There are a ton of documentary series on TV that spotlight men and women toiling in obscure and interesting careers. From vacuuming up gold underwater to digging for jade in the north, casting for tuna in the Atlantic or king crab off the coast of Alaska, to towing trucks in British Columbia or Ontario, the choices are plentiful. There’s already a series about logging called Big Timber over on History. So, do we need another program about logging?
Heck, yes.
Debuting Monday at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT on Discovery, Mud Mountain Haulers follows Craig and Brent Lebeau, third-generation loggers who run separate companies. But where Big Timber mainly shows the cutting of trees, Mud Mountain Haulers tracks the trucks and drivers who take the logs off-site. Produced by Great Pacific Media—the folks behind Highway Thru Hell and Heavy Rescue: 401—Mud Mountain Haulers is worthy third act.
Within the first three minutes of Monday’s debut, “Mud Man Down,” there is drama. A fully-loaded rig has gone off the road, trapping its driver inside. Before viewers learn his fate, we’re taken back 30 hours and introduced to Craig Lebeau (pictured above), a feisty 25-year veteran of logging the hills of B.C., who describes the danger involved in this job and the pressure he’s under to deliver the high-quality timber around the world.
Weather plays a huge part in the Lebeau’s business. The extreme winter chill means the ground is firm enough for heavy equipment, including the trucks that take the wood away. It’s here we meet Mike, Dan and Theron, three drivers who make sure the loads get where they’re going quickly and, hopefully, safely before the spring thaw—and the mud—arrives.
The success of a documentary series always rests on the characters and if you care about them. Great Pacific Media knows how to tell human stories and tell them well.
The result? Discovery has got another hit on its hands.
Mud Mountain Haulers airs Mondays at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT on Discovery.
Image courtesy of Bell Media.
