There's a new reality show with Orange County housewives at the center of it premiering next month, but this one will not be following a pinot grigo-soaked trail to Coto de Caza, Laguna Beach or the Balboa Bay Club.
More like moose tracks to Nome, Fairbanks or Shaktoolik.
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Those are towns in Alaska, the first two of which (Nome and Fairbanks) having gold mines that once belonged to oil and gold tycoon William “Popper” Bartholomae, who was brutally murdered.
Animal Planet's Alaska Gold Diggers is about his daughter, SaraJane “SJ” Bartholomae, being transplanted from Newport Beach to Alaska to oversee her inheritance. She brings along her four grown daughters to revitalize the mines that have remained abandoned since her father's murder when she was a child.
Time is of the essence: they only have six weeks to hire miners and mine experts before Alaska is overcome by winter. But with gold prices at an all-time high, the effort should be worth it.
While we wonder if Newport Exposure was a tossed out title for this program, executive producer Jenny Daly says via Deadline Hollywood, “It's more than just a fish-out-of-water story–these women have grit and gumption, and will stop at nothing until they realize their father and grandfather's dream of striking it rich in one of the harshest terrains on the planet.”
No word on where the “animal” comes in for this network's planet, although folks do wear critter hides to stay warm up there. Oh, and speaking of time being of the essence, the show much catch on quickly after its Oct. 10 premiere as Animal Planet has only ordered six episodes so far.
As much as yours truly truly hates just about any OC-based reality show that comes to mind, if this is so popular it keeps another one from Sarah Palin off my teevee, it will all be worth it.
Email: mc****@oc******.com. Twitter: @MatthewTCoker. Follow OC Weekly on Twitter @ocweekly or on Facebook!
OC Weekly Editor-in-Chief Matt Coker has been engaging, enraging and entertaining readers of newspapers, magazines and websites for decades. He spent the first 13 years of his career in journalism at daily newspapers before “graduating” to OC Weekly in 1995 as the alternative newsweekly’s first calendar editor.