Resident Don Braaten made his Discovery Channel debut Friday on “Gold Rush: Alaska” when he towed an excavator across the Steel Bridge to help aspiring Oregon miners reach their gold claim in the Porcupine mining district.
“It was fun,” Braaten said. “We had a good time. Of course, being on reality TV, it was kind of hammed up a little bit. The bridge crossing wasn’t really that big of a deal.”
The show launched with about 2 million viewers, “a strong number for a regular series premiere,” according to The Hollywood Reporter. The show is scheduled for 10 episodes Friday nights on the Discovery Channel.
Another recent reality TV premiere, “Sarah Palin’s Alaska,” drew “a whopping 5 million viewers,” which was a record for its network, TLC, the Reporter stated. That program had a 40 percent drop in viewers for its second episode.
“Gold Rush: Alaska” chronicles the travails of six, unemployed Oregonians in search of riches in the North.
The first-episode’s struggles, though, seemed tame to Nancy Schnabel, whose family mines in the Porcupine. “They think they have to make something out of nothing, but, really, the story itself could be interesting,” Schnabel said of the sensationalized portions of the show.
The men overcame a flat tire and a tight deadline to load equipment onto a barge on the drive from Portland to Seattle. They also made sure to pack plenty of guns for battling bears.
“I thought it was funny,” said resident Kim Larson. “I didn’t think it was very realistic. I’m kind of embarrassed that it was filmed in Haines.”
Larson said she would tune in for upcoming episodes “just to see the local people in it.”
Braaten’s role was driving a truck pulling a low-boy trailer and excavator weighing about 60,000 pounds across the bridge “that looks close to falling down,” according to the show. The Oregon men expressed terror, then celebrated with hugs.
Braaten quashed a rumor that he pulled the equipment over the bridge twice to get the perfect shot.
“I didn’t go across the bridge twice, but I got to this end of the bridge, and we were there for an hour and a half, hooking up mikes and cameras all over the truck and making sure that they had everybody in the right spots,” Braaten said.
The miners drove a heavier, 40-metric-ton excavator through the Klehini River with Fish and Game approval after the state Department of Transportation advised them against using the bridge for the larger excavator, Braaten said.
This week’s episode, “Gold, Guns and Bears,” will air Friday, and an online preview warns of “rookie mistakes and unwanted visitors” for the men who have “no Plan B.”
“The stakes get higher at the Porcupine Creek prospect as reality sets in about just how little time they have to get to their gold,” the website says. “The miners start to rebuild the mining ghost town but the bears aren’t so keen on their new neighbors – and they let them know it.”