Ice Road Truckers
Ice Road Truckers | |
---|---|
Genre | Reality |
Created by | Thom Beers |
Starring | Truckers |
Narrated by | Thom Beers Tom Cotcher(UK) |
Theme music composer | Steven Tyler,Joe Perry,Mark Hudson,Bruce Hanifan,Andrew Kubiszewski,Gregg Montante.Additional music byAmygdala Music Library |
Opening theme | "Livin' on the Edge"byAerosmith(seasons 1 – 4 only (US airings))
"Ice Road Truckers Theme"byBruce Hanifan,Gregg Montante(season 5 only (US airings)); (seasons 1 – 5 only (international airings)) "Maiden Voyage" byAndrew Kubiszewski(seasons 7 – 11 only) |
Composers | Bruce Hanifan,Gregg Montante,Andrew Kubiszewski.Additional music byAmygdala Music Library |
Country of origin | Canada United States |
Original language | English |
No.of seasons | 11 |
No.of episodes | 138(list of episodes) |
Production | |
Producers | David McKillop Dolores Gavin Thom Beers Philip Segal Dawn Fitzgerald Adam Martin Aron Plucinski |
Running time | 45 – 48 minutes |
Production companies | Original Productions Prospero Media(season 8) Shaw Media(season 8) |
Original release | |
Network | History |
Release | June 17, 2007 November 9, 2017 | –
Related | |
IRT Deadliest Roads Ice Road Truckers: Breaking the Ice |
Ice Road Truckers(commercially abbreviatedIRT) is areality televisionseries that aired onHistory Channelfrom 2007 to 2017. It features the activities of drivers who operate trucks onice roadscrossing frozen lakes and rivers, in remote territories in Canada andAlaska.Seasons three to six also featured Alaska's improved but still remoteDalton Highway,which is mainly snow-covered solid ground.
History
[edit]In 2000, History aired a 46-minute episode titled "Ice Road Truckers" as part of theSuicide Missions(laterDangerous Missions) series. Based onEdith Iglauer's bookDenison's Ice Road,the episode details the treacherous job of driving trucks over frozen lakes, also known as ice roads, in Canada'sNorthwest Territories.After 2000, reruns of the documentary were aired as an episode of the seriesModern Marvels,instead. Under this banner, theIce Road Truckersshow garnered very good ratings.[citation needed]
In 2006, the History Channel hiredThom Beers,owner ofOriginal Productionsand executive producer ofDeadliest Catch,to create a series based on theIce Roadbook. Shot inhigh-definition video(although the season ended before History HD was launched in the US), the show "charts two months in the lives of six extraordinary men who haul vital supplies to diamond mines and other remote locations over frozen lakes that double as roads".[1]
Airings
[edit]Season one ofIce Road Truckerswas shown on the British national commercial channelChannel Fivein February/March 2008. In Australia, it aired onAustarandFoxtelin early 2008, and from June 18 it also began being shown onNetwork Ten.In autumn 2008 season one aired onRTL 7in the Netherlands. In Italy. the first season premiered on History Channel on January 7, 2010 as "Gli eroi del ghiaccio"('Heroes of the ice').[2]
The second season premiered on June 8, 2008, in the US; October 9, 2008 on History in the UK and in Australia; November 12, 2008, in New Zealand; and January 7, 2009, on Channel 5 in the UK. The first season was not aired in Canada until March 4, 2009, onHistory Television.The third season premiered on May 31, 2009, in the US; September 10 in the UK. Channel Five debuted series 3 on January 5, 2010.[citation needed]
Reception
[edit]The series' premiere was seen by 3.4 million viewers, to become the most-watched original telecast in the History Channel's 12-year history at that time.[3]Among critics, Adam Buckman of theNew York Postsaid, "Everything about 'Ice Road Truckers' is astonishing".[4]Virginia HeffernanofThe New York Timessaid, "Watching these guys... make their runs, it’s hard not to share in their cold, fatigue and horrible highway hypnosis, that existential recognition behind the wheel late at night that the pull of sleep and the pull of death are one and the same.... [I]t gets right exactly whatDeadliest Catchgot right, namely that the leave-nothing-but-your-footprints, green kind of eco-travelers are too mellow and conscientious to be interesting to watch. Instead, the burly, bearded, swearing men (and women) who blowmethyl hydrateinto their own transmissions and welcome storms as breaks from boredom... are much better television. "[5]During 2007 the series was shown in the United Kingdom, Australia and various countries in Africa.
