The Curse of Oak Island

[mr. tegu]

Has anyone else started watching this show? I am a sucker for this kind of thing and so far it has been very interesting. You can watch the first two episodes in the link below. Since this was filmed over the summer, if any of you have figured out what happens please use spoilers for anything that hasn't aired yet.

http://www.history.com/shows/the-curse-of-oak-island

For those who aren't familiar, very briefly, it is about an island on the eastern shore of Canada that is rumored to have buried treasure from possibly the Knights Templar dating back to the 1300s. In 1795 an apparent secret hiding space was discovered in which levels of wooden planks were buried every 10 feet. Digging down around a hundred feet, they found some gold link chain and a few other things. Eventually they dug to a point that causes the hold to be flooded by sea water as if it was some sort of boobie trap, which is believed to come from some type of tube that is out in the ocean.

Another person in the 1970s dug alongside the original hole but also got his hole flooded by sea water. These guys now who are on the show purchased most of the island and are trying to solve the mystery with help from the guys who dug their own hole in the 1970s. The hole curse aspect is just kind of meh and I don't really pay attention to it, but I am sure the producers just like the added element it presents. The mystery and adventure is really interesting. It is nice to see a show like this that is actually producing some results so far.

[KCUnited]

I'm sure they get some discount by mentioning the drilling company's name 25x an episode.

[ToxSocks]

Originally Posted by hometeam

he makes 500k per year for the show.

I have heard they are spending millions of drilling and costs associated with it, but they get a couple million in grants per year, and its funded by both the laginas, craig tester, and a silent partner.

I have to think that they are losing money devoting time and energy into oak island, instead of focusing on the gigantic energy business and winery they have.

From my experience and from my readings, it's rare to make money off these shows.

I'm positive they're losing money every season. The show essentially mitigates the financial damage.

I know it's not close to the same thing, but our shop once did an episode on the Speed Channel back when that was still a thing.

The build took over 6 months to do with periodic filming. The $$$ we were paid barely paid for the wages. Luckily i was able to score most of the parts for the project from sponsors. (I'm sure ol' Marty gets at LEAST sponsored discounts or possibly even free labor from some of these 3rd party outfits).

Had i not been so successful at wheelin' and dealin' with some prominent manufactures, we woulda lost our ass on just that one episode alone.

I got probably at least $30K worth of parts for free.

[mr. tegu]

Originally Posted by Frazod

I'm betting Marty's net worth has increased as a result of this show. And would probably suffer if the show went off the air because they never found anything.



I'm not questioning his desire to find something. I'm just saying that sometimes you do what you've got to do to keep things moving.

The thing is though it’s been like six years. They have had countless episodes and seasons with almost nothing to show for it. If they are planting things for the sake of the show then they aren’t exactly doing a good job of it. And the stuff they do find isn’t exactly clear and conclusive to a certain desired outcome. They also don’t downplay the failures either which I enjoy. They have been comprehensive and honest with all of the searching and results, good or bad.

There have been more things than just the jewelry and cross as well. I think at this point they have proven to me something happened there and a treasure really was there. I don’t know how it got there or when it was removed (or if it has been but unfortunately I think it has been in the past) but there is just too much there to think this is fake or that something wasn’t there at some point.

[ToxSocks]

Originally Posted by mr. tegu

There have been more things than just the jewelry and cross as well. I think at this point they have proven to me something happened there and a treasure really was there. I don’t know how it got there or when it was removed (or if it has been but unfortunately I think it has been in the past) but there is just too much there to think this is fake or that something wasn’t there at some point.

Like what?

[mr. tegu]

Originally Posted by Detoxing

Like what?

Just from this show you have Europe and Middle East bones from 1600s, coins, carefully stacked stones uncovered in Smith’s cove, crossbow bolt, countless ship spikes, coconut fibers, and probably some other things I’m forgetting. Plus lots of other interesting things that contribute to the overall story like Nolan’s cross of boulders, the natives in the region having an almost identical flag to a Templar battle flag, and some stones with peculiar carvings.

[ghak99]

Originally Posted by lcarus

Marty Lagina looks like he's juuuust about through with this shit. Rick is looking tired as well, but he's of course a lot more devoted to the hunt than Marty is.

I'm really surprised it has lasted this long.

Considering these guys have very successful lives and this is just a side action ghost hunting hobby makes it even harder to believe they're still out there poking holes in the ground.

[hometeam]

Originally Posted by mr. tegu

The thing is though it’s been like six years. They have had countless episodes and seasons with almost nothing to show for it. If they are planting things for the sake of the show then they aren’t exactly doing a good job of it. And the stuff they do find isn’t exactly clear and conclusive to a certain desired outcome. They also don’t downplay the failures either which I enjoy. They have been comprehensive and honest with all of the searching and results, good or bad.

