the attention and respect it deserves. RIP Gary. Tom Cod  6/21/06

Episode List formatting
As I noted in my Edit Summary comment, I normalized the formatting of the episode list to the format I thought looked the best. However, I notice that a lot of episode lists use tables. Does anybody have any objections to reformatting the episode list as a table? Perhaps something like this based on List of The Unit episodes (to which I've contributed):


 * Nobody seemed to have any comments, so I went ahead and converted it. I also split the list off to it's own article. -- Gogo Dodo 23:53, 9 July 2006 (UTC)

I was absolutely addicted to that show and even planned my evening around it so I would not miss it and even was excited to watch the re-run before the new episode. I suppose it was a mix between a love of the sea, the weather, the challenge, adventure, fishing, and being on boats. The cast was really great and I think the producers will be luckier than a starfish in a clam bed to make another series like that. I just think it is a little crazy to be out on the Bering Sea in the middle of January! Nobody shared my enthusiasm... I'm sorry, but the Gilmore Girls makes me want to chew my leg off at the knee and jump out of the window after 5 minutes.


 * I, too, love this show with a passion that's hard to describe. I think it's the combination of the outstanding footage from the boats of Bering Sea life, the real-life drama of people and interactions, and the great personalities of the captains (Sig Hansen and Phil Harris should star in some sitcom after all of this is over; they're hysterically funny together) that makes all this work. Scarletsmith 23:37, 6 August 2007 (UTC)

Vessels Table/List
FYI, I plan on making a more elaborate, comprehensive table to list the vessels, their captains, crew (possible? is it worth it?), and season appearance in the next few days. I'd like to break the table into three main sections &mdash; Featured Boats (Northwestern, Cornelia Marie, Maverick, Time Bandit, Rollo... those boats that appear, or have appeared, in the opening credits), Followed Boats (Aleutian Ballad, Billikin, etc... those boats that have had camera crews aboard), and Mentioned Boats (Alaskan Monarch, etc... any boats that have been mentioned in the narration, depicted in archival or active footage, or appear in shots/scenes throughout the series). Any thoughts on this endeavour? -- HawkeAnyone 05:25, 4 April 2007 (UTC)


 * Sounds good to me. I just tossed the table in because I found the list hard to follow. As for the crew list... that might not be so good unless you can identify all the crew.  Don't want to short change anybody.  Unless you note something about the listed crew being the ones seen on the show and there might be others. -- Gogo Dodo 05:30, 4 April 2007 (UTC)


 * It's a good idea. How about calling it ships without embedded film crew? -  T&#949;x  &#964;  ur&#949;  01:29, 11 April 2007 (UTC)

I think more information on the ships would be useful: year built, tonnage, hold capacity, etc.

I agree about the expansion of lists to include demensions; I'd love to see a side-by-side comparison of demensions, max capacity by volume and weight. Perhaps a quota x number of pounds caught by vessel per season, etc. I'm not sure where to look up the info.Mordicus Egg (talk) 19:29, 16 July 2008 (UTC)

Season 3, episode 4 man overboard boat identification
Using a bit of freeze framing, you can read the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADFG) Vessel Number off the side of the boat as "33704". Using the Alaska Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission (CFEC) Commercial Vessel Database, you can look that number up. However, the boat name has been censored from the episode, so I'm a bit leery about adding the gathered info into the the articles here. I can't find any reliable, third-party source to confirm the name of the vessel either. Anybody have any thoughts? -- Gogo Dodo 06:05, 25 April 2007 (UTC)


