About this season
Host and everyman Mike Rowe gets the grimy scoop on downright nasty occupations.
Episodes (23)
1. Bologna Maker
Aired 6 January 2009 • 60 min
Mike heads to Pennsylvania and tries his hand at making bologna and then goes to Alaska to repair a very special toilet.
2. Abandoned Mine Plugger
Aired 13 January 2009 • 60 min
Mike travels to Ohio to check on the Common Tern population and then he finds himself in Northern California plugging an abandoned mineshaft.
3. Animal Rendering
Aired 20 January 2009 • 60 min
Mike takes a trip to the La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles to find out about the important work being done in Pit 91. Then Mike travels north where he learns about rendering and discovers how much of a farm animal can be recycled.
4. Goose Down Plucker
Aired 27 January 2009 • 60 min
Mike heads to Meridian, California to find out what it takes to harvest walnuts. Then he spends some time in Tulelake where he learns how to make goose down pillows and comforters.
5. Diaper Cleaner
Aired 3 February 2009 • 60 min
Mike journeys to Queen Creek, Arizona to press olives into oil and then heads to Sacramento, California to clean dirty diapers.
6. Spider Pharm
Aired 10 February 2009 • 60 min
Mike ventures to Payette, Idaho to learn how to make high quality bird food. Then he heads to Yarnell, Arizona to collect spiders from the desert to milk them for their venom.
7. Locomotive Builder
Aired 17 February 2009 • 60 min
Mike heads to MotivePower in Boise, Idaho to build and restore locomotives for his 200th dirty job.
8. 200 Jobs Look-Back
Aired 24 February 2009 • 60 min
Mike takes a look back at his previous jobs, toughest co-workers, and his ongoing encounters with dirt and poo. With additional footage from "Skull Cleaner" and "Turkey Inseminator"
9. Mike's Day Off
Aired 3 March 2009 • 60 min
Mike takes the day off to get a physical examination, leaving Executive Producers Eddie