Edge of Alaska

{{Infobox television

| image = Edge of Alaska Logo.jpg

| genre = Reality

| creator =

| starring =

| theme_music_composer =

| opentheme =

| endtheme =

| composer =

| country = United States

| language = English

| num_seasons = 4

| num_episodes = 32

| list_episodes =

| executive_producer =

| producer =

| cinematography =

| runtime = 42 minutes

| company = Twofour Broadcast

| channel = Discovery Channel

| first_aired = {{Start date|2014|10|24}}

| last_aired = {{End date|2017|11|26}}

}}

Edge of Alaska is an American reality television series. The series premiered on October 24, 2014, on Discovery Channel.{{cite web|url=https://tvlistings.gracenote.com/overview-affiliates.html?programSeriesId=SH01923402 |title=Edge of Alaska - Episode Guide, TV Times, Watch Online, News - Zap2it |publisher=Zap2it |access-date=2016-09-21}}{{cite web|url=http://www.tvguide.com/tvshows/edge-of-alaska/697919/ |title=Edge of Alaska TV Show: News, Videos, Full Episodes and More |publisher=TVGuide.com |access-date=2016-09-21}} There were 4 series of 8 episodes each, ending in 2017.{{cite web |title=Edge of Alaska |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4287280/ |website=IMDB |access-date=19 March 2023}} The series follows the residents of McCarthy, Alaska.

When the show first started, the Anchorage Daily News reported on controversies: "A new Discovery Channel reality show set in McCarthy is drawing fire for heavy-handed treatment of the reviving old mining town's dark past and alleged outlaw reputation."{{cite web |title=Reality TV cameras set McCarthy on 'Edge' |url=https://www.adn.com/film-tv/article/reality-tv-cameras-set-mccarthy-edge/2014/10/20/ |website=Anchorage Daily News |access-date=20 March 2023}}

Synopsis

IMDB summarizes Edge of Alaska as:

{{Blockquote

|text=Tradition collides with the residents of the isolated town of McCarthy, Alaska. The 42 souls who are brave enough to live there must battle the elements and each other to maintain their pioneer way of life.{{cite web |title=Edge of Alaska |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4287280/ |website=IMDB |access-date=19 March 2023}}

}}

Neil Darish

Neil Darish is a McCarthy resident who was involved in creation of, and appeared as a main character in, Edge of Alaska. He did interviews, about McCarthy and about the making of the show, with Hollywood Soapbox,{{cite web |title=INTERVIEW: Neil Darish prepares for the future on final season of 'Edge of Alaska' |url=https://www.hollywoodsoapbox.com/interview-neil-darish-prepares-for-the-future-on-final-season-of-edge-of-alaska/ |website=Hollywood Soapbox |date=18 October 2017 |access-date=19 March 2023}}

and the YouTube channel The Loud Spot.{{cite web |title=Discovery Channels "Edge of Alaska" Star Neil Darish on The Loud Spot |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFaeienbv3Q |website=YouTube |access-date=19 March 2023}}

In the YouTube interview, Darish said about the show:

{{Blockquote

|text=[7:20] They're drama, based on an exaggeration of people's lives, but they're true to the ethos of what it's like to be in remote Alaska. Am I going to get frostbitten because I lost my glove on a snow machine? Absolutely not. So, would it look like I'm going to die on the snow machine in the show? Yes, because that's what gets people in the drama.

}}

{{Blockquote

|text=[8:02] The hard part is finding people who have a big personality and are willing to give it, you know, everything, to the producers, so that they can make it work.

}}

{{Blockquote

|text=[8:33] I'll tell you how it will be; I'll tell you how it works; because it's not a secret. ... First it's theater, and it doesn't make it a lie or right or wrong; it's just a way of creating story; and it is story you know, and they're not written for Alaskans; they're written for people who are going to be drawn into the drama.

}}

{{Blockquote

|text=[9:08] There were lots of people that wanted to be on the show, many more that didn't.

}}

{{Blockquote

|text=[18:43] I've got very dear friends that I genuinely feel bad [about] ... they really resent that we did the show.