 * -Again, we have to go by what the show "gives" us. If the owner/captain/crew of any/that boat doesn't want to disclose the name, then let's leave it alone. They may disclose further information later, but it's our role to "report" and comment (encyclopedic-ly) about the show itself. Any further information like this starts to get trivial, petty, and irrelevant. I'm not saying that it's your intention here, Gogo, just that other articles (especially those about music and TV shows) tend to get extremely "trivia -heavy" because folks don't gauge the difference between factual and conjectural, or significant and insignificant. In this case, the producers of Deadliest Catch either felt that the name wasn't significant enough to disclose, or that there was a legal (or perhaps ethical) bound to which they held so as not to compromise the owner/captain/crew/those involved. In either instance, it's not our (Wikipedians') place to go beyond that. Yes, I acknowledge that, at least, you're trying to locate and include other sources of information so as to round out your observations and give substance to anything you post. Bravo. In this instance (name of the boat from which the fisherman fell overboard), though, I wouldn't put a big priority on it &mdash; the article doesn't need it. -- HawkeAnyone 12:05, 25 April 2007 (UTC)


 * I agree. I found it rather funny, in a not funny situation, the length that the producers went to conceal the boat name with the masking and the narrative.  Though interesting that they didn't conceal the ADFG number especially in this day of online databases.  The only mention of the boat name and crew member outside the episode was on the Discovery Channel forums, which isn't a reliable source.  I reverted an addition on the list of episodes, but we shall see how long it stays off the articles. -- Gogo Dodo 16:34, 25 April 2007 (UTC)


 * Still nothing from a published source that isn't a message board, though they did release the crewmember's name as Josh White in the next episode. That jibes with the message boards, but didn't help find a published source for the name of the boat.  No news coverage, nothing. -- Gogo Dodo 06:24, 2 May 2007 (UTC)


 * For what it's worth, the boat's name was revealed in a promo for the show, a week before it aired. The name was clearly visible for a second, and seemed no effort to obscure it. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Youdummy (talk • contribs) 02:28, 5 May 2007 (UTC).


 * I was watching the first episode of the After the Catch special last night, and it mentioned the name of the boat as the Trailblazer. Orca1 9904 16:32, 30 May 2007 (UTC)Orca1_9904


 * I hadn't seen that yet. Sorry about the removal. I've reinserted it back in. -- Gogo Dodo 03:53, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

Listing of non-crabbing vessels?
Would it be acceptable to list vessels that were not crab boats but still appeared in the series, such as the processors or the Overseas Joyce (the freighter that assisted in search and rescue following the sinking of the Ocean Challenger)? Just wanted to check before adding them and possibly getting yelled at. Orca1 9904 15:10, 2 July 2007 (UTC)Orca1_9904


 * Seems reasonable to me. You might want to note that the ship is a freighter, not a fishing vessel. -- Gogo Dodo 20:11, 2 July 2007 (UTC)


 * I added the Alaskan MES P/V Stimson (one of the boats that participated in the search for the Big Valley) to the list as well. Scarletsmith 23:53, 17 July 2007 (UTC)

Related to the above, is there a reason why this article lists boats that were losts as far back as 1981? Presumably filming of the series couldn't predate, maybe, 2003. 68.146.47.196 19:48, 13 August 2007 (UTC)


 * They are listed because they were either mentioned or shown in archival footage. -- Gogo Dodo 20:12, 13 August 2007 (UTC)

Show motifs?
Should we add a paragraph or two discussing recurring elements in the show? Things like:


 * The use of a satellite map and narration placing a boat's position in the sea during transitions from one boat to the next
 * Edgar Hansen bites the head off a herring before the first pots are launched on the Northwestern
 * Phil Harris challenges his sons to a line coiling contest at the end of every opilio season on the Cornelia Marie
 * Johnathan Hillstrand playing pranks on his own crew on the Time Bandit

Also, the Northwestern has its own musical theme (I caught that in the recent marathon).

Scarletsmith 23:44, 6 August 2007 (UTC)

All of the featured boats have their own theme, it just the Northwestern's is more noticeable. --NJGril 01:52, 15 November 2007 (UTC)

The NW is caught selling illegal import Russia crab with their name on it
I don't know if anybody on this forum has heard about this, but the NW has been caught selling illegal imported Russia crab with their name on it.

Here are a few articles about it:

http://divcom-seafood.informz.net/admin31/content/template.asp?sid=5402&ptid=163&brandid=3138&uid=0&mi=217676 Seafood Currents- What a Catch

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2004010523_crabsde13m.html - Skipper agrees to hawk Global crab

Here is their press releash on the subject matter:

Northwestern endorsed king crab!

