Discovery climbs aboard the premium drama train with "Klondike", its first scripted miniseries - about hunting for gold in the Yukon - and delivers some promising nuggets, but not the mother lode. I don't recommend intentionally skipping this one, but manage your expectations and accept the need to suspend some disbelief and tolerate historical inaccuracies in pursuit of the bright & shiny parts!
The series is based on the true tales of some of the men and women who were caught up in the Dawson City gold rush of the late 1890s, culled from Canadian historian Charlotte Gray's 2010 book "Gold Diggers: Striking It Rich in the Klondike".
Richard Madden, who played Robb Stark (RIP, King of the North!!!) in "Game of Thrones," stars as Bill Haskell, an adventure-seeking college graduate who, with his pal Byron Epstein (Augustus Prew), goes west to see what entrepreneurial fortunes await. During a chance encounter in Denver, a stranger in a bar pays their tab with a fat gold nugget, and that's all it takes: The young men buy into the hype and head for the far, far northwest.
"Klondike" is not going to win awards for its lackluster screenplay and penchant for melodrama, but it does have some of the plucky energy you'd enjoy at one of those faux-saloon dinner theaters, where the gradations between good and bad hardly exist. It comes across almost like a musical without any songs, and before long, you're swept up in its crisp visuals and steady pace.
You can't really tell a story of the Yukon gold rush without portraying the inordinate amount of suffering that went on. "Klondike" starts out strong in aiming for an accurate 19th-century period report but gradually lapses in detail. As bad as life gets, the characters still look a little cleaner and healthier than the old photographs depict — the winters are harsh but not harsh enough; the starvation is too painless; the teeth are too pearly white...
Still, it's a strong cast delivering an honest effort. "Klondike" has a solid spirit and a moral underpinning, which contrasts sharply with Discovery's increasingly-desperate prospectors of the 21st century as portrayed in its hit reality shows "Gold Rush" and "Bering Sea Gold"...
Klondike's six hours might not be well worth your viewing commitment, however. After rewatching segments, I feel like this entire mini-epic production could've been repackaged much more effectively into a stand- alone 2.5hrs (max).
The series is based on the true tales of some of the men and women who were caught up in the Dawson City gold rush of the late 1890s, culled from Canadian historian Charlotte Gray's 2010 book "Gold Diggers: Striking It Rich in the Klondike".
Richard Madden, who played Robb Stark (RIP, King of the North!!!) in "Game of Thrones," stars as Bill Haskell, an adventure-seeking college graduate who, with his pal Byron Epstein (Augustus Prew), goes west to see what entrepreneurial fortunes await. During a chance encounter in Denver, a stranger in a bar pays their tab with a fat gold nugget, and that's all it takes: The young men buy into the hype and head for the far, far northwest.
"Klondike" is not going to win awards for its lackluster screenplay and penchant for melodrama, but it does have some of the plucky energy you'd enjoy at one of those faux-saloon dinner theaters, where the gradations between good and bad hardly exist. It comes across almost like a musical without any songs, and before long, you're swept up in its crisp visuals and steady pace.
You can't really tell a story of the Yukon gold rush without portraying the inordinate amount of suffering that went on. "Klondike" starts out strong in aiming for an accurate 19th-century period report but gradually lapses in detail. As bad as life gets, the characters still look a little cleaner and healthier than the old photographs depict — the winters are harsh but not harsh enough; the starvation is too painless; the teeth are too pearly white...
Still, it's a strong cast delivering an honest effort. "Klondike" has a solid spirit and a moral underpinning, which contrasts sharply with Discovery's increasingly-desperate prospectors of the 21st century as portrayed in its hit reality shows "Gold Rush" and "Bering Sea Gold"...
Klondike's six hours might not be well worth your viewing commitment, however. After rewatching segments, I feel like this entire mini-epic production could've been repackaged much more effectively into a stand- alone 2.5hrs (max).