OLN Announces Nine New Series, Five New Specials for 2006/2007 Fall Highlights / Outdoor Life Network Posted by RAD on Jun 06, 2006 - 07:55 PM OLN announced the addition of nine new series and five new specials to their fall/winter schedule, including: The Rig, Ed’s Up, Man’s Work, Race To Dakar, Road Hockey Rumble, Crash Addicts, Stroud’s Off The Grid, The Real Lost World, Back Packers, Tribe, Angry Planet, Dogtown and Z-Boys, Hot Rod and Sea of Steel. In addition to the new series and specials joining OLN’s fall schedule, 11 of the channel’s most popular programs and events return to the schedule with new episodes, including: Survivorman, Half-Mile of Hell, The Amazing Race, Beyond Boundaries, Dakar Rally, Iditarod Sled Dog Race, Pilot Guides, Wrangler National Finals Rodeo, PBR World Finals, Don’t Forget Your Passport and The 2007 Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show. The Rig OLN provides an inside look at the lives and livelihoods of some of the most rugged people on earth this fall. Explore the wildcat world of Alberta oil rigs in the new original 13-part series The Rig. Follow six members of a rig’s crew across the oil fields of central Alberta, the largest deposit of crude oil outside of Saudi Arabia and delve deep into the dark reality of life on the rig, following this motley crew who risk life and limb – all in the name of adventure, fortune and flames. Crash Addicts / Man's Work In the original 13-part series Crash Addicts, watch the exploits of a group of small-town, car-crazy characters as they painstakingly assemble everything from sub compact cars to station wagons, only to smash ‘em up within a five-minute demolition derby heat. Witness this wild bunch in their natural habitat, where a high-octane triumph can shift to a muddy comedy of errors quicker than you can yell “give ‘r!” Then, watch British couch potato Ashley Hames as he goes from lazy layabout to “man’s man” in the new 13-part series Man’s Work. In an effort to toughen up, Hames undergoes a series of terrifying lessons as he is pushed to his mental, physical and emotional limits, including working on an Alaskan crab fishing boat and working the intimidating streets of Bogota with the Columbian Anti Narcotics Police Force – to name a few. Ed's Up This fall, two new OLN series go-off-the-beaten path and discover the world as you’ve never imagined it. Take off for the skies with Ed Robertson of the Barenaked Ladies in the original 13-part series Ed’s Up. Robertson challenges his manhood in a jet-fuelled, adventure that takes him far from his life of international rock stardom. Robertson, an avid pilot, comes down to earth to walk a mile in some of the toughest steel-toed boots in the country. But with only a set of GPS coordinates and an adventurous attitude, he has no idea what he’s getting himself into. Back Packers Then, follow the story of three friends from Australia who leave behind their everyday lives to seek adventure and mayhem while traveling across Europe in the 22-part series Back Packers. Shot over the course of one year while travelling through 20 countries, friends Jag, Mick and Lee run out of money seven times, fall in love five times, get mugged four times, attend five festivals and get completely lost in most of the countries they visit! An unplanned and unscripted format sets the style of Back Packers – these boys face every encounter head on with often hilarious and sometimes unfortunate consequences. Race to Dakar / Road Hockey Rumble Go on the ultimate guy’s trips – where the journey is more important than the destination – in two new OLN series. In the six-part series Race to Dakar Charley Boorman and his Dakar Rally team enter the most dangerous motor sport event in the world – the Dakar Rally – with every intention of conquering it. The Dakar Rally is one of the most physically and emotionally demanding events in the world. For a first-time participant like Boorman, completing the race will be a dream come true. Then, in the new original 13-part series Road Hockey Rumble, meet two ferocious hockey-obsessed rivals, Calum and Mark, as they make their way across Canada in a 13-game grudge match series of road hockey. On the road they tap into the rivalries, legends and elbow-to-the-face grit of Canada’s most colourful and competitive towns. In each location, the guys must draft a team of locals who have their own historic war of words. Winners take all (well, truthfully, nothing but bragging rights) and the losers are left with the short end of the stick: suffering a humiliating, painful and hilarious punishment. Strout's Off The Grid OLN finds out what it takes to be a real survivor in two new programs coming this fall, including the original two-part special Stroud’s Off The Grid. Les Stroud of Survivorman fame returns to OLN and exposes the realities of living alternatively in our modern age. Follow the challenges, struggles and adventures of Stroud and his family as they move to their 170-acre bush property in northern Ontario to live year-round without hydro, running water, or modern conveniences. Tribe Then, in the six-part