Diggers makes Finding Bigfoot look like...
Reality television based on odd jobs has gone too far. Case in point: Diggers.
With time to kill tonight, I turned on the ol’ boob tube and tuned into the National Geographic Channel. Nat Geo is one of my favorite channels and I usually check what is on. Tonight it was Diggers, a show I had never seen before, so I decided to size it up.
At one point the word “brutal” crossed my mind. Not in regards to the subject matter, but to describe the viewing experience. Diggers is hard to watch and take seriously. It makes Finding Bigfoot look Emmy-worthy.
The show follows “King George” Wyant and Tim “The Ringmaster” Saylor as they search for buried relics with metal detectors. According to the show’s official website, “They understand that every item has a story to tell, and Diggers brings history to life through graphics and historical context. They are invited by landowners, historians and archaeologists to go on a quest, and in their own way, a crusade, to unearth history that would have otherwise been forgotten.”
The episode I watched tonight, “Ghost Town Nectar,” followed “KG” and “Ringy” along the old California Trail. I tuned in when they were in Southern Idaho, searching through a field of brush. Ringy found what looked like a metal ring from a wooden barrel and KG found a bottle — stuff that apparently dated from the mid-1800s. Honestly, I was astonished that they found 150-year-old artifacts practically lying around within easy reach. The bottle was especially astounding: it was intact and sitting between a couple bushes, perhaps the same spot where it landed when discarded from a covered wagon. Really? I suppose so. The West is vast and open so it would not surprise me if wagon train refuse still sits along old trails. It is not like anyone has been cleaning it up. (That may change, though, since shows like Diggers showcase the potential profitability.)
KG and Ringy seemed a little plastic, especially when recounting events in front of the camera. Everything they said seemed inauthentic and awkward. I got the impression the scenes were scripted (which they probably are, anyway) and probably took many attempts to get something useful. Which is sad to think because they are almost embarrassing to watch.
Nonetheless, KG and Ringy are enthusiastic and apparently have a lot of fun. It seems they have created their own metal detecting argot, too — so much, in fact, the show’s website includes a glossary page. Their slang includes “juice” (“anything cool extracted from the earth”) and “nectar sector” (“an area with a high concentration of artifacts”), which is very similar to the term “honey hole” used by Mike and Frank on American Pickers. Though the stuff they dig up is interesting, it is almost overshadowed by the slang.
After leaving the first site, they head to Lava Hot Springs, Idaho to dig up artifacts linked to a legendary fur trader. They survey the site of a former trading camp along a river, and every time they come across something of interest the ear-piercing alert from their detectors is pumped through the TV speakers. It is instantly annoying and always accompanied by dizzying footage of the detector head sweeping the ground. At the trading camp they find a broken skillet, a trap, and a crucifix, all of which were given to a local museum.
At this point I was convinced that Diggers is American Pickers with metal detectors. It follows the exact same premise, uses the same structure for each episode, and even KG and Ringy are pale versions of Mike and Frank. All that is missing is a tattooed assistant.
After leaving Idaho, KG and Ringy head to a Nevada ghost town. They scour the town in a “can you top this?” contest to find the best item. They find a harmonica reed, a suspender buckle (the importance of which was emphasized by KG when he said something like, “This actually held up someone’s pants”; no shit, Sherlock), a toy gun, and a large circular saw. Ringy then hits the jackpot. After his detector goes off (“Nooo! Not that sound again!”) he drops to the ground, digs just under the surface, and finds some choice “juice.” However, he does not reveal what it is right away. Instead, he grabs it, runs across town to KG (who is holding the large saw), takes KG back to where he found it, they both kneel on the ground in front of the hole, and then pick a spot for Ringy to drop the item and reveal it. He throws it on the ground and they both explode with joy. Ringy even jumps on a nearby bush. Why? Because he found a 1914 Barber half-dollar coin. Okay… Sure, it is a cool find. But why all the unneeded drama?
At the end, a historian chose what he thought was the best item (the suspender buckle) and Ringy, dressed like a cowboy and riding a stick horse, had to deliver a Nevada cow pie to KG — yet another parallel to the playful competitions and dares on American Pickers.
KG and Ringy’s profession seems interesting and fun, but I do not think it makes for compelling reality television. Or perhaps it does and Nat Geo is ringing every last broken skillet and harmonica reed — whatever it can possibly get — out of it. In that sense, the show seems forced; there is barely enough to justify a thirty-minute episode.
I would rather watch Finding Bigfoot.
