Despite the fact that some of Discovery’s Gold Rush episodes don't really yield all that much of the yellow stuff, people are still tuning in like the show is the greatest thing since sliced bread. I should give the program credit—the boys are bringing in far more gold than they did in Season 1 and their TV ratings numbers have held pretty steady in Season 3 at just under 5 million total viewers an episode. Season 3 ended just last night, and with Season 4 now a certainty, Gold Rush is set to head into some new territory.
Gold Rush executive producer Christo Doyle recently spoke to EW concerning Season 4 and Doyle says the future is going to be a little crazy for the Gold Rush guys and, in extension, their fans.
First off, the fun is moving south. Recently, fans learned that Todd Hoffman, who had a less monetarily productive season than some of the other crews, has decided to try his hand at finding gold in South America. According to Doyle, the show’s camera crews will head to the south.
“Todd is taking a trip that will be captured in an off-season run of episodes we’re calling Gold Rush: The Off-Season. There will be six episodes there in the summer, and it will be Todd and crew prospecting in three different countries looking for a spot that he thinks holds more gold.”
This is good news for fans of the show, and besides, the special episodes may also bring increased viewership to Gold Rush, since there is less competition from other networks during the summer months. Additionally, Doyle says the off-season special episodes will give the network a chance to test the waters and see how viewers respond to a different sort of Gold Rush. If Gold Rush: The Off-Season does well, that could influence where the cast and crew go for Season 4. We’ll let you know as soon as Gold Rush: The Off-Season gets a premiere date.
