Mike Rowe hasn't done any Dirty Jobs for Discovery Channel since 2012, but with America slowly emerging from months of lockdowns and quarantine -- except for people doing some of society's dirtiest and most essential jobs, who've still been at work -- he's decided to get the band back together and hit the road this summer.
On July 7, at 9 p.m. ET/PT, Dirty Jobs: Rowe'd Trip premieres. Here's what Discovery, and Rowe, had to say:
Part reunion, part road-trip, part look-back-special, and part “where-are-they-now,” this series highlights everything that made DIRTY JOBS an “essential” franchise in the first place. The original DIRTY JOBS crew travel together in a mini-RV and reminisce about all things dirty.
"DIRTY JOBS Forrest Gump-ed its way on the air in 2004 and changed my life forever. What began as a simple tribute to my grandfather, has evolved into the granddaddy of 'essential work' programming, and I'm humbled everyday by the number of people who continue to watch,” Rowe said. “Personally, I've missed the camaraderie more than anything else -- the fun of traveling with a tight-knit crew, meeting the finest people you could ever hope to know, and shooting in all 50 states many times over.
"Looking back at my favorite moments with the old crew while hitting the open road was the perfect way to reunite, especially at a time like the one we're all living through now. I know that fans of the show will have as much fun watching, as we did filming."
During the original DIRTY JOBS, Rowe traveled to all 50 states and completed 300 different jobs. Now, he and the original DIRTY JOBS crew set out on a road trip across the country to revisit past jobbers and tell new stories. Each episode will follow a specific theme – Infrastructure, Innovator, Isolation and Animals and lead viewers on an epic road trip, culminating in a stop at a unique destination.
Discovery viewers can check out new episodes of DIRTY JOBS: ROWE’D TRIP each week by downloading the Discovery GO app. Viewers can join the conversation on social media by using the hashtag #DirtyJobs and following Dirty Jobs on Facebook and Discovery on Instagram and Twitter for the latest updates.
One note for parents, Dirty Jobs is a great entertainment/educational show for families, but Rowe has a puckish sense of humor, and occasionally his jokes border on being mild double-entendres. It's nothing to scare parents off, but just know that, every now and then, you may get a quizzical look from littles and a snicker from middle-schoolers and up.
Since Dirty Jobs went off the air, Rowe has kept busy with his social-media presence, books, blog, podcast and more TV work, whether on-camera or as a narrator (such as for Discovery's Deadliest Catch, airing Tuesdays, and as host for its virtual-talk-show companion, After the Catch).
But his real passion has been closing the "skills gap," urging young workers to not just consider college as a next step but to give equal weight to pursuing a wide variety of good-paying jobs in the skilled trades, which are always needed and can't be outsourced overseas.
Learn more about that at mikeroweworks.org, the home for Rowe's foundation, which tackles this issue on several fronts.
Image: Discovery
Kate O’Hare, a longtime entertainment journalist, is Social Media Manager and blog editor at Family Theater Productions.
Keep up with Family Theater Productions our website, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
