Wednesday, September 29, 2010

All Hands Abandon Ship!

John and Andy Hillstrand

"We have been through a lot over the past year and
unfortunately given the current situation with Discovery
we are unable to continue participating in 'Deadliest Catch'.
It has been a fantastic ride, and we wish the best to all of the
amazing and supportive Catch fans we have met over the years.”

They quit the show. John & Andy Hillstrand and Sig Hansen are heading into unknown waters.

It's been a very hard year for the crab fisherman of the Bering Sea and especially the Captain's of the show The Deadliest Catch. One of them DIED, for God's sake. (R.I.P. Phil Harris) The show is a fan favorite and earns seriously high ratings and money for the Discovery network. In fact, TDC is the highest rated cable network show and the highest rated show ever for the Discovery Channel.

With all that in mind, you'd think that the network would work with these guys more and if not "coddle" them, at least cater to them a bit. Not Discovery. No. Way. The Discovery Channel in an effort to cash in on the humongous popularity of the Hillstrand brothers, cast them in a special show called appropriately enough "Hillstranded." The Captains of the f/v Time Bandit, Andy and Johnathan, were filmed for over a 6 week period. The show was "in the can" so to speak. Not so, says Discovery. Suing the brothers Hillstrand for over $3 Million dollars, Discovery contended the brothers were not finished filming and owed them interviews, voice-overs and that sort of finishing stuff that rounds out a show. The Hillstrands bailed contending on their own that they were in fact finished and done with it.

Enter Captain Sig Hansen of the f/v Northwestern, the tough as nails Norwegian Fishing God and faithful and loyal compatriot and peer of the Hillstrands. In a supreme show of solidarity Captain Sig has basically told Discovery Channel to go fuck itself. Hansen said, "I want people to know the captains stand together, and me and my brothers support them 100 percent."

We liked Sig. We love him now.

Sig points out that although crab fisherman are extremely well compensated for their catch - million of dollars per boat - the money goes right back into the boat. Fuel alone could cost a Captain hundreds of thousands of dollars. It's ridiculous the amount of overhead that goes into a fishing vessel. Essentially, a $3 million dollar lawsuit would bankrupt the Hillstrands, force them to sell their boat, fire their crew and end their careers as fishermen.

Discovery is set to release a statement today.


Captain Sigurd Hansen,
a take-no-shit, hard-working, son-of-a-bitch

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