Poll of the Day > I've been watching that Curse of Oak Island show and...

(+) Yeah! (+)

...every time I watch an episode I want to play Terraria...
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Every time I see that show, I swear they're just desperate for anything to be found somehow but nothing to actually be dug up so the show can go on forever

CTLM posted...

Every time I see that show, I swear they're just desperate for anything to be found somehow but nothing to actually be dug up so the show can go on forever

They actually gave up and stopped digging there before the show even started, because Canadian law says they can't keep anything significant they find anyway, so it's absolutely not worth it.

They only started digging again specifically BECAUSE of the show, where they're being paid to put on a show. So they definitely don't want to find anything at this point, because the longer they string the show out, the more they actually make off it.

But it doesn't matter, because there's literally nothing on that island for them to find anyway.

So in that sense, it's absolutely like every ghost hunting and Bigfoot hunting show on TV.
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TV is awful these days anyway. Everything is written for the commercial and the tension build up to commercial breaks is annoying as fuck. I stopped watching TV and streaming media 4 years ago because how awful it is.
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ParanoidObsessive posted...

They actually gave up and stopped digging there before the show even started,

Citation needed.
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I watched half an episode and it looked interesting but, from the get-go, I figured they couldn't *possibly* find anything because otherwise it'd be in the news first.

ParanoidObsessive posted...

So in that sense, it's absolutely like every ghost hunting and Bigfoot hunting show on TV.

Daaaaaaaaaang....
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Didnt a team accidentally flood and collapse the hidden chamber or whatever there supposedly is many years ago?

So even if there was something there it might be ruined or destroyed by now
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Mead posted...

Didnt a team accidentally flood and collapse the hidden chamber or whatever there supposedly is many years ago?

So even if there was something there it might be ruined or destroyed by now

I dunno about collapsing, but areas of it are flooded. But that doesn't mean things will be destroyed.
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AllstarSniper32 posted...

ParanoidObsessive posted...

They actually gave up and stopped digging there before the show even started

Citation needed.

http://www.amazon.com/Fortune-Glory-Treasure-Hunters-Handbook/dp/1472807847

It's mentioned in that book. You can probably also find a timeline of the island online somewhere that tells you the exact same thing.

Basically, Canada passed laws in 1989 that severely restricted the advantages of treasure hunting, and passed even more restrictive laws in 2010. Combined with multiple lawsuits from previous owners, and legal issues over who owns the causeway to access the island (and who they allow to use it), it made it extremely complicated and expensive to dig there, so excavation on the island ended almost entirely - and the Laginas and Blankenship basically ran their company on the island almost purely on the basis of tourism.

Basically, the number of groups excavating and the degree to which they were actually working was steadily decreasing through the 1990s and 2000s, and stopped entirely from 2010-2014.

It wasn't until 2014 that Syfy stepped in and offered them the show deal and restarted things there by smoothing out some of the governmental red tape. So they basically stopped excavating four YEARS before the show started, and had basically given up entirely, only to come back when Syfy thought it would make a good "reality" show. If they hadn't done so, it's extremely likely the island would still be completely shut down in any meaningful treasure-hunting sense.
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It's an interesting show, looking forward to the new season.
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AllstarSniper32 posted...

Mead posted...

Didnt a team accidentally flood and collapse the hidden chamber or whatever there supposedly is many years ago?

So even if there was something there it might be ruined or destroyed by now

I dunno about collapsing, but areas of it are flooded. But that doesn't mean things will be destroyed.

Makes sense, if they can't have it, nobody can.

ParanoidObsessive posted...

It wasn't until 2014 that Syfy stepped in and offered them the show deal and restarted things there by smoothing out some of the governmental red tape. So they basically stopped excavating four YEARS before the show started, and had basically given up entirely, only to come back when Syfy thought it would make a good "reality" show. If they hadn't done so, it's extremely likely the island would still be completely shut down in any meaningful treasure-hunting sense.

Sounds like any other reality tv show.
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ParanoidObsessive posted...

Basically, the number of groups excavating and the degree to which they were actually working was steadily decreasing through the 1990s and 2000s, and stopped entirely from 2010-2014.

Oh, so you meant groups before the current group? Or did they also stop before the show? There has been more than one group of people seeking things there. The group shown in the show is the most recent. And I doubt that group stopped searching before the show started only to start back up again.
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AllstarSniper32 posted...

Oh, so you meant groups before the current group? Or did they also stop before the show? There has been more than one group of people seeking things there. The group shown in the show is the most recent. And I doubt that group stopped searching before the show started only to start back up again.

Yes and no.

There were other groups attempting to look for treasure who stopped completely and just never came back. But the current group consists of people that looked for years, eventually stopped, and only restarted because of the show.

Blankenship started looking in 1967, and stopped in 1989. The Lagina's came in in 2006, partnered with Blankenship's son, and stopped in 2010. From 2010 to 2014, the only activity on the island at all was tourism-based.

The current group is entirely made up of people who failed and stopped previously, who are only digging now because the show exists.

If not for the show, neither the Lagina's nor Blankenship would currently be digging - at best, they'd just still be running tourism.
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ParanoidObsessive posted...

If not for the show, neither the Lagina's nor Blankenship would currently be digging

OK but then here's the question. Did they stop because they believe there's nothing on the island to find, or did they stop because they couldn't put forth the money that would be required to actually do the things that needed to be done to dig and whatnot?

For example, they need to pay divers to get to areas that require divers. While I don't know prices, I doubt you can just get divers to risk life for cheap. And I'm currently watching season 4 and they have this giant crane digging down in more than one spot and the number they threw out was that it was going to cost $2 million. While I don't know the Lagina's money situation, that's a pretty high number to just throw that kind of money for excavating.

So while they did stop, I doubt it's because they believe there's "nothing there" and more that they just didn't have the funds to do things properly.
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