The show opening features a truck falling through the ice. While real accidents with fatal outcomes might be mentioned, the show has never featured them; the show opening is a miniature model filmed inside a studio. A season-one rumor that the sequence was staged using a real truck and dynamite caused discontent among the drivers.[6]
Episodes
[edit]Season | Episodes | Originally aired | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
First aired | Last aired | |||
1 | 10 | June 17, 2007 | August 19, 2007 | |
2 | 13 | June 8, 2008 | September 7, 2008 | |
3 | 13 | May 31, 2009 | August 23, 2009 | |
4 | 16 | June 6, 2010 | October 3, 2010 | |
5 | 16 | June 5, 2011 | September 25, 2011 | |
6 | 16 | June 3, 2012 | September 23, 2012 | |
7 | 12 | June 9, 2013 | August 25, 2013 | |
8 | 12 | July 7, 2014 | September 28, 2014 | |
9 | 10 | August 2, 2015 | October 18, 2015 | |
10 | 10 | August 4, 2016 | October 6, 2016 | |
11 | 10 | August 24, 2017 | November 9, 2017 |
Truckers
[edit]Trucker | Seasons | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | |
Alex Debogorski | Main | ||||||||||
Hugh Rowland | Main | ||||||||||
Rick Yemm | Main | Main | |||||||||
Drew Sherwood | Main | ||||||||||
Jay Westgard | Main | ||||||||||
T.J. Tilcox | Main | ||||||||||
Bear Swensen | Recurring | ||||||||||
Eric Dufresne | Main | ||||||||||
Jerry Dusdal | Main | ||||||||||
Lisa Kelly | Main | Main | |||||||||
Jack Jesse | Main | Main | |||||||||
George Spears | Main | ||||||||||
Timothy "Tim" Freeman Jr. | Main | ||||||||||
Cody Hyce | Recurring | ||||||||||
Jack McCahan | Recurring | ||||||||||
Carey Hall | Recurring | ||||||||||
Phil Kromm | Recurring | ||||||||||
Greg Boadwine | Main | ||||||||||
Ray Veilleux | Main | Recurring | |||||||||
Dave Redmon | Main | ||||||||||
Tony Molesky | Main | Recurring | |||||||||
Maya Sieber | Main | ||||||||||
Vlad Pleskot | Recurring | ||||||||||
David Horbas | Recurring | ||||||||||
Darrell Ward | Main | ||||||||||
Austin Wheeler | Main | ||||||||||
Ronald Mangum | Main | ||||||||||
Lane Keator | Recurring | ||||||||||
Art Burke | Main | ||||||||||
Todd Dewey | Main | ||||||||||
Joey Barnes | Main | Recurring | |||||||||
Mike Simmons | Main | ||||||||||
Steph Custance | Main | ||||||||||
Reno Ward | Recurring | Main | |||||||||
Mark Kohaykewych | Recurring | Main |
IRT: Deadliest Roads
[edit]Ice Road Truckers: Deadliest Roads | |
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Also known as | I.R.T.: Deadliest Roads |
Genre | Reality Documentary |
Created by | Thom Beers |
Based on | Ice Road Truckers |
Starring | Truckers (Deadliest Roads) |
Narrated by | Thom Beers Tom Cotcher(UK) |
Opening theme | "Livin' on the Edge"byAerosmith(season 1 only (US airings)
"Black Mo"byBlues Saraceno(season 1 only (international airings) "Ice Road Truckers Theme"byBruce Hanifan,Gregg Montante(season 1 only, digital / streaming)) "Over the Line"byAndrew Kubiszewski(season 2 only) |
Composers | Steven Tyler,Joe Perry,Mark Hudson,Bruce Hanifan,Gregg Montante,Andrew Kubiszewski,Paul Hepker |
Country of origin | Canada United States |
Original language | English |
No.of seasons | 2 |
No.of episodes | 23(list of episodes) |
Production | |
Producers | David McKillop Dolores Gavin Thom Beers Philip Segal Dawn Fitzgerald Adam Martin Aron Plucinski |
Production locations | IndiaandSouth America |
Running time | 45 – 48 minutes |
Production company | Original Productions |
Original release | |
Network | History |
Release | October 3, 2010 December 18, 2011 | –
Season one: Himalayas
[edit]On October 3, 2010, a spinoff series, titledIRT: Deadliest Roads,premiered immediately after the season-four finale. Rick Yemm, Alex Debogorski, and Lisa Kelly traveled to India and put their driving skills to the test on the narrow, treacherous mountain roads that lead fromDelhitoShimla,then up to the Karchan and Kuppa hydroelectric dam construction sites in theHimalayas.
