Black Gold (TV series)

Last updated
Black Gold
Blackgoldlogo.jpg
Season 1 title card
Country of originUnited States
No. of seasons5
No. of episodes44
Production
Executive producers
  • Brent Henderson
  • Jeff Conroy
  • Philip D. Segal
  • Sarah Whalen
  • Thom Beers
Running time45 minutes
Production company Original Productions
Original release
Network truTV
ReleaseJune 18, 2008 (2008-06-18) 
April 4, 2013 (2013-04-04)

Black Gold is a reality-documentary television series that chronicles three oil drilling rigs in Andrews County, Texas, [1] 30 miles northwest of Odessa. It was partly produced by Thom Beers, [2] creator of Deadliest Catch and Ice Road Truckers . [3] The Black Gold theme song was sung by country music star Trace Adkins. The title "Black Gold" comes from a slang term for oil.

Contents

Black Gold aired Wednesday nights on truTV at 10pm. It is also shown as a special presentation on TNT in high definition. The show also airs in the United Kingdom on ITV4 and debuted in Australia on A&E on February 4, 2016. [4]

Series overview

First season

The first season follows three rigs — Longhorn, Viking, and Big Dog—that have only 50 days to successfully locate and retrieve the crude oil. The roughnecks, as they are called on the rig, endure exhausting and dangerous work demands. Oil rigs Longhorn and Viking are funded by wildcatter Mike Lamonica while the Big Dog is funded by wildcatter Autry Stephens, both of whom have put up millions of dollars in hopes of finding new deposits of oil. The show also features pipe salesman Michael “Rooster” McConaughey, brother of actor Matthew McConaughey and a self-made millionaire who stars in the CNBC series West Texas Investors Club . The first season was the highest rated series to date on TruTV. [5]

Second season

The second season (premiered August 8, 2009) only follows one rig, Big Dog rig number 28, owned by Autry Stephens. The season is centered around the requirement given by Stephens to finish four wells in 50 days in order to maintain the lease on the land. One notable returning character is Gerald Williams, who was fired in the previous season.

Third season

The third season, premiered September 9, 2010 follows Big Dog rig 28 wildcatting on hostile landowner Peggy Hauser's land.

Fourth season

The fourth season began on November 30, 2011, airing Wednesdays at 10pm. Again it follows Big Dog rig 28.

Fifth season

In August 2012, truTV ordered a 10-episode fifth season of the series, slated to begin in the winter television the new season will begin airing December 19, 2012 at 10pm. [6] [ needs update ]

Sixth season and cancellation

On April 4, 2013, Black Gold star Brandon Watson was arrested for driving while under the influence and hit-and-run. [7] Soon after his arrest TruTv removed Black Gold from its website, cancelling the show along with the sixth season, which was set to air December 16, 2013.

Related Research Articles

Rig or RIG may refer to:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roughneck</span> Term for a person whose job is hard labor

Roughneck is a term for a person whose occupation is hard manual labor. The term applies across a number of industries, but is most commonly associated with the workers on a drilling rig. The ideal of the hard-working, tough roughneck has been adopted by several sports teams who use the phrase as part of their name or logo.

Forensic Files, originally known as Medical Detectives, is an American documentary television program that reveals how forensic science is used to solve violent crimes, mysterious accidents, and outbreaks of illness. The show was originally broadcast on TLC, narrated by Peter Thomas, and produced by Medstar Television, distributed by FilmRise, in association with truTV Original Productions. It broadcast 406 episodes from its debut on TLC in 1996 until its final episode in 2011. Reruns shown on HLN were initially retitled Mystery Detectives before settling on the main title of the show in 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Myron Keck</span> American businessman (1880–1964)

William Myron Keck was an American businessman and philanthropist. He was best known as the founder of Superior Oil Company, author Kevin Krajick has described Keck as "the world's greatest oil prospector, a man whose instincts about the location of petroleum were so uncanny, some believed him clairvoyant." Keck established the W. M. Keck Foundation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roustabout</span> Worker with broad-based, non-specific skills

Roustabout is an occupational term. Traditionally, it referred to a worker with broad-based, non-specific skills. In particular, it was used to describe show or circus workers who handled materials for construction on fairgrounds. In modern times it is applied to rural employment, such as those assisting sheep shearing, and positions in the oil industry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of Texas Longhorn Band</span> College marching band in Austin, Texas

The University of Texas Longhorn Band (LHB), also known as the Showband of the Southwest, is the marching band of The University of Texas at Austin. The Longhorn Band was founded in 1900 by distinguished professor of chemistry, Dr. Eugene P. Schoch. The band is currently under the direction of Dr. Cliff Croomes. The band performs at all in-state football games, for various Texas Longhorn Athletics teams, and at special pep rallies and parades throughout the year. The band includes about 375 students, all of whom must register for a year-round course offered by the Sarah and Ernest Butler School of Music Butler School of Music .

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joinerville, Texas</span> Unincorporated community in Texas, United States

Joinerville is an unincorporated community in East Texas. It is located in western Rusk County, Texas, United States.