Seattle, November 12, 2007: As we do every year at this time, the Hansen brothers are out on the Bering Sea fishing Alaskan king crab. Our fishing grind has kept us plenty busy, and we were not on the beach to announce the arrival of Northwestern endorsed king crab! We’re excited to hear the product has hit shelves ahead of schedule, since it has been a goal of ours since 1996. Unfortunately, questions have been raised about our loyalty to the Alaskan fishing fleet that two generations of our family have helped build. While we are disappointed to hear this, we look at it as an opportunity to explain why we think this is a great moment for us, and for the rest of the fleet. We believe so strongly in this endorsement that we have put our family name and the image of the Northwestern on the box.

King crab has become part of a global economy, and the fact is that fifty to seventy percent of Alaskan crab is sold directly to the Japanese market place. Our fleet is only allowed to fish once a year for a short season, and we are regulated by a quota system. There is only so much this region can produce and we can’t hope to supply nearly enough to satisfy a growing domestic and world market. As a result, the lion’s share of king crab available in our grocery stores is foreign product. If you look at the box that carries our name, you will see that it specifies Russian or American king crab. And that is what we are supporting king crab. We’re proud to say that all of the catch the Northwestern brings in will be sold on the American market, but some product on which our name appears comes from the foreign surplus that makes up all but thirty percent of the U.S. king crab market. We believe that our decision to endorse king crab is beneficial to our fleet, not detrimental. The price of crab in this country is dictated by the price of foreign product. The overseas surplus that exists determines our value before the season even begins, and the more demand there is to offset supply, the more money our hard earned harvest is worth. Simply put, if there is excess crab on the market, our price stays stagnant. We have consulted experts who crunched the numbers and determined that we have a unique opportunity. By using the exposure we’ve been lucky enough to have, and popularizing king crab throughout the world, hopefully we can boost demand for the product and increase the price fishermen receive here in Alaska! In fact, our product has already gone up by sixty cents, proving the theory. This has been the driving force behind our decision to move forward with our endorsement of king crab.

We believe that everyone from the northwest to the southeast should be able to experience the taste of high quality king crab at a price they can afford, and the product we’ve put our name on provides that opportunity. Of course, like any fishermen, we hope to benefit from this endorsement. We are confident that what is good for our families will ultimately create opportunities for all the boats in our fleet. In addition, some proceeds are going to the Alaska Fisherman’s Memorial and other organizations to help support American fisheries.

Our intent is not to harm Alaskan crab business. Our heritage lies here, our blood sweat and tears are here, our future is here and we’ve fought for the fishery here. Someday when we look back at our legacy we’d like the same honor and respect shown to our father who was a pioneer in this fishery. We hope that by standing behind king crab we can make our mark, and help raise the value of our precious resource for ourselves, our fishing community, and the millions of people who enjoy it.

Respectfully, Sig, Norman and Edgar Hansen. --NJGril 01:46, 15 November 2007 (UTC)


 * I think "caught selling" in the subject of this section definitely has a negative connotation to it--the Hansens aren't doing anything illegal; they're merely taking advantage of another opportunity to promote both their own brand and the overall king crab product. Good for them, I say. Scarletsmith 23:57, 15 November 2007 (UTC)


 * But, not Alaskan King Crab, it is from Russian, a poor grade crab, but most people won't notice that because they will notice the box with their name on it, and that missleading. Now Gov. Sarah Palin is asking the state's top lawyer to look into this issue:

http://www.juneauempire.com/stories/111507/sta_20071115025.shtmlNJGril 04:00, 16 November 2007 (UTC)


 * Key paragraph from that article...


 * "Some seafood advocates, however, lamented Wednesday that though the labeling (on the packaging) is misleading, it doesn't appear to be illegal."