The truckers were accompanied by spotters, who were responsible for making the negotiations in case of problems with other drivers in the city and keeping them safe during their routes and difficult spots on the road.
In season one, 3 spotters were present, each one for one respective trucker. Tashi was Lisa's spotter. Sanjeev was Alex's spotter during his first day and helped him during his problems and accidents inNew Delhi.Later Dave's spotter with Alex's quit and his arrive. Hameed was Rick's spotter.
Debogorski quit in the first episode due to fear of angry mobs if he were involved in an accident and the pressure of city chaos, and was replaced by Alabama's trucker Dave Redmon (who has since been featured in season five ofIce Road Truckers). As the season continued, the drivers were dispatched to carry supplies over the stormyRohtang Passto the town ofKeylong,which had been cut off for months due to the bad weather. The season finale aired on December 5, 2010, with the truckers attempting to deliver loads of jet fuel for helicopter crews who were working to rescue people stranded in the mountains by the storms. Yemm and Redmon turned back, deciding that the conditions were too hazardous for the volatile cargo; the next day, Kelly hauled the entire shipment herself and delivered it to the crews, becoming the only North American trucker to complete the entire season.
The roads were often hacked out of vertical cliffs like a tunnel with one side open to the air, with rock overhangs overhead and drops of several hundred feet below. One part of the road was called "the Freefall Freeway".
- In episode five: "Crumbling Roads", Kelly and Yemm delivered two images (one each, well-packedwithsandbags,sand, and straw) of the goddessKali(shown as treading on her husbandShiva) along a risky mountain road hacked out of cliffsides to a temple at a town calledKalpa, Himachal Pradesh.
- In episode six: "Thin Air", they struggled with a worse road andaltitude hypoxiaon theRohtang Pass,and one of them delivered an image ofBuddhaand someBuddhist scripturesto a Tibetan-typeBuddhist monasteryin the mountains.
Early promotional spots for the series listed the title asIRT: Himalayas.[citation needed]
Season two: South America
[edit]The second season ofIRT: Deadliest Roadspremiered on September 25, 2011. Six North American drivers are sent toBoliviato haul cargo along theYungas Road,notorious for its extreme hazards. The drivers work in pairs, as in the first season, but this time, instead of taking locals as spotters, the drivers also acted as them, where one driver would be the main driver for that run (drives the truck most part or the entire run) and the other would be the spotter, taking turns between them. – Hugh Rowland and Rick Yemm, Lisa Kelly and Dave Redmon, and newcomers Timothy "Tim" R. Zickuhr and Augustin "Tino" Rodriguez. Redmon and Yemm quit in episode two; Rowland continues driving alone, while Texas trucker G.W. Boles arrives to ride with Kelly and replace Dave in episode four. Making "Tim & Tino" the only original pair to stay together the entire season. Starting with episode eight, the truckers relocate toPeruand begin transporting loads to sites high in theAndesmountain range.
In episode six, Kelly and Boles transport 32 breedingllamasacross theSalar de Uyuni,the world's biggestsalt flat,12,000 ft (3,700 m) above sea level. On the way, their truck's radiator begins to leak; after they mend it, they must empty all their drinking water into the radiator to replace the loss. Abundantlithiumdeposits cause their magneticcompassesto read incorrectly, and for a time, theirglobal positioning systemmalfunctions.
In February 2015, Tim Zickuhr pleaded guilty to kidnapping and extortion, then was sentenced to a maximum of 15 years prison.[7][8]Zickuhr's current incarceration and/or parole status are uncertain.
Early promotional spots for the series listed the title asIRT: The Andes.[citation needed]
Truckers (Deadliest Roads)
[edit]Truckers | Seasons | ||
---|---|---|---|
1 | 2 | ||
Hugh Rowland | Main | ||
Rick Yemm | Main | ||
Alex Debogorski | Main | ||
Lisa Kelly | Main | ||
Dave Redmon | Recurring | Main | |
Tashi Chombel (Lisa's Spotter) | Recurring | ||
Abdul Hameed (Rick's Spotter) | Recurring | ||
Sanjeev Kumar (Alex's/Dave's Spotter) | Recurring | ||
Timothy "Tim" R. Zickuhr | Main | ||
Augustin "Tino" Rodriguez | Main | ||
"G.W." Boles | Recurring |
Music and sound FX
[edit]The Ice Road Truckers andIce Road Truckers: Deadliest Roadssoundtracks are composed and produced mainly byBruce Hanifan.The series also includes music from other artists such asGregg Montante,Andrew Kubiszewski,Grayson Matthews,Paul Hepkerand many others. The additional music and sound effects are licensed byAmygdala Music Libraryowned by the American recording studios companyAmygdala Records,which have a partnership withOriginal Productions(series production company).
