DIRTY JOBS premiere new episodes

Mike Rowe on location at Meadowbrooke Farms in Carlisle, PA for Dirty Jobs Gourd Maker episode. Andrew Cutraro/Aurora Photos

It’s a dirty job, but somebody’s gotta do it.

The Emmy^®-nominated series DIRTY JOBS continues its fourth season with 11 world premiere episodes that provide an unflinching look at the unsung American worker and spotlight the dignity of a hard day’s work.  With strong convictions and an even stronger stomach, DIRTY JOBS’ host and creator Mike Rowe serves as apprentice to hardworking men and women whose daily jobs – from collecting garbage to plugging abandoned mine shafts – help keep our society clean, civilized and working smoothly.

To help celebrate the new season, Discovery is launching the Meet Mike Sweepstakes on October 7th. Visit discovery.com/dirtyjobs for your chance to meet Mike Rowe, along with other great daily prizes! While you’re there, grab the new Meet Mike Widget and add it to your favorite social networking sites to share the dirt with your friends and help count down to the next episode of Dirty Jobs. 

For the 11 new episodes airing Tuesdays at 9PM ET/PT beginning October 7, Mike travels the country to perform jobs such as:

Tar Rigger, October 7 at 9PM

Mike travels to San Diego, California to learn how to maintain the oldest active merchant ship in the world, which is still done the same way it was in 1863, when it was built.  His work includes getting hoisted 130 feet to tar the rigging on the mast. 

Dirty Chip Maker, October 14 at 9PM

Mike travels to the Dirty Potato Chips company in Oxnard, California, the only small-volume, independent potato chip maker in the state, to learn how potato chips are made and what it takes to keep the machines clean and in working order.  He also heads to Rifle, Colorado to visit the town’s waste water facility, where he learns more than he ever wanted about waste management and cleans the “Muffin Monster” – a machine used to separate solid waste matter from the liquids. 

Sheep Castrator, October 21 at 9PM

Mike heads to the Villard Ranch in Craig, Colorado to join forces with modern day sheepherders to shear, tag, worm and castrate young sheep.  He also travels to an automobile dealership in Orange County, California to saw down a giant concrete wall to make room for a new wash bay, using a special saw with blades made of diamonds.

Leech Trapper, October 28 at 9PM

Mike heads to Waubun, Minnesota to team up with the boys from Bartos Bait & Fish to catch leeches that will later be sold for fish bait.  Unfortunately for him and the crew, catching leeches is done in a remote lake where the main prey seems to be humans – with mosquitoes the predator!  Once the traps are emptied, they head back to the shop to learn how to separate and package the leeches for resale.  Then, Mike heads to the Green Tripe factory in Hollister, California where he helps make B.A.R.F. (Biologically Appropriate Raw Food) for dogs. Watch video from this episode.

Other jobs tackled by Mike in this 11-episode run include breaking down mobile homes; creating mannequins out of a gunky glop of resin and plastic; sorting and cleaning eggs for market; removing chemicals from dirty soil to sterilize it; relocating cacti; making bologna; farming gourds; and plugging abandoned mines.

To good natured guinea pig Rowe, those jobs are all part of an honest day's work.  Having conducted over two hundred jobs (and counting!) since DIRTY JOBS premiered in 2005, he has found a hands-on way to pay tribute to a nation of unsung heroes … and get more than a few laughs along the way.  

The series is produced by Pilgrim Film & Television; Craig Piligian is executive producer.  For Discovery Channel, Gena McCarthy is executive producer.

About Discovery Communications

Discovery Communications (NASDAQ: DISCA, DISCB, DISCK) is the world’s No. 1 nonfiction media company reaching more than 1.5 billion cumulative subscribers in over 170 countries.  Discovery empowers people to explore their world and satisfy their curiosity through 100-plus worldwide networks, led by Discovery Channel, TLC, Animal Planet, Science Channel, Planet Green, Investigation Discovery and HD Theater, as well as leading consumer and educational products and services, and a diversified portfolio of digital media services including HowStuffWorks.com.  For more information, please visit www.discoverycommunications.com.

For the popular Discovery Channel series DIRTY JOBS, currently in its fourth season, host and everyman Mike Rowe gets the grimy scoop on downright nasty occupations that make civilized life possible for the rest of us.

Working alongside those whose professional callings are less than appealing, Mike proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that there's no task too horrendous for him to tackle.

Having performed more than 175 distinctly revolting jobs, Mike continues to explore alternative livelihoods that make the other half of us appreciate our desk jobs.

From birthing cows and inseminating turkeys to cleaning caves, this season of DIRTY JOBS promises to be dirty as ever. All new episodes begin Monday, April 14, 2008 at 9pm ET/PT on Discovery Channel.

Mike Rowe Host of Discovery Channel’s DIRTY JOBS

Watch Video Clip from DIRTY JOBS

Visit: http://www.discovery.com/dirtyjobs

All Photos: Discovery Channel