''Diggers'' was an American
reality television series
Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...
, shown on
National Geographic. Filmed in various locations across the United States, the series follows hobbyist
metal detectorists “King George” Wyant and his friend Tim “The Ringmaster” Saylor as they travel the United States, looking for historical artifacts. Landowners, historians and
archaeologists invite them, and grant permission to search various areas looking for overlooked historical items.
Episodes
''Diggers'' had a run of 4 seasons, with 66 episodes from 20132015.
In season 3, episode 1 which aired on February 25, 2014, Wyant and Saylor located the
Steve Jobs Time Capsule.
In season 4, episode 8 which aired on August 10, 2015, Wyant and Saylor returned to the McCoy valley they had searched in 2012 and helped professional archaeologists locate the McCoy cabin burned down by the Hatfields in the
Hatfield–McCoy feud
The Hatfield–McCoy feud, also described by journalists as the Hatfield–McCoy conflict, involved two rural American families of the West Virginia–Kentucky area along the Tug Fork of the Big Sandy River in the years 1863–1891. The Hatfi ...
.
Cast
* “King George” Wyant - A born and bred
Montana
Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columb ...
boy. The outdoors is Wyant's playground; hunting, fishing, skiing and metal detecting.
* Tim “The Ringmaster” Saylor - An
Iowa
Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to th ...
native who started metal detecting in high school. He was hooked on the hobby when he began recovering silver coins in his own backyard. Saylor's luck really runs high when it comes to finding rings, though, so that's how he landed the nickname "Ringy."
Criticism
In 2012, it was reported that the
Society for American Archaeology
The Society for American Archaeology (SAA) is a professional association for the archaeology of the Americas. It was founded in 1934 and its headquarters are in based in Washington, D.C. , it has 7,500 members. Its current president is Deborah L. ...
was mounting a campaign against ''Diggers''. They said these shows encouraged looting of American archaeological sites.
For the 2015 season, the production company, Half Yard Productions, added archaeologist Marc Henshaw to the program and invited the Society for American Archaeology (SAA) and the Society for Historical Archaeology (SHA) to review each episode. The feedback from the SAA and changes made to the program in response were reported in detail in a paper presented at the 2016 Annual Meeting of the SAA. Limited data suggested that the changes did not adversely affect the show's appeal, but the period of evaluation was short, as ''Diggers'' was canceled in 2015 when Fox News Network acquired NG Channel.
The duo subsequently struck out on their own in 2017 with the web series ''Diggin with KG and Ringy'' in which they explore sites around the world.
See also
*
National Geographic Channel
References
External links
*
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Diggers
2010s American reality television series
2013 American television series debuts
Metal detecting
2015 American television series endings