The stunning cinematography and edge-of-your-seat drama of Deadliest Catch netted the Discovery Channel three Primetime Emmy Awards nominations, the Television Academy announced Tuesday. The docuseries, which documents the lives of the men and women who risk their lives crabbing on the Bering Sea, is up for Outstanding Cinematography For A Reality Program, Outstanding Picture Editing For An Unstructured Reality Program and Outstanding Unstructured Reality Program.
In its 15 seasons, Deadliest Catch has received 51 Emmy nominations to date and 16 wins. This year, the Discovery show is up against National Geographic’s Life Below Zero, Netflix’s Queer Eye, VH1’s RuPaul’s Drag Race and CBS’ Survivor in the Cinematography category. Also nominated in the Picture Editing category were A&E’s Born This Way, Life Below Zero, RuPaul’s Drag Race: Untucked and CNN’s United Shades of America With W. Kamau Bell.
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In the overall Outstanding Unstructured Reality Program category, Deadliest Catch is nominated alongside Born This Way, Life Below Zero, RuPaul’s Drag Race: Untucked, United Shades Of America With W. Kamau Bell and Netflix’s Somebody Feed Phil.
Prior to Season 15 of Deadliest Catch, PopCulture.com’s Anna Rumer traveled to Dutch Harbor, Alaska to try her hand at greenhorning on the Summer Bay and see how the Discovery crew was taking things to the next level behind the scenes.
Director of Photography David Reichert told PopCulture at the time, “We’re using better and better equipment, because we’re 15 years in. We need to make this thing better every year. After 15 years, we’re pretty high up there, but this year … it is, without a doubt, the biggest look upgrade we’ve done in the 15-year history of the show.”
With a brand new, state-of-the-art camera system, DaVinci software and wheelhouse lighting done by the gaffer who lit John Wick, Reichert was confident that Deadliest Catch was making leaps and bounds in the realm of unscripted TV.
“We’re putting movie pictures, cinema-quality pictures, on television, in a show that is happening in the middle of the Bering Sea, chasing a bunch of crabbers around that you can’t hardly control,” he emphasized. “But, you know, you put all that together, and you got something pretty great.”
He added, “It’s a hundred percent different than everything else on TV. Yeah, nobody else is doing what we’re doing. Not even close right now.”
The Creative Arts Emmys will air Saturday, Sept. 14, and Sunday, Sept. 15, while the Primetime Emmys will air live FOX on Sunday, Sept. 22.
Photo credit: Discovery