There have been more things than just the jewelry and cross as well. I think at this point they have proven to me something happened there and a treasure really was there. I don’t know how it got there or when it was removed (or if it has been but unfortunately I think it has been in the past) but there is just too much there to think this is fake or that something wasn’t there at some point.

Do I think the island had lots of visitors in the pre-modern times? Yes. Do I think that its a really interesting story? Yes. Do I think that proves there is a treasure? Not even close.

There really is nothing to 'prove' a treasure exists. I think its likely the original diggers where BSing, lied about or falsified the stone, lied about what they found, and basically they are just digging up searcher tunnels.

[lcarus]

Originally Posted by hometeam

Do I think the island had lots of visitors in the pre-modern times? Yes. Do I think that its a really interesting story? Yes. Do I think that proves there is a treasure? Not even close.

There really is nothing to 'prove' a treasure exists. I think its likely the original diggers where BSing, lied about or falsified the stone, lied about what they found, and basically they are just digging up searcher tunnels.

Well you're in for a surprise when you see the next episode! They find the 90 foot stone!

Which I guarantee will turn out to be just an insignificant rock...

[kcfanXIII]

Me: I'm so done with this show, they are never gonna find anything. Forget it...
Narrator: Next time on The Curse of Oak Island:
Metal detector guy: Ooooooo, what is this..
Me: Honey, Set the DVR!

[stumppy]

I watched several of the first season episodes. My conclusion??? The entire thing was about the next season and the next and the next.

They're never going to find anything, at least not 'this' season.

[ToxSocks]

It's incredibly odd that they decided to take a trip to France to see those Knight's Templar drawings and then BAM! Templar cross just as the one they saw on the wall.

It was an odd, out of place turn of events when the trip occurred. Seemed completely random and for what reason? Seemingly, the only reason for the trip was to confirm what they found in a later episode.

Smells fishy.

[KCUnited]

The fact that Jack Begley has on the same shirt in every episode tells me it was all filmed over a weekend.

[ghak99]

Originally Posted by Detoxing

It's incredibly odd that they decided to take a trip to France to see those Knight's Templar drawings and then BAM! Templar cross just as the one they saw on the wall.

It was an odd, out of place turn of events when the trip occurred. Seemed completely random and for what reason? Seemingly, the only reason for the trip was to confirm what they found in a later episode.

Smells fishy.

There are several examples like this that make it obvious they found something and then went and filmed a segment for the set up to the find they reveal in a later episode. They're not even trying to hide it very well. I honestly think it's a Canadian thing and they just don't care. Canadian film crews are absolutely horrible with recreates, b-roll, and set up in the outdoor industry as well. Up until recently, no one calls them out on it up there where if you pull that crap in the States every Tom and Jerry with a camera is jumping your shit online trying to knock you off your spot.

Have you watched the supposed stone find episode yet? Remember them searching for it long ago and the search seemed very boring and pointless in a basically empty basement? Now they magically found it in a separate part of the basement they didn't show us going into last time. It's as if they found it, or knew it was there the whole time, but didn't show us because they needed time for testing to be done in order to have the results in hand for a later episode.

If I wasn't interested in the actual historical content, this show would completely blow.

[ToxSocks]

Originally Posted by ghak99

Have you watched the supposed stone find episode yet? Remember them searching for it long ago and the search seemed very boring and pointless in a basically empty basement? Now they magically found it in a separate part of the basement they didn't show us going into last time. It's as if they found it, or knew it was there the whole time, but didn't show us because they needed time for testing to be done in order to have the results in hand for a later episode.

If I wasn't interested in the actual historical content, this show would completely blow.

Yup watched it last night. Thought that was odd too. Or the "foreshadowing" they did at the start of the episode when they placed that marker stone next to the imitation 90-ft stone.

"Wouldn't it be awesome if we could find the 90-ft stone"

....then later in the episode....

[Pitt Gorilla]

Originally Posted by ghak99

There are several examples like this that make it obvious they found something and then went and filmed a segment for the set up to the find they reveal in a later episode. They're not even trying to hide it very well. I honestly think it's a Canadian thing and they just don't care. Canadian film crews are absolutely horrible with recreates, b-roll, and set up in the outdoor industry as well. Up until recently, no one calls them out on it up there where if you pull that crap in the States every Tom and Jerry with a camera is jumping your shit online trying to knock you off your spot.

Have you watched the supposed stone find episode yet? Remember them searching for it long ago and the search seemed very boring and pointless in a basically empty basement? Now they magically found it in a separate part of the basement they didn't show us going into last time. It's as if they found it, or knew it was there the whole time, but didn't show us because they needed time for testing to be done in order to have the results in hand for a later episode.

If I wasn't interested in the actual historical content, this show would completely blow.

Honestly, I don't mind that, assuming that the artifacts check out. I don't really care the order, as that is always (clearly) fudged within a season. I do care about the authenticity of the finds, though.