Oilfield terminology refers to the jargon used by those working in fields within and related to the upstream segment of the petroleum industry. It includes words and phrases describing professions, equipment, and procedures specific to the industry. It may also include slang terms used by oilfield workers to describe the same.

The Dog House may refer to:

<i>Licence to Drill</i> Canadian TV series or program

Licence to Drill is a documentary television series produced by the Montreal-based Pixcom for Discovery Channel Canada. The series documents the activities of two teams of natural gas drillers in the Canadian North in the winter of 2008.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matthew McConaughey</span> American actor (born 1969)

Matthew David McConaughey is an American actor. He had his breakout role with a supporting performance in the coming-of-age comedy Dazed and Confused (1993). After a number of supporting roles, his first success as a leading man came in the legal drama A Time to Kill (1996). His career progressed with lead roles in the science fiction film Contact (1997), the historical drama Amistad (1997), and the war film U-571 (2000).

<i>Hardcore Pawn</i> American TV reality show

Hardcore Pawn is an American reality television series produced by RDF USA and Richard Dominick Productions for truTV about the day-to-day operations of American Jewelry and Loan, a family-owned and -operated pawn shop and broker in Detroit, Michigan's 8 Mile Road corridor.

<i>Full Throttle Saloon</i> American TV series or program

Full Throttle Saloon is an American reality television series that premiered on November 10, 2009, and originally aired on truTV. The series chronicles the daily operations of the bar for which it is named − the Full Throttle Saloon in Sturgis, South Dakota. The world's largest biker bar, it was located on 30 acres of land purchased in 1999 by Michael Ballard. The indoor/outdoor bar included several large stages, a burn-out pit, a tattoo parlor, zip lines, a wrestling ring, restaurants, dozens of stores, hundreds of cabins for rent, and parking for thousands of motorcycles. It was open from late March/early April until mid-November, and was busiest during the annual week-long Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. Each year, the first full week of August marks the beginning of the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, during which time, the Saloon could average 20,000 guests each night.

Longhorn Network (LHN) is an American regional sports network owned as a joint venture between The University of Texas at Austin, ESPN and Learfield, and is operated by ESPN. The network, which launched on August 26, 2011, focuses on the Texas Longhorns varsity sports teams of the University of Texas at Austin.

<i>The Chris Gethard Show</i> American TV series or program

The Chris Gethard Show is a phone-in comedy and variety talk show created and hosted by Chris Gethard. Initially a live show at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in New York, the show debuted on public-access channel Manhattan Neighborhood Network on June 22, 2011. In 2015, it moved to the cable channel Fusion, where it ran for two seasons before moving to truTV in 2017.

<i>West Texas Investors Club</i> American TV series or program

West Texas Investors Club was an American television docu-series which airs on CNBC. The series follows self-made millionaires Mike 'Rooster' McConaughey and Wayne 'Butch' Gilliam meeting entrepreneurs in Texas, offering them the chance to pitch their products and secure funding from Rooster and Butch. The eight part hour-long series was commissioned by CNBC in January 2015 and is produced by The Ebersol Lanigan Company.

<i>Arrow</i> (season 5) Season of television series

The fifth season of the American television series Arrow premiered on The CW on October 5, 2016, and concluded on May 24, 2017, with a total of 23 episodes. The series is based on the DC Comics character Green Arrow, a costumed crime-fighter created by Mort Weisinger and George Papp, and is set in the Arrowverse, sharing continuity with other Arrowverse television series. The showrunners for this season were Marc Guggenheim and Wendy Mericle. Stephen Amell stars as Oliver Queen, with principal cast members David Ramsey as John Diggle, Willa Holland as Thea Queen, Emily Bett Rickards as Felicity Smoak, and Paul Blackthorne as Quentin Lance also returning from previous seasons. They are joined by Echo Kellum as Curtis Holt, who was promoted to a series regular from his recurring status in the previous season, and new cast member Josh Segarra.

<i>Boomtown</i> (podcast) Podcast about big oil in the Permian Basin

Boomtown is a podcast about big oil in the Permian Basin hosted by Christian Wallace and produced by Texas Monthly in partnership with Imperative Entertainment.

References

  1. "Reality TV show stars Texas roughnecks doing their jobs". 15 June 2008.
  2. "'Black Gold' on truTV: A series that's relevant".
  3. Bellafante, Ginia (18 June 2008). "Workers of an Extreme World, One Beyond Classes". The New York Times . Retrieved 10 November 2012.
  4. Purcell, Charles (28 January 2016). "New This Week (Feb 1): The 100, Selling Houses Australia, Dickensian, Auckland Nines and live sport". The Green Room. Archived from the original on 28 January 2016. Retrieved 28 January 2016.
  5. "TruTV renews 'Black Gold'". The Hollywood Reporter . 29 July 2009.
  6. "truTV Taps Fifth Season of Black Gold". Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 10 November 2012.
  7. "Midland Oil Driller Featured on "Black Gold" TV Show Facing Misdemeanor Charges of DWI". 4 April 2013.