Parker Schnabel was never supposed to be the star of “Gold Rush.” When Schnabel started out on the show, it was focused on his grandfather, John Schnabel, while Parker was just one of the miners at the elder Schnabel’s Big Nugget Mine. After John Schnabel stepped down in Season 2, the show shifted its focus…

Fans of Discovery hit “Gold Rush: White Water” know two things about hunting for gold in the overgrown wilds and rushing rivers of Alaska’s Chilkat Mountain Range: Whatever can go wrong will go wrong, and whatever mining boss Dustin Hurt asks his crew to do, he’s willing to do himself. “Something I’ve always told them is…

Reality television has captivated audiences for years. Viewers get enamored by the drama, the stakes, and the fact that it’s all happening to someone else. And, in 2010, Discovery’s “Gold Rush” showed its audience that reality TV comes in unexpected forms. The series follows a crew of miners in Alaska as they work in some…

For over a decade now, Discovery’s reality TV show “Gold Rush” has chronicled the exploits of gold mining operations all across the continents of North America and South America. Despite its eye-watering episode count and numerous spin-off shows, the series’ enduring focus on risky mining expeditions with high personal stakes for the crews has kept…