}}

Darish said the show was what he called "scene scripted": the producers would decide on the particular story to be portrayed, where a scene would take place, and what would happen in the scene. Mostly, the producers would not decide on the actual words to be used.

Also, Darish's views were included in an Aljazeera America article about film crews in Alaska:{{cite web |title=Reality bites in Alaska when TV crews clog up the frontier |url=http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/12/23/reality-bites-inalaskawhentvcrewsclogupthefrontier.html |website=Aljazeera America |access-date=19 March 2023}}

{{Blockquote

|text=Neil Darish is one of the stars of “Edge of Alaska.” He says he expected the show to be dramatized. He “plays a character,” a landowner who isn’t necessarily likable, he says. Viewers reacted to him. At first it was hard not to take the negativity personally, but then he decided they were reacting to his performance, not to him.

}}

{{Blockquote

|text=The show is somewhat scripted, but that doesn’t matter, he says. It captures the ethos of the town of McCarthy. “I’m just kind of fodder for the storytellers. That’s the approach I took.”

}}

Episodes

=Series overview=

{{Series overview

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|link1 = #Season 1 (2014)

|episodes1 = 8

|start1 = {{Start date|2014|10|24}}

|end1 = {{End date|2014|12|12}}

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|link2 = #Season 2 (2015)

|episodes2 = 8

|start2 = {{Start date|2015|8|14}}

|end2 = {{End date|2015|10|2}}

|color3 = #EC7439

|link3 = #Season 3 (2016)

|episodes3 = 8

|start3 = {{Start date|2016|10|23}}

|end3 = {{End date|2016|12|18}}

|color4 = #42f4d7

|link4 = #Season 4 (2017)

