TV Tidbits 92: Captain Phil's Death

Robert and I have watched Deadliest Catch since it began and I've posted a few things here and there on the show over the years. This season (season 6) is probably 2/3 finished but the episode I was long dreading aired last week - the episode where Captain Phil has his (ultimately fatal) stroke. I almost felt like if I didn't watch it, it wouldn't happen. (Not really, of course, but you know what I mean. It's like whenever you watch Ghost, you just tell Sam to give the dude the wallet and make a run for it. It's not worth it, man! Just give him the wallet!!! Again, I'm sure you know what I mean.) Anyhoodle, I did watch and it did happen and, as it turns out, the remaining 6 episodes of the season will all be Phil-centric. Here's a little blurb from this week's issue of Entertainment Weekly:

Overwhelmed by the outpouring of sympathy from fans, the Discovery Channel will devote the remaining six episode of DC to the passing of Phil Harris, the captain of the crab boat Cornelia Marie who died February 9 after suffering a stroke. The depiction of his illness and death began June 22 and will culminate with the show's season finale on July 27. "This is one of the harder stories in our history," says Discovery president Clark Bunting. "It's the full arc of Phil's life - not just what happened to Phil and the boys, but also the rest of the fleet."

You can read a more in-depth Q&A with Bunting here. And you can read a NY Times article about airing Capt. Phil's death here. Pretty interesting stuff, I think. And, while Captain Phil's early death was, perhaps, sadly predictable*, I don't think his stupid son, Jake, being a massive pain in the ass all season long and then Phil discovering Jake been stealing his dad's prescription pain meds right before he keeled over is a coincidence. Normally I'd feel guilty about putting some of the blame on one person but (1) I'm not too worried Jake Harris reads my blog; (2) the dude's drunk or high the majority of the time so even if he does, he won't remember it; and (3) I really, really, really, really hate Jake. He's just sort of worthless all-around. So there! Suck it, Jake!

I will miss Captain Phil. He was one of my favorites on the show. :o(



* Here's a quote from one of my earlier DC posts: "Captain Phil is pretty good, too, though - he is a funny guy and very animated. He's much more palatable since his haircut... and, apparently, he's single! ;o) (Though, I've never seen a human being smoke as much as he does, so you may need to act fast, ladies...)" Bummer.

Discovery's "Boom De Ah Dah"

Dang. Entertainment news today? Slow. Sucks. But I know there are four of you out there that check the blog regularly and I feel I need to post something for you guys!! With that in mind, I give you this:

Bear starts @ 1:05 / Captains @ 1:20

There are conflicting reports as to why exactly this event was occurring but most tend to indicate that this was a part of Discovery's upfront presentation. Mike Rowe, of course, hosts Dirty Jobs and narrates Deadliest Catch - he's also a trained opera singer and has sung several times on Jobs. (Discovery got lucky there because it doesn't look like any of the other guys are really relishing their moment behind the mic). The first guy up is, obviously, Man vs. Wild's Bear Grylls (nervous much?); then you have the Catch captains (Sig, Andy, Jonathan, Keith and Phil - Andy and Jonathan captain the same boat... cheaters!); third is Josh Bernstein (someone of whom I had no idea but that Robert apparently hates - I guess he hosted Digging for the Truth on the History channel and will host Into the Unknown with Josh Bernstein for Discovery pretty soon); and lastly you see Ben Bailey (who I also didn't know but who hosts Cash Cab).

I really enjoyed the guys I recognized, naturally, though I had the hardest time making out parts of the captains' lyrics. So, in case you're retarded and anal like me and can't rest until you know what they're saying, here are the words:

We love the ocean
We love the pitch and yaw,
We love the big waves,
We love a king crab claw,
We love the whole world,
It's one big rainstorm

Nice. It's good to see that everyone is such a good sport. :o)

When Gossip Backfires

There is always one giant pitfall to ravenously devouring any and all gossip - you often find out things about people or things you like that you then wish you didn't know. This happens to me a lot... I'm often bummed out to learn that an actor I like is (1) doing drugs, (2) a man whore or (3) a complete dick on set. (Yes, I can think of specific people for each of these examples so if you want to know, ask me!). Anyway, this isn't quite so distressing but it is a mini-bummer: The Deadliest Catch may be re-wickering their footage to make life on the Bering Sea more interesting (and get bigger ratings...). I caught wind of this via Defamer, but the actual info is courtesy of a 2-page article in The Hollywood Reporter. Seeing as it's a lot of info, I won't post the entirety of the article but here's an excerpt:

Tuesday's fourth-season premiere of Discovery Channel's "Deadliest Catch" opens during a raging nighttime storm in the Bering Sea. Mammoth waves smash an Alaskan crab fishing boat called the Wizard, sending large swells crashing over its deck. Inside, alarmed crew members discover that their stateroom is flooding with incoming seawater.

