Discovery bets on 2 dope series about pot growers
NEW YORK (AP) - Cupcake makers, pawnbrokers and storage container raiders have all had their moments in reality television's spotlight. Now the time may be right for marijuana growers - and the people who chase them.
The Discovery network debuts a six-episode series, "Weed Country," at 10 p.m. Wednesday and will replace it with "Pot Cops" in April. Both examine the marijuana trade in northern California.
It fits Discovery's efforts to introduce interesting subcultures to viewers, said Nancy Daniels, the network's executive vice president for production and development on the West Coast. Discovery tried a series about a medical marijuana dispensary in Oakland two years ago, "Weed Wars," and is sticking with dope even though the show didn't do very well in the ratings.
"We still think it's an interesting world and maybe we didn't tap into the right part of it," Daniels said.
Based on its first episode, "Weed Country" is a nuanced effort at giving equal time to both sides of the issue. Producers find colorful growers who use science to make the best product possible. They don't believe what they are doing is wrong. "We're flying the flag of civil disobedience," one grower said.
The growers may be trying to dodge the law, but don't hesitate to open up different facets of their business to television cameras.
At the same time, "Weed Country" shows the challenges faced by law enforcement. It follows one group's careful training for backwoods missions to find farms guarded by growers who are armed and intent upon protecting their crops.
"It surprised me with how deep and complex it was," Daniels said.
The show does have some distracting reality TV contrivances. Before one commercial break, a grower making a late-night delivery to a customer becomes suspicious of a van that ominously pulls out behind him on a dark road. After the break, the van drives innocently by. At another point, producers lead you to believe the grower is about to be pulled over by police when, after a commercial, it becomes clear the officer is going after someone else.
The "Pot Cops" series will be told from the point of view of law enforcement, after producers reached an agreement for access to officers hunting down marijuana farms in California's Humboldt County.
Discovery had planned to air the two programs back-to-back on the same night and promote it as "Weed Wednesday" on the network. But those plans were dropped because unrelated programming expected to be available this spring had fallen through and Discovery needed "Pot Cops" to fill a hole on its schedule in April.
The change had nothing to do with feeling cold feet about a "Weed Wednesday" promotion, Daniels said.
The Discovery network debuts a six-episode series, "Weed Country," at 10 p.m. Wednesday and will replace it with "Pot Cops" in April. Both examine the marijuana trade in northern California.
It fits Discovery's efforts to introduce interesting subcultures to viewers, said Nancy Daniels, the network's executive vice president for production and development on the West Coast. Discovery tried a series about a medical marijuana dispensary in Oakland two years ago, "Weed Wars," and is sticking with dope even though the show didn't do very well in the ratings.
"We still think it's an interesting world and maybe we didn't tap into the right part of it," Daniels said.
Based on its first episode, "Weed Country" is a nuanced effort at giving equal time to both sides of the issue. Producers find colorful growers who use science to make the best product possible. They don't believe what they are doing is wrong. "We're flying the flag of civil disobedience," one grower said.
The growers may be trying to dodge the law, but don't hesitate to open up different facets of their business to television cameras.
At the same time, "Weed Country" shows the challenges faced by law enforcement. It follows one group's careful training for backwoods missions to find farms guarded by growers who are armed and intent upon protecting their crops.
"It surprised me with how deep and complex it was," Daniels said.
The show does have some distracting reality TV contrivances. Before one commercial break, a grower making a late-night delivery to a customer becomes suspicious of a van that ominously pulls out behind him on a dark road. After the break, the van drives innocently by. At another point, producers lead you to believe the grower is about to be pulled over by police when, after a commercial, it becomes clear the officer is going after someone else.
The "Pot Cops" series will be told from the point of view of law enforcement, after producers reached an agreement for access to officers hunting down marijuana farms in California's Humboldt County.
Discovery had planned to air the two programs back-to-back on the same night and promote it as "Weed Wednesday" on the network. But those plans were dropped because unrelated programming expected to be available this spring had fallen through and Discovery needed "Pot Cops" to fill a hole on its schedule in April.
The change had nothing to do with feeling cold feet about a "Weed Wednesday" promotion, Daniels said.
Discovery bet on a series about an alleged armed mafia that goes around in SUVs wielding semiautomatic weapons and terrorizing wayward Amish, which also manages their personal lives and church finances. You're supposed to believe they're committing blackmail and extortion on network television.
Because Americans are now officially freaking stupid enough to believe anything they see on TV.   I don't blame the Canadians for making fun of us. We earned it.
Up next, a show about meth cooks
@moej I'll call it Breaking Bad :)
@brendan @moej While these should be combined to make one series called Breaking Bud!
@swede760 @brendan @moej I was working on a strain, Blue Rain (Blueberry/Lavender/Sour Pink Grape Fruit hybrid) -- with the blue being a homage to the show.
Uh... maybe what they're doing wrong is that they're still trying to push the drug war agenda, while the rest of the country has moved on to legalization?
'Discovery bets on 2 dope series about pot growers'...It is hard to figure out what 'dope' is. Could it be the glue used while building model airplanes ?...Could it be a drug that is addictive ? OR could it be the persons that penned the headlines for the story ??? NAW it must be Dopey from the disney channel.
Well I hope the Stars are Smarter than Tickle from Shiners.
Never will they show the real down and dirty stuff like the bad guys winning..remember bad guys must always lose..as such it should be.
@lee986321 Lee the annoying flea...must be time to pee...naw it is time to flee, lee...
@lee986321 Is that why you always lose?
B O R I N G.........
Why don't they do something interesting once in awhile and quit following the same crap that TLC puts out.
Honey Boo-Boo grows weed....So What!!!
Why don't they do a reality show on Mexican drug cartels and how they distribute their drugs all over the streets of America?
http://www.wellesleynewsonline.com/u-s-marijuana-consumers-fuel-mexican-drug-cartels-1.2984250#.USElRh3Yd4Y
@swimbad 'Cause if you have to buy your weed from Mexcian drug cartels you're stupid. Maybe they should do a reality TV show about all five people in the Pacific Northwest who don't have an uncle or cousin who grows it?
My boss used to buy it from the Customer Service manager. My boss before that got it from his dad. Both of them had $100,000 salaries by the time they were 35, by the way, and still do. Losers.
@swimbad I think the pay off is such, that that fact of life is ignored vigorously by the media on most fronts.
in related news.. the discovery channels "weed country" has the "highest" tv viewership in the country