The series original theme song was theAerosmith's lead single for the albumGet a Grip,Livin' On The Edge,composed bySteven Tyler,Joe Perry,andMark Hudsonand released in early 1993. The song was used in the openings of the series four initial seasons (2007 – early 2010) in the United States and Canada dubbing (original audio), which was later changed in the following season (early 2011) for the song, originally composed for the series soundtrack, "Ice Road Truckers Theme" by Bruce Hanifan andGregg Montante.Hanifan's and Montante's song was used in the series worldwide premiere and distribution as the opening theme, replacing the Aerosmith's song even in the initial seasons of the series outside the United States and Canada.
The song was also used as replacement in the digital / streaming versions of the I.R.T.: Deadliest Roads Season 1 (late 2010), which also usesLivin' on the Edgeas its original theme song in the United States and Canada. In the television worldwide premiere, the song "Black Mo" byBlues Saracenowas used as theme and background music in promotional videos of the spin-off's first season.
For season 2 of the spin-off series (late 2011), the song "Over the Line",originally composed for the series soundtrack byAndrew Kubiszewski,was used in the opening sequence, both in U.S. and worldwide airings.
Season 6 (2012) also uses a song composed by Kubiszewski as its theme, which was never released by Amygdala or Andrew.
In 2013, with season 7 on production, Original Productions contractedVARIPIXto rebuild the series' opening sequence, which changed its main theme once again, to the song "Maiden Voyage", also composed byAndrew Kubiszewskifor the series soundtrack that lasted for the last five seasons (2013–2017).
Other media
[edit]In 2008,20th Century Foxacquired the rights from the History Channel to create a scripted, theatrical action film based on the series.[9]
In 2010, a video game for thePlayStation Portablewas released bySlitherine Software.In 2020, the show was mentioned in “Godzilla” byEminemandJuice WRLD.[10][11]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^"About theIce Road Truckersseries ".History.
- ^"Sat News #114 – Gennaio 2010 – I canali documentaristici e divulgativi Sky"(in Italian). January 14, 2010.
- ^"'Ice Road Truckers' debut sets The History Channel ratings records – Reality TV World – News, information, episode summaries, message boards, chat and games for unscripted television programs ".Reality TV World. June 20, 2007.RetrievedJune 7,2011.
- ^"Slide Show: 'Ice Road Truckers' Take Thrilling Glide".New York Post.June 23, 2007. Archived fromthe originalon June 5, 2009.RetrievedSeptember 30,2013.
- ^Heffernan, Virginia, "Honk? No, Pray if You Hear a Loud Crack",The New York Times,June 22, 2007
- ^Kaplan, Don, "BACK ON THE 'ICE ROAD'",New York Post,April 2, 2008
- ^"'Ice Road Truckers' star gets prison for kidnapping, threatening prostitute ".syracuse.Associated Press. February 26, 2015.
- ^"'Ice Road Truckers' Star Tim Zickuhr -- GUILTY of Prostitute Kidnapping ".TMZ.
- ^Fleming, Michael. "Fox drives 'Truckers' to bigscreen",Variety.February 12, 2008
- ^"HISTORY Ice Road Truckers".GamesIndustry.biz.Gamer Network.March 11, 2010.RetrievedMarch 5,2023.
- ^"History -- Ice Road Truckers".GameSpy.IGN Entertainment.Archivedfrom the original on September 10, 2015.RetrievedMarch 5,2023.
Further reading
[edit]- Debogorski, Alex (October 26, 2010).King of the Road: True Tales from a Legendary Ice Road Trucker.John Wiley and Sons.ISBN978-0-470-64368-6.
- Rowland, Hugh (June 8, 2010).On Thin Ice: Breakdowns, Whiteouts, and Survival on the World's Deadliest Roads.Hyperion.ISBN978-1-4013-2368-4.(with Michael Lent)
External links
[edit]- 2000s American reality television series
- 2000s Canadian reality television series
- 2007 American television series debuts
- 2007 Canadian television series debuts
- 2010s American reality television series
- 2010s Canadian reality television series
- Channel 5 (British TV channel) original programming
- American English-language television shows
- History (American TV channel) original programming
- Ice roads
- Television series by Original Productions
- Television shows set in Alaska
- Television shows filmed in Alaska
- Television shows set in Canada
- Television shows filmed in Canada
- 2017 American television series endings
- 2017 Canadian television series endings