|episodes4 = 8

|start4 = {{Start date|2017|10|8}}

|end4 = {{End date|2017|11|26}}

}}

=Season 1 (2014)=

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{{Episode list

|EpisodeNumber= 1

|EpisodeNumber2= 1

|Title= Winter's Grip

|OriginalAirDate= {{Start date|2014|10|24}}

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|LineColor= 07078F

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{{Episode list

|EpisodeNumber= 2

|EpisodeNumber2= 2

|Title= Last Days of Winter

|OriginalAirDate= {{Start date|2014|10|31}}

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|LineColor= 07078F

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{{Episode list

|EpisodeNumber= 3

|EpisodeNumber2= 3

|Title= The Thaw

|OriginalAirDate= {{Start date|2014|11|7}}

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|ShortSummary=

|LineColor= 07078F

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{{Episode list

|EpisodeNumber= 4

|EpisodeNumber2= 4

|Title= The Road

|OriginalAirDate= {{Start date|2014|11|14}}

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|ShortSummary=

|LineColor= 07078F

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{{Episode list

|EpisodeNumber= 5

|EpisodeNumber2= 5

|Title= Bear Attack

|OriginalAirDate= {{Start date|2014|11|21}}

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|ShortSummary=

|LineColor= 07078F

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{{Episode list

|EpisodeNumber= 6

|EpisodeNumber2= 6

|Title= The Motherlode

|OriginalAirDate= {{Start date|2014|11|28}}

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|ShortSummary=

|LineColor= 07078F

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{{Episode list

|EpisodeNumber= 7

|EpisodeNumber2= 7

|Title= McCarthy Rising

|OriginalAirDate= {{Start date|2014|12|5}}

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{{Episode list

|EpisodeNumber= 8

|EpisodeNumber2= 8

|Title= The Last Stand

|OriginalAirDate= {{Start date|2014|12|12}}

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|LineColor= 07078F

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=Season 2 (2015)=

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{{Episode list

|EpisodeNumber= 9

|EpisodeNumber2= 1

|Title= Wolves at the Door

|OriginalAirDate= {{Start date|2015|8|14}}

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|ShortSummary=

|LineColor= 32CD32

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{{Episode list

|EpisodeNumber= 10

|EpisodeNumber2= 2

|Title= Starvation Country

|OriginalAirDate= {{Start date|2015|8|21}}

|Viewers=

|ShortSummary=

|LineColor= 32CD32

}}

{{Episode list

|EpisodeNumber= 11

|EpisodeNumber2= 3

|Title= Defend the Frontier

|OriginalAirDate= {{Start date|2015|8|28}}

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|ShortSummary=

|LineColor= 32CD32

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{{Episode list

|EpisodeNumber= 12

|EpisodeNumber2= 4

|Title= Dying Days of Winter

|OriginalAirDate= {{Start date|2015|9|4}}

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|ShortSummary=

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{{Episode list

|EpisodeNumber= 13

|EpisodeNumber2= 5

|Title= The Breakup

|OriginalAirDate= {{Start date|2015|9|11}}

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|ShortSummary=

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{{Episode list

|EpisodeNumber= 14

|EpisodeNumber2= 6

|Title= Return to the Mother Lode

|OriginalAirDate= {{Start date|2015|9|18}}

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|ShortSummary=

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{{Episode list

|EpisodeNumber= 15

|EpisodeNumber2= 7

|Title= The End of the Frontier

|OriginalAirDate= {{Start date|2015|9|25}}

|Viewers=

|ShortSummary=

|LineColor= 32CD32

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{{Episode list

|EpisodeNumber= 16

|EpisodeNumber2= 8

|Title= Brave New McCarthy

|OriginalAirDate= {{Start date|2015|10|2}}

|Viewers=

|ShortSummary=

|LineColor= 32CD32

}}

=Season 3 (2016)=

{{Episode table

|background=#EC7439

|overall=

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{{Episode list

|EpisodeNumber= 17

|EpisodeNumber2= 1

|Title= Fight for McCarthy

|OriginalAirDate= {{Start date|2016|10|23}}

|Viewers=

|ShortSummary=

|LineColor= EC7439

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{{Episode list

|EpisodeNumber= 18

|EpisodeNumber2= 2

|Title= Devil's Bargain

|OriginalAirDate= {{Start date|2016|10|30}}

|Viewers=

|ShortSummary=

|LineColor= EC7439

}}

{{Episode list

|EpisodeNumber= 19

|EpisodeNumber2= 3

|Title= The Stranger

|OriginalAirDate= {{Start date|2016|11|06}}

|Viewers=

|ShortSummary=

|LineColor= EC7439

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{{Episode list

|EpisodeNumber= 20

|EpisodeNumber2= 4

|Title= Thaw and Order

|OriginalAirDate= {{Start date|2016|11|13}}

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|ShortSummary=

|LineColor= EC7439

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{{Episode list

|EpisodeNumber= 21

|EpisodeNumber2= 5

|Title= The Cave In

|OriginalAirDate= {{Start date|2016|11|20}}

|Viewers=

|ShortSummary=

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{{Episode list

|EpisodeNumber= 22

|EpisodeNumber2= 6

|Title= Deadwood Forest

|OriginalAirDate= {{Start date|2016|11|27}}

|Viewers=

|ShortSummary=

|LineColor= EC7439

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{{Episode list

|EpisodeNumber= 23

|EpisodeNumber2= 7

|Title= The Old Man on the Mountain

|OriginalAirDate= {{Start date|2016|12|11}}

|Viewers=

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{{Episode list

|EpisodeNumber= 24

|EpisodeNumber2= 8

|Title= No Surrender

|OriginalAirDate= {{Start date|2016|12|18}}

|Viewers= 1.60{{cite web|url=http://www.showbuzzdaily.com/articles/showbuzzdailys-top-150-sunday-cable-originals-network-finals-12-18-2016.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161221093407/http://www.showbuzzdaily.com/articles/showbuzzdailys-top-150-sunday-cable-originals-network-finals-12-18-2016.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=2016-12-21 |title=UPDATED: SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 150 Sunday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 12.18.2016 |publisher=Showbuzz Daily |date=2016-12-20 |access-date=2018-03-04}}

