It wouldn't be a new season of
without big dreams, big obstacles, and big predictions that this will be the biggest season yet.
Sure enough, executive producer
says
Season 6, which premieres Oct. 16 on the Discovery Channel, will be -- wait for it -- big.
Really big.
"We have a tremendous amount of gold this year," says Doyle, who fans may also know as host of "The Dirt," the behind-the-scenes show that's a companion to "Gold Rush."
Last year, the miners, including Oregon's
, dug a combined total worth close to $5 million, Doyle says.
"This season, we have double the amount of gold," Doyle says in a phone interview. "Not only do we have gold, which the viewers always love, we have a lot of drama."
No surprise there. In its first five seasons, "Gold Rush" has become the top-rated show on Discovery. Viewers love to admire and/or blow a gasket watching
, the Sandy resident whose ambitions are huge, as are, on occasion, his failures.
The reality show has also made characters of
a stubborn twenty-something itching to buy his own claim; and
a shaggy-haired native of the Netherlands, known for his gold-mining savvy and fondness for expletives, which sometimes turn his on-air comments into a festival of bleeps.
"Gold Rush" works, Doyle says, because it stirs strong reactions among the roughly 5 million viewers who tune in each week.
"It's definitely polarizing," Doyle says. "We have a wide array of characters on this show. There's something for everybody. You either relate to Parker, or Todd, or Tony. If you love Parker, you dislike Todd. And if you love Todd, you dislike Parker. You're not ambivalent. It's not unlike watching your favorite sports team."
Which makes sense when you consider that the "Gold Rush" viewership is predominantly male. In Season 5, for example, "Gold Rush" was Friday's top series in all of TV - cable and broadcast both -- for male viewers. The show also has "extremely high viewership in the Northwest," Doyle says.
When it comes to Hoffman, Doyle says, "He is an incredibly smart man. You may not know that by some of his mining decisions, but he's an incredibly smart guy, and incredibly dynamic. We look for larger-than-life personalities, and he definitely has that."
Hoffman's follow-that-dream personality "can be both a curse and a blessing," says Doyle. "A lot of times, he gets into trouble. But he's not one-note. He's multifaceted. If we didn't have guys who are willing to stick their necks out and take a chance, we wouldn't have a show."
Last season was a rebuilding project for Hoffman, who led his crew on an ill-fated trip to Guyana in Season 4 that was a money-loser, not to mention a bummer.
"That season was a disaster for Todd, and it was incredibly difficult for us to produce," Doyle says. "You can only talk about failing over and over so much."
Season 5 saw Hoffman and Schnabel both finding gold in the Yukon Territory. Beets, on the other hand, sunk a million dollars into a 75-year-old gold-mining dredge that took all season to get into operating condition.
In the two-hour Season 6 premiere, Hoffman and his crew seem to be doing it right, getting an early start on mining in the Yukon and working the same claim that produced good results last year.
But Schnabel's facing problems, after key members of his crew bailed after being pushed too hard in Season 5. Beets, meanwhile, is playing hardball with Schnabel when it comes to negotiating a deal.
Also back in Season 6 is
Hoffman's right-hand man, the guy who finds ways to get it done when Hoffman keeps asking for more.
Turin, who lives in Welches, made the decision to step away from actively working in the the family business -- which operates a rock quarry and does asphalt paving -- to be part of "Gold Rush."
"I gave up a stable family business to go hunt for gold," says Turin. He thinks viewers get a vicarious kick of seeing the "Gold Rush" miners take such risks, and pursue adventure.
Hoffman may not be the most practical-minded gold miner, Turin says, but "he's really great at putting deals together. Which I'm not. I'm too easy. We complement each other. We've become very, very good friends."
When they're up in the Yukon, family members often accompany the mining crew. "My wife was there for about four months," says Turin, who spent six months working in the Yukon. "We live in trailers up there. Our camp is all about family. There are wives, and kids."
In Season 6, one of Hoffman's kids, 16-year-old Hunter, will be on camera more, along with his father, and grandfather, Jack.
Turin is proud of how his crew cares for the land after digging for gold. "If you take something out of the ground, you have to put the ground back," he says. While most of the feedback he gets about "Gold Rush" is positive, Turin says he also hears from critics who say the show is doing environmental damage.
"Because I grew up in this business, my Dad taught me if you take something, you give back," Turin says. Viewers don't see the reclamation part of the process, he says, because "it's boring TV."
Turin also says the Hoffman crew, many of whose members are Christians, work to resolve differences peacefully. "Our faith is based on love. In my crew, we have a Bible study. We can walk in, cussing and angry, and walk out smiling and laughing. It's all based on friendship and love."
And Turin is still enjoying the work. "I would gold mine whether the TV crew followed me or not," he says.
Asked how long "Gold Rush" will run, Doyle answers, "I always say, as long as these guys keep making mistakes, the show will run. There are guys up in the Yukon that have really figured it out. But it is insanely boring. We need mistakes, we need these guys to go dig in the wrong ground, and dig into permafrost when they shouldn't, and break machines. Great gold miners don't make for good TV."
"Gold Rush" Season 6 premieres with a two-hour episode, at 9 p.m. Friday, Oct. 16 on Discovery; a season-opener episode of "The Dirt" airs at 8 p.m.
-- Kristi Turnquist
kturnquist@oregonian.com
503-221-8227
@Kristiturnquist