Rumors of a possible cancellation of Discovery’s Alaskan Bush People have been circulating lately because a date for the premiere of the next season has not yet been announced. Multiple reasons for cancellation have been suggested, but as Blasting News reports, Discovery actually announced several months ago that Alaskan Bush People would be returning to its 2016-2017 schedule, so the show’s fate really is not in question. There are plenty of things we don’t know yet about the new season, but whether or not it’s going to happen is not one of them.
In a news item on its site, Discovery announced its programming lineup for 2016-2017 . Among the 22 shows that will be returning is Alaskan Bush People ; the announcement is dated March 31, 2016. Some will argue that there is still cause for concern because a date for the new season has not been announced, and it wouldn’t be surprising if Alaskan Bush People were canceled given the amount of scandal and charges of fakery that seem to follow the show. But last year’s fall season didn’t begin until November, and we didn’t know until April that Season 4 of Alaskan Bush People would begin in May. Given these facts, we probably don’t need to start worrying until the middle to end of October.
Discovery describes Alaskan Bush People , in part, like this on their website.
“Deep in the Alaskan wilderness lives a newly discovered family who was born and raised wild. Billy Brown, his wife Ami and their seven grown children – 5 boys and 2 girls – are so far removed from civilization that they often go six to nine months of the year without seeing an outsider. They’ve developed their own accent and dialect, refer to themselves as a ‘wolf pack,’ and at night, all nine sleep together in a one-room cabin. Simply put, they are unlike any other family in America.”
Most Alaskan Bush People viewers would probably agree that “they are unlike any other family in America,” but claims that they are “so far removed from civilization” and going “six to nine months of the year without seeing an outsider” have been widely discredited.
In June, Radar Online reported that residents of Hoonah, Alaska, told them that the Alaskan Bush People family lives much of the year in a hotel called the Icy Strait Lodge in their town. They even claim that each of the boys has his own room. Hoonah residents state that Browntown, the center of the Browns’ life on Alaskan Bush People , is really just for filming and that the family lives at the hotel when not working on the show.
As Deadline reported, Discovery pulled fake shows like Mermaids and Megalodon: The New Evidence when Rich Ross came onboard as the channel’s new programming chief over a year ago. Many think it’s not a stretch to believe that Alaskan Bush People may be on the chopping block given all the charges that it’s fake.
The other two situations that many suggest could mean Alaskan Bush People won’t be returning to Discovery involve two of the sons: Matt and Joshua.
Matt is the oldest of the Alaskan Bush People sons. At the end of last season, he told his family that he’s been struggling with alcohol abuse and that he was going to rehab. In a family of self-proclaimed abstainers, this was even bigger than it would be if they were drinkers. It was a brave move by Matt, but many fear that dealing with his issues in the Alaskan Bush People show wouldn’t project the image the family and channel like to project.
And then there’s Joshua, who apparently has fallen in love with one of the Alaskan Bush People producers, Allison Kagan. Photos of the happy couple have shown up on social media, and there is even speculation that the two are married. How would Alaskan Bush People deal with that? Would they appear on the show together? What about the issue of them working together?
Many questions about Alaskan Bush People remain, but filming has begun, and Discovery Channel did announce its return several months ago. So there is probably nothing to fear. Alaskan Bush People should return — we just don’t know when. We may not know for a while. You can be sure that when it does return, fans will tune in, eager to see how the latest developments in the Alaskan Bush People saga play out in front of the camera.
Check out the video from Discovery in which they address suspicions that Alaskan Bush People is not real.
[Image via Discovery]