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=Season 4 (2017)=

{{Episode table

|background=#42f4d7

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{{Episode list

|EpisodeNumber= 25

|EpisodeNumber2= 1

|Title= Frost and Found

|OriginalAirDate= {{Start date|2017|10|8}}

|Viewers= 1.51{{cite web|url=http://www.showbuzzdaily.com/articles/showbuzzdailys-top-150-sunday-cable-originals-network-finals-10-8-2017.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171010211235/http://www.showbuzzdaily.com/articles/showbuzzdailys-top-150-sunday-cable-originals-network-finals-10-8-2017.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=2017-10-10 |title=UPDATED: SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 150 Sunday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 10.8.2017 |publisher=Showbuzz Daily |date=2017-10-10 |access-date=2018-03-04}}

|ShortSummary=

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{{Episode list

|EpisodeNumber= 26

|EpisodeNumber2= 2

|Title= Crossing Thin Ice

|OriginalAirDate= {{Start date|2017|10|15}}

|Viewers= 1.64{{cite web|url=http://www.showbuzzdaily.com/articles/showbuzzdailys-top-150-sunday-cable-originals-network-finals-10-15-2017.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171018035409/http://www.showbuzzdaily.com/articles/showbuzzdailys-top-150-sunday-cable-originals-network-finals-10-15-2017.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=2017-10-18 |title=UPDATED: SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 150 Sunday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 10.15.2017 |publisher=Showbuzz Daily |date=2017-10-17 |access-date=2018-03-04}}

|ShortSummary=

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{{Episode list

|EpisodeNumber= 27

|EpisodeNumber2= 3

|Title= Uprooted

|OriginalAirDate= {{Start date|2017|10|22}}

|Viewers= 1.70{{cite web|url=http://www.showbuzzdaily.com/articles/showbuzzdailys-top-150-sunday-cable-originals-network-finals-10-22-2017.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171024205815/http://www.showbuzzdaily.com/articles/showbuzzdailys-top-150-sunday-cable-originals-network-finals-10-22-2017.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=2017-10-24 |title=UPDATED: SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 150 Sunday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 10.22.2017 |publisher=Showbuzz Daily |date=2017-10-24 |access-date=2018-03-04}}

|ShortSummary=

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{{Episode list

|EpisodeNumber= 28

|EpisodeNumber2= 4

|Title= Big Bad Wolf

|OriginalAirDate= {{Start date|2017|10|29}}

|Viewers= 1.55{{cite web|url=http://www.showbuzzdaily.com/articles/showbuzzdailys-top-150-sunday-cable-originals-network-finals-10-29-2017.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171102062152/http://www.showbuzzdaily.com/articles/showbuzzdailys-top-150-sunday-cable-originals-network-finals-10-29-2017.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=2017-11-02 |title=UPDATED: SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 150 Sunday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 10.29.2017 |publisher=Showbuzz Daily |date=2017-10-31 |access-date=2018-03-04}}

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{{Episode list

|EpisodeNumber= 29

|EpisodeNumber2= 5

|Title= Deal With the Devil

|OriginalAirDate= {{Start date|2017|11|5}}

|Viewers=

|ShortSummary=

|LineColor= 42f4d7

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{{Episode list

|EpisodeNumber= 30

|EpisodeNumber2= 6

|Title= Spring Fever

|OriginalAirDate= {{Start date|2017|11|12}}

|Viewers=

|ShortSummary=

|LineColor= 42f4d7

}}

{{Episode list

|EpisodeNumber= 31

|EpisodeNumber2= 7

|Title= Barnstorm

|OriginalAirDate= {{Start date|2017|11|19}}

|Viewers=

|ShortSummary=

|LineColor= 42f4d7

}}

{{Episode list

|EpisodeNumber= 32

|EpisodeNumber2= 8

|Title= Winds of Change

|OriginalAirDate= {{Start date|2017|11|26}}

|Viewers=

|ShortSummary=

|LineColor= 42f4d7

}}

References

External links

{{IMDb title|4287280}}

Category:2010s American reality television series

Category:2014 American television series debuts

Category:2017 American television series endings

Category:Discovery Channel original programming

Category:Television shows set in Alaska