Watching the premiere episode of Dark Horse Nation on The History Channel (Tuesdays 9:00) I felt like I started watching several episodes along. I actually went to the website to see if I had missed the first few episodes.
The premiere gives an awkward, nearly non-existant introduction to the beer crew. The weekly intro is where we gather our minimal info about the guys.
First off we just see the guys getting the idea about building a mobile ice-fishing hut. I had hoped this show was about life around the Dark Horse Brewery? Maybe I will see more in future episodes.
Right now I just don’t care. The series hasn’t made me interested in these folks yet. Bearded, hoodied, & hatted uniforms are present but no interesting personalities and certainly no cool beer information or insights. Beer dudes insulting each other with minimal humor, some get to go play while one has to stay and work. Stilted.
This show is just a Pawn Stars/American Restoration with a dash of Brew Dogs wannabe. I love all things beer and I eagerly have watched any beer related TV available – Brew Masters and Brew Dogs were/are pretty entertaining.
Dark Horse Nation – nothing new or compelling. The same formulaic reality TV available any time you turn on the TV. Typically you get – charm – problem – humor and then a solution. That formula is pretty standard. In Dark Horse Nation several of these elements are pretty weak.
I will watch a few more episodes but I am not feeling that this is very interesting TV, despite its somewhat beer related focus. I love some of their beers and I am sure these guys are more interesting than this show is indicating. However, I am afraid this show is going to be more like Duck Dynasty than Brew Masters. That is unfortunate.