The sequence suggests that the fishermen are in danger of sinking as a violent tempest tosses huge waves against the boat.

But here's the not-so-deadliest catch: The boat flooded in September. The huge storm waves were from October. And a producer may have filmed extra footage to help stitch the two events together. Discovery executives described the outline as an early draft that was dismissed by the show's production company. The sequence, however, does match what appeared in Tuesday's episode. The network strongly denies that re-enactment footage is ever used by "Catch," but it acknowledged that material from separate days of filming were combined to produce the scene in question.

From the outline:

WIZARD ROGUE WAVE: Combine Wizard leak story on 9/26 with the Wizard being hit by a big wave on 10/1 and 10/2. The fiction we are constructing is that the big wave hit the Wizard on their steam up to Dutch -- caused a leak in Lenny's stateroom. In reality these were two separate events. In addition to the original source material, (a producer's name omitted by THR) shot re-enactment footage.

Such editing and staging tactics are common on reality shows, but Discovery considers "Catch" a documentary and holds the series to the highest standard.

You can view a video of the footage in question here. I know reality shows aren't 100% authentic but I sort of assumed Discovery was a bit above your standard MTV fare. *sigh* I guess Captain Keith's search for his lucky Cup O' Noodles spittoon wasn't enough to guarantee "big ratings" for the premiere... ! Whatevs.

TV Tidbits 02

1. First, the good news: Deadliest Catch is back! Robert and I have watched this show from the beginning and really enjoy it. From the outside it seems repetitive, I know - ooh, they go crabbing... every week. But it actually is a very interesting show; I highly recommend it. And it's become quite popular - there are ads all over the place for the season premiere tonight and the Web is chockablock full of DC sites. The Discovery site is far more fleshed out than it used to be - there are videos, blogs, online cards, podcasts, etc. - and every boat has its own site, too. (There's even a game coming out this month for the Xbox about crab fishing!) My favorite boat is the Northwestern, of course. No, there are no hot guys on this particular show (though Edgar Hansen is supposedly a fan favorite), so that's not my criteria. It's a boat own and operated by three brothers (yes, all three work the boat even though you only see two on the show - Norman does not want himself to be filmed) and they're just funny guys. I really like the brothers' interactions, the liveliness (and competence!) of the entire NW crew and, hey, they're always the best. :o) And Captain Sig is a series consultant so, you know, he's darn good. Captain Phil is pretty good, too, though - he is a funny guy and very animated. He's much more palatable since his haircut... and, apparently, he's single! ;o) (Though, I've never seen a human being smoke as much as he does, so you may need to act fast, ladies...) The Cornelia Marie has gotten a bit more fun now that his sons are also working on board. Anyway, I am excited the show is starting up again and wanted to get the word out...

2. And now, the bad news: tonight's NCIS is all Abby-centric. Bleh. She drives me bonkers! I just think she is absolutely ridiculous and annoying and... well, I already voiced my wish for her demise in an earlier post so I'm sure you understand my dislike by now. Anyhoo, tonight's episode is all about Abby trying to defend a dog from a murder rap. TVGuide.com's summary:

Abby's career is in danger of going to the dogs — literally — when the forensics specialist stubbornly defends a canine suspected of mauling its owner to death... "All the evidence points to the fact that the dog did it," says executive producer Shane Brennan. "But Abby's determined to prove that the dog is innocent." Which leads to an admonishment from Gibbs, who believes the German shepherd is responsible for the death and warns Abby not to get attached. Her response? "She calls the dog 'Jethro,'" Brennan laughs. "There's a lot of opportunity for humor in it." The episode also marks one of the rare times the Goth gal leaves the lab — in her very Abby-appropriate car, no less. "We see her driving a car for the first time," explains Brennan. "It's a red hot rod [adorned with] skull-and-crossbones decorations and coffin emblems. It really works."

Greeeeeeeeeeeeat. Sounds fantabulously interesting, doesn't it? I'm sure oodles of hilarity will ensue. I really wish sarcasm was more easily translated in print...

3. Wow!! People are exiting shows right and left!! Diane Neal is leaving her post as ADA on L&O: SVU!! Ausiello has the scoop again:

A show spokesperson confirmed the actress' departure, saying, "Diane spent five years on SVU and was a tremendous addition to the SVU team. She is looking forward to new opportunities and she will be missed."

Neal, who will make her final appearance in next month's season finale, joined SVU in 2003 as A.D.A. Casey Novak, replacing Stephanie March. She had previously appeared in a Season 3 episode as a different character, a female rapist by the name of Amelia Chase.

The search for a new A.D.A. is already underway, and, sadly, bringing March back doesn't appear to be an option. Word is Dick Wolf is looking to fill the void with an up-and-comer.

I didn't particularly care for Diane when she first started; I really preferred Stephanie's Alexandra Cabot to Casey. However, I've definitely gotten used to her and I just hate meeting new characters on shows I like!! Meh. Bummer.