 * Which, again, goes back to the point that what the Hansens are doing is not illegal. It's a business opportunity.  Yeah, it's Russian king crab, not Alaskan king crab.  So?  As long as there's no actual fraud going on, it's not illegal.  There's not even the appearance of impropriety here as long as everything is labeled correctly under the law.  Again, good on the Hansens for once again figuring out a way to make money in crabbing.Scarletsmith (talk) 02:31, 18 November 2007 (UTC)

Season 4
iNFORMATION ON SEASON 4 IS ON THE DISCOVERY WEBSITE. Someone needs to update the page to season 4. Season 4 will start in april of '08 and a new ship, The North American will be shown. The cornillia Mary or something like that will be in season, as will the Northwestern aand the time bandit. I know this because it is on a new commericial Discovery puts out. Would someone update the page, I don't have the time. Scott. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.105.179.50 (talk) 03:24, 31 December 2007 (UTC)


 * Done. -- Gogo Dodo (talk) 04:26, 31 December 2007 (UTC)

Fixing the Lengthy Lead
I have always thought the lead of this article was way too long and had become a dumping ground for every last bit of minutiae about the series (as leads tend to become over time, unfortunately). I mean, two paragraphs about theme music in the lead? WTF!?

Alas, I saw that the article had been tagged as having a long lead. So today I decided to do something about it. Not perfect, but at least the lead is down to an acceptable length. I did not delete any content; I just reorganized it.

Speaking of deleting content: the content about the subject matter of the series is probably something that, if not deleted entirely, can be trimmed significantly, as it is covered its own articles. After all, this isn't an article about fishing, it's an article about the series. SixSix (talk) 18:36, 21 January 2008 (UTC)


 * Awesome job, SixSix. Scarletsmith (talk) 00:39, 1 February 2008 (UTC)

tautological
Why, exactly, is this word used in the sentence?

In North America, the series is narrated by Mike Rowe, while Bill Petrie reads from the same tautological North American narrative and provides a regionally familiar accent for the English speaking viewers of the show in Europe.

I think it's use here is incorrect, but, even if it's not technically incorrect, it is certainly not needed.

Davidnoal (talk) 18:46, 28 January 2008 (UTC)


 * Agreed. It may be repetitive to narrate "the boats leave harbor" as they are shown sailing away on the screen, but even so that is not tautological.  The use of this word also almost always implies a negative value judgment of the subject.  I will edit it out fairly soon if no one voices a valid objection.  Some kind of scientist (talk) 19:27, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

Video Game?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4qhCJ9bnDo  All I have to say - Dude902 (talk) 23:01, 2 March 2008 (UTC)


 * I added the video game, since it's an official Deadliest Catch product. Scarletsmith (talk) 23:18, 5 April 2008 (UTC)

About Merging "After the Catch"
I feel After_the_Catch should be added as a season 4.1 or something to that affect. ChrisDTC (talk) 07:04, 20 March 2008 (UTC)

I believe that would be appropriate as well - the article is short as it is, and they are very closely related. "After the Catch" would not even exist without "the Deadliest Catch", and it could easily be fit in as a subpoint at the end of "the Deadliest catch". (Bvis08 (talk) 02:58, 27 March 2008 (UTC))


 * I agree with you both, it is now done. Beeblbrox (talk) 17:54, 4 April 2008 (UTC)

Inconsistent Links
Someone feels having a wikipedia link to "wireless microphoes" is important, but "alaskan king crab" and "opilio crab" are not?

Ugh. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.65.33.71 (talk) 04:01, 24 March 2008 (UTC)

episode numbers
i know it's probably not important, but should the number of episodes in the top, include the miniseries, or should it be its own seperate entity —Preceding unsigned comment added by JBDRanger (talk • contribs) 01:23, 16 April 2008 (UTC)

Possible Fictitious Editing
I don't know if anybody saw this or not but on MSNBC, they're saying that the show engaged in what they called "Fishy Editing". That really sucks because I really like this show just like I really liked Man Vs. Wild until I learned he was sleeping in hotels and his crew were hunting for food for him. It's really hard to see the differences between "Documentaries" and "Docudramas" any more. Anyway, here's the link: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24202706/ —Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.170.181.62 (talk) 19:42, 21 April 2008 (UTC)