series Tribe, follow former Royal Marine and expedition leader Bruce Parry as he lives with ancient tribes in some of the world's most remote areas. Parry sheds social trappings (and sometimes his Western clothes) and lives alongside people from far-off places such as the Himalayas, Ethiopia, West Papua, Gabon and Mongolia. During these experiences Parry is immersed in the culture and adopts the methods and practices of his hosts. Hear unique languages and watch the sometimes-graphic practices of living and surviving in the jungle among some of the world's disappearing cultures. New programs airing on OLN's Big Screen Each week, OLN’s Big Screen programming strand presents gritty, edgy blue-chip documentaries and special presentations from Canada and around the world. New this fall to OLN’s Big Screen is the special The Real Lost World. Journey to Venezuela and discover the mysterious place that inspired Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to write The Lost World, his famous book on men and dinosaurs. In the international hit documentary Dogtown and Z-Boys (narrated by Sean Penn) discover the high-flying "vert" (i.e. vertical) style of skateboarding that is now a defining element of international youth culture. Invented in the street, in a place called Dogtown, "where debris meets the sea," Dogtown and Z-Boys is the story of a group of accidental revolutionaries, gifted kids who inadvertently inspired an American pop culture phenomenon. Hot Rod Sea of Steel In the new special Hot Rod, travel to Landsdowne, Ontario, where no shirt and no shoes means no problem! A legend in his hometown, Hot Rod (Joe Kemp) is a former demolition derby champ who is back to crash, smash and bash his competitors on his way to victory. Buckle up for this hilarious small town documentary and take a ride you won’t soon forget. Next, in the original OLN special Sea of Steel, follow a group of Canadian adventurers who have developed an innovative approach to the problem of decommissioned naval vessels rotting in dockyards around the world – they blow up the boats and sink them! Meticulously cleaned of pollutants, the submerged structures provide a habitat and breeding site to countless marine species. As well, artificial reef-making is now big business and these sites are beginning to attract tourists from around the world. 2006 Professional Bull Riding World Finals This fall, hold onto your hat as OLN saddles up for a new season of programming featuring all things rodeo. The prestigious Professional Bull Riding Built Ford Tough Series returns to OLN, culminating in the 2006 Professional Bull Riding World Finals showcasing the greatest bull riding athletes over two weeks in Las Vegas. This marquee event represents the crown jewel of the 31-city tour and features the year's top 45 bull riders who qualify based on money won during the regular season. Also returning this season, the Pro Rodeo Cowboy Association Tour includes both the winter and summer series, each featuring 10 Tour stops and the grand finale – the National Finals Rodeo Championship in Las Vegas – with a purse of U.S. $5.2-million. Complimenting OLN’s Western lifestyle programming, the original behind-the-scenes reality show Half Mile Of Hell returns for another season focusing on the most eccentric characters in the world of chuckwagon races. OLN’s hit show Survivorman returns for a second season to entertain and bewilder viewers in this genuine and truly authentic “reality” show. With no production crew, food, water or supplies except for his own camera equipment, survival expert Les Stroud will brave the harshest locations in Africa, Australia, South America and Indonesia to challenge his survival skills for seven days at a time with no outside contact. Also back is the heart-pounding 10th season of the Emmy Award-winning series The Amazing Race. Watch as 11 teams of two trek around the world for approximately 30 days. At every destination, each team will have to compete in a series of challenges – some mental and some physical – and only when the tasks have been completed will they learn their next destination. Teams who are farthest behind will gradually be eliminated as the contest progresses, with the first team to arrive at the final destination winning U.S. $1-million. Also returning to OLN this fall: hosts and travel guides, Ian Wright and Justine Shapiro return with new locales and globetrotting adventure on Pilot Guides; host Gordon Sivell embarks on all new journeys into Africa and South East Asia in the travel-adventure series Don’t Forget Your Passport; and the Westminster Dog Show, second-oldest sporting event in the U.S. after the Kentucky Derby, returns to crown a new pooch as “best in show.” Properties returning in the winter and spring of 2007 include adrenaline charged events like Dakar Rally, 2007 Iditarod Sled Dog Race and the second season of the inspirational BBC adventure series Beyond Boundaries. This article is from CHANNEL CANADA   http://www.channelcanada.com/ The URL for this story is:   http://www.channelcanada.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1396