Best Show on TV

Every Tuesday night from April into June, you can find some of the best television around.

9 eastern/8 central time - Deadliest Catch is now in it's 10th season on Discovery Channel.

I don't know how many episodes I've seen from the first effort, but haven't missed many since and consider it appointment or DVR-worthy TV.

The show isn't typical reality television in that this is stuff that would be going on without cameras around to record it.

The premise is a simple one - watching the Captain and crew on five crab boats in the Bering Sea as they go looking for King and Opilio crabs in two seasons that stretch from October into February.

The weather is really the star of the show - as the winter gales churn the water into a major enemy of the crabbers and threatening life and limb and make even simple tasks difficult when the mercury plunges below zero.

It shows the day to day ups, downs, and drama of life in one of the most dangerous jobs on earth.

Depending on how the fishing is going - crews can be up for 24 hours at a time (or more) and be lucky to get 3 - 4 hours sleep when they get to hit the rack.

The finger crunching, back breaking, and mentally taxing job is difficult to imagine while I sit thousands of miles away in a comfortable living room.

There is a bit of old-school reality in the on board world.  Fools are not suffered lightly - if you can't cut it - the rest of the crew can be unmerciful.

But, when something bad happens and the chips are down - even Captains "at war" with each other over fishing territory drop everything to help in the middle of a vast body of water.

If you haven't seen it, check out some recorded episodes from past seasons or watch some episodes now in syndication.  It's like having a knot hole that allows you to look into a world most of us never see.