Realcent.org

My cable system recently started showing "Treasure Hunter". It's a half hour program showing two laid back guys going through a property with their metal detectors. They try to offer a little education on the best metal detecting techniques as they proceed, and they try to offer a little education on some of the things they find. The shows I've seen are all in the south. Mostly North and South Carolina. And the places they choose usually have some "history" on that property. They of course ask permission from the property owners. On my cable system, the show airs Wednesday nights at 10:00 PM Eastern time. It airs on WITV - DT2, one of the PBS stations.

I think I found those guys' website a year or two ago...it said they produced several episodes of a show about metal detecting and, more to the point, finding old "ghost towns"--cellar holes from long gone houses. I remember they often used old CCC camps as a starting point, since a lot of those were built on lands seized from farmers who couldn't pay their bills during the Depression.

The bulk of these tv shows are scripted. Any treasures they "find" have been put there before they start filming. The main purpose of all these tv shows is to entertain and distract you.

Agreed!
But I wonder if it holds true for small shows produced for local access channels.

Cu Penny Hoarder wrote:The bulk of these tv shows are scripted. Any treasures they "find" have been put there before they start filming. The main purpose of all these tv shows is to entertain and distract you.

FINALLY... someone with some common sense and critical thinking skills. I CANNOT convince my female (nitwit) coworkers that all these various shows are both scripted and "planted" with items that would not normally be discovered where they are. At least on Storage Wars they've recently begun with a quiet before and after statement to the effect that they had to look through dozens of units to find what they showcase (yeah, right... but at least they're trying go convey the real odds). I mean, how else would it be possible, week after week, to find interesting historical items of value, that were different EVERY single show. C'mon now. And people believe them. I think even the shows like Top Gun are probably melodramatized a bit to liven things up.

beauanderos wrote: I think even the shows like Top Gun are probably melodramatized a bit to liven things up.

For sure, with camera angles and tension-building music and narration, not to mention the strategically placed commercial breaks! I have to say, though, that I personally know the backgrounds of some of those folks in particular--real people, every one--and they are AMAZING shooters!