Discovery Channel Fires ‘Dirty Jobs’

One of the Discovery Channel’s longest and dirtiest series will apply for its last job this season.

‘Dirty Jobs with Mike Rowe,’ a reality series that put Rowe in a number of disgusting, smelly and difficult professions for ten seasons, has been cancelled by Discovery, according to Deadline Hollywood.

Rowe confirmed the network’s decision to end the series on his official blog:

Whenever Dirty Jobs goes off the air for a few months, people start to wonder if the show has been canceled. Rumors begin to swirl, and questions about the show’s future fill my inbox. Over the years it’s been my pleasure to assure anxious fans that Dirty Jobs is coming back for another season. And indeed, we always have. Alas, this year, I’m afraid I cannot dispel the rumors. A few weeks ago, I was officially informed that Dirty Jobs had entered into a new phase. One I like to call, ‘permanent hiatus.’ Or in the more popular industry vernacular, canceled.”

The series got its unofficial start when Rowe worked as an on-air correspondent for a CBS affiliate in San Francisco, California. He starred in a segment called ‘Somebody’s Gotta Do It’ that featured Rowe doing a series of tough and dirty jobs to learn more about these icky occupations and the people who do them. He and producer Craig Piligian spent two years trying to expand the series, until Discovery bought the show and renamed it ‘Dirty Jobs.’

The series became one of the channel’s signature shows, just as reality television started to carve out a serious chunk of cable networks’ programming. Just the regular news segment, the show put Rowe in a number of “dirty jobs” such as roadkill cleaner, sewer inspector, pig farmer, shark suit tester and cheese maker. A recent trip to Australia led to an opportunity to work as an owl vomit collector.

The show made Rowe a public advocate for blue collar causes, such as improving the nation’s infrastructure and job training. He discussed these issues on several talk shows, including CNN’s ‘Larry King Live.’ He even testified before the U.S. Senate’s Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee in 2011 to call for greater training in skilled trades such as transportation and manufacturing for the nation’s workforce.

Subscribe to B105 on

Source: Discovery Channel Fires ‘Dirty Jobs’