American Gold: The Legend of Bear Gulch

Most of us know mining is hard work, but they never thought of renting oxygen tanks and masks (scuba gear) to go into the "dead air" AND THEN, push or pump the bad air out?

Shouldn't they be using long measuring tapes or something to MAP the mines better? I haven't even seen any analysis of the ore vein directions using INSTRUMENTS. Gold is dense. Where are the gravity meters to determine the denser ore that simply isn't seen.

I have a feeling after every commercial break that this show was pitched to the History Channel, but even they passed. If you need a recap after every commercial break, then your commercial breaks are too long!

Gold mining shows have been done to death. In an effort to make their show stand out in a crowded market, the producers have turned to giving their shows a unique twist. We've been treated to an Alaska 7 New York 2 ice dredge owner, father son feuding river dredgers, repair guys driving around fixing sluice boxes, rejects from other shows looking for land, an obsessed military vet who desperately needs to find another profession, and now senior citizens who should know better looking for an urban myth we're constantly told they are sooooo close to finding yet somehow never will.

The beauty with this show is the same as with all these gold mining shows. The characters are (usually) people you can root for, and so bang average you can picture yourself doing better in their shoes. Once in a while something goes right for one of them, and if they can do it you can do it! It fuels the gold mining get-rich-quick fantasy.

The problem with this show is the same as with all these gold mining shows. No one is making money in mining without doing a *lot* of tedious manual labor. And despite an animated narrator and thrilling background music, getting excited watching guys operate heavy machinery is something most of us outgrow by the time we're five years old. Equipment breaks down, water leaks, trucks get stuck... all pretty routine stuff and frankly rather dull viewing. Out of desperation, the producers try to fabricate drama where it doesn't exist. If the truck falls off the cliff everyone will die! (They don't). If the mine collapses everyone will die! (They don't). If they don't find gold everyone will starve to death! (They don't). And so on.

Six stars for this show for having likable characters, the occasional interesting mining fact, and for being decent background noise while doing something else. Zero stars for inventing yet another Oak Island type nonsensical treasure myth. Six stars.

Is an enjoyable show to watch, I don't understand the passion behind their input. I thought it was fun to see the family history and the bonds that brought them to where they are. Yes, I wish it could have moved faster, but I'm sure not nearly as much as the Dales did!

This show should've been on Prime time TV. I struggled weekly to find the next episode. I signed up for Fox Nation just to watch it. I canceled my subscription once it was over. This show should be picked up by a REAL STATION!!!!!! Hope it does.

Jay from Michigan.

Story line is very interesting and draws you in with the promise of a possible big pay day for the cast. It offers all the mystery, history, hype, teases, what ifs, danger and drama. All the while, leading you to believe they are only moments away from cracking open the mystery and hitting it rich. Only to be spoiled by some unforeseen event. Even after two seasons, they have yet to even discover ANYTHING remotely resembling a scrap of gold. This is just another camera crew following a group of people searching for riches. Riches that they never find.