Case Number 15280: Small Claims Court

TOUGHER IN ALASKA: THE COMPLETE SEASON 1

History Channel // 2008 // 611 Minutes // Not Rated
Reviewed by Judge David Johnson // December 19th, 2008

The Charge

Palin 2012!

The Case

From the History Channel comes a series that looks at the total bad-asses who call Alaska their home. Alaskan native and Stone Cold Steve Austin doppelganger Geo Beach (not the Pokemon) hosts, tackling each show's subject matter personally. Commercial fishing? Sign him up! Farting around power lines in the middle of the night? Bring it on! Ride shotgun with a wildlife trooper? Hell yeah!

Four discs, thirteen episodes:

* Disc One
"Gold Mining"
"Salmon Fishing"
"Electric Linemen"
"Logging"

* Disc Two
"Railroading"
"Deadly Winter"
"Dangerous Earth"

* Disc Three
"Dangerous Roads"
"Extreme Salvaging"
"Wild Waste"

* Disc Four
"Arctic Troopers"
"Frozen Freeway"
"Extreme Isolation"

Yeah, just take a gander at those episode titles. Pretty ballsy, huh? Completely living up to the "Tougher in Alaska" name, these shows cover an incredibly broad spectrum of the most brutal jobs you can find in Alaska. Seriously, there's not a weakling episode here. How about "Gold Mining," where you've got guys blowing big-ass holes into mountains and drilling for gold? Or "Logging," with lumberjacks hacking at seven-ton logs and airlifting them out with helicopters? Maybe "Dangerous Roads" is more to your taste as you watch Geo and a truck driver plow over treacherous highways in -50 degree weather with -- DUM DUM DUM -- no cell phone service?!? You also have black bears foraging in your back yard for freebies in "Wild Waste," fish cops chasing down outlaw fishermen in "Salmon Fishing," and the snow machine enforcers nailing poachers in "Arctic Troopers."

Great stuff, and shot with skill on History Channel's digital cameras. As Geo tries out each profession, we get brief biographies on the personnel and some history lessons on the industry and geography. Geo himself is pretty awesome, though a bit overly enthusiastic some times.

Tougher in Alaska is simply a fascinating, interesting series looking at men and women that are indeed cut from tougher stuff and highly recommended for fans of shows like Dirty Jobs.

The video quality is very clean, though pumped out in the typical History Channel full frame transmission, and the 2.0 stereo mix works fine. Extras: an entertaining batch of bonus scenes looking at arctic wear, pimped out monster trucks and outhouses.

Scales of Justice
Judgment: 90

Perp Profile
Studio: History Channel
Video Formats:
* Full Frame

Audio Formats:
* Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo (English)

Subtitles:
* None

Running Time: 611 Minutes
Release Year: 2008
MPAA Rating: Not Rated

Distinguishing Marks
* Bonus Footage

Accomplices
* IMDb
http://us.imdb.com/title/tt1243896/combined