Ax Men: History Series on Logging Not Particularly Historic!

AX Men - Gustafson Logging 

Probably the only reason to watch The History Channel’s new reality series, Ax Men [Sundays, 10/9C] is because of that same part of the psyche that makes some people slow down to get a really good look at a car accident. Beyond the possibility of seeing someone maimed or killed, however, the series is a bleak, ponderous and not particularly interesting piece of work.

Logging is not the safest job in the world – and that is really the only draw for The History Channel’s new series, Ax Men. The series follows four logging companies as they take on the unique challenges of four different logging sites [one of which bears the strikingly appropriate name of Idiot Creek!] in the Pacific Northwest.

The four companies – J.M. Browning Logging, Gustafson Logging, Pihl [peel] Logging and Stump Branch Logging – face different radically challenges with varying degrees of competence and ingenuity. One of the enterprising crew bosses uses a helicopter to lay a line; another finds himself short-handed when a key member of the crew throws his back out.

There are snapped cables, runaway logs and miserable weather to contend with – and each crew is on a fixed deadline, so these problems can’t be allowed to slow things down too much. In the premiere episode of Ax Man, however, two companies finish the day without delivering so much as one load.

One of the problems with Ax Men is the writing. It’s repetitious and delivered by the narrator with a tone that suggests the hushed silence before something goes horribly wrong – and if I hear the phrase “green gold” one more time, I may have to hurt someone! Allowing for problematic writing and a really annoying narrator, what’s left? Lots and lots of shots of loggers at work. Which, frankly, is mostly boring – at least until something goes horribly wrong [which it hasn’t, yet]. I suppose the loggers’ language might be entertaining, but what I heard, uncut, will likely be bleeped for broadcast so… so much for that.

Set for thirteen episodes, Ax Men might become more exciting with the change of seasons, but I expect all that’ll change is that the background will turn white as the snows come. On the other hand, there is always the chance that some accident or other will kill or maim a member of one of the crews – but I won’t be there to watch it happen.

Frankly, it was all I could do to stay awake during the first episode – and that’s with a couple of accidents and some less than brilliant tactics by one crew in dealing with a stuck yarder [if you watch the series, they’ll tell you what that is – and why it’s different from a yoder…]. The best thing about Ax Men is that the press kit contains a brief history of logging. I hope some of that material finds its way into the actual series, or it’s going to be a long thirteen weeks…

Final Grade: D

3 Comments

  1. Jay Browning is my brother in law. He and my Sister own JM Browning Logging.

    First of all I didn’t like the reference to the Idiot Creek site. Yes that is the name of the site and the way you put it you were insinuating that the crew were idiots. Not Nice…….

  2. I apologise for giving the impression that I was insulting a specific crew [you will note that I didn’t name a specific crew for the ingenious use of a helicopter, either]; I was referring to the manner in which the show itself referred to the site as being an inordinately dangerous one.

    I certainly didn’t intend to give offense.

  3. This next week will have a lot of the destruction of the Dec 2007 storm. Winds of hurricane forces destroyed many trees in the forest, flooded many homes in Vernonia and the loss of electricity for 3 to 7 days in most areas. It certainly will be interesting to the people of the Northwest.

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