 * I've noticed what sometimes looks like bad continuity editing, but in reality it's part of the price of trying to tell an overarching story through the disparate pieces this season. This season's storyline appears to be "family traditions", since the editing has focused a lot on the next generation of fishermen--Phil Harris and his sons; Johnathan and Scott Hillstrand; the Hansens and Jake Anderson (himself a fourth-generation fisherman).  I would prefer a straighter documentary, but I applaud Thom Beers for being able to create storylines out of this footage. Scarletsmith (talk) 05:54, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

Season 4 debut date
I believe the Season 4 debut date might be incorrect; it's given as mid-April, but yesterday (May 6) was promoted as the fourth season premiere. However I'm watching Deadliest Catch on the Canadian version of Discovery, so it's possible the US version began the season earlier. 68.146.41.232 (talk) 13:32, 7 May 2008 (UTC)


 * Yes, in the US several episodes have already aired. -- TreyGeek (talk) 13:44, 7 May 2008 (UTC)

Unidentified vessel
We have to include the Season 4 vessel - the identity of which is blurred out - that comes into conflict with the Wizard for allegedly messing with her pots. It's a notable part of the episode and the captain's "You touch my gear, it's game on" was used widely in promotions for the episode and for the series itself. 23skidoo (talk) 16:54, 11 June 2008 (UTC)

Fatality at the end of season
At the beginning of the new season they talked about a young man who fell from the top of the traps. He broke his neck and died instantly.

Does anyone know who this was and which boat he was on?

Thanks - Renee —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.127.46.131 (talk) 02:57, 16 June 2008 (UTC)

It was not on one of the featured boats. But the man who died was a brother who was a fisherman on one of the boats featured however the name and the boat I can't remember right off hand. You'll probably be able to find out by going to discovery channel's website and I'm sure they have full episodes of the Deadliest Catch on their site. --Chrismaster1 (talk) 23:44, 23 June 2008 (UTC)

How much money do they make?
I was wondering if the descovery channel pays any of the boat owners or crew members that are on each show? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.201.208.141 (talk) 17:38, 19 July 2008 (UTC)

Notable?
This is one of my favorite shows, but this article doesn't really seem to fit notability. The sources are either promotions of the show, or information about crab fishing in general, as well as lots of seeming original research. What do you guys think? 69.182.103.131 (talk) 16:30, 20 July 2008 (UTC)
 * It's as notable as the hundreds of other television shows with Wiki-Articles. I know that doesn't really answer your issue. However, if we were to decide this article should be deleted due to Notability then there are many other similar articles that would also deserve to be removed.  I'm also sure that if someone were to do the work, additional, independent, sources could be added to the article. --TreyGeek (talk) 19:22, 20 July 2008 (UTC)

Murray Gamrath Skipper?
Should we put Murray Gamrath down as the skipper for season 4 Opilio skipper? ThATs what we did with Monte and the wizard. I think we should. I wont change until I get some feedback or if someone else changes it. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.173.14.60 (talk) 03:30, 23 July 2008 (UTC)

Guantanamo?
The 80 or so most privileged Guantanamo captives get to watch some recorded TV shows. It has been reported that The Deadliest Catch is their most favourite show. Geo Swan (talk) 02:35, 29 July 2008 (UTC)
 * mirror

Reality television? NOT.
This is a documentary, not a reality television show, and should not be classified as the latter. "Reality TV" is typified by melodramatic contest shows like Survivor_(TV_series), American Idol, The Apprentice (TV series), etc. and in the broadest sense probably goes back to Allen Funt's Candid Camera - and while (allegedly) unscripted they nonetheless do not document an activity that would be normally going on had it not been for the TV series. A documentary, by contrast, documents an activity that is already happening and would have happened anyway sans the TV cameras, such as crab fishing. Barring any objection I am going to change the characterization in this article. 96.239.134.90 (talk) 14:30, 7 December 2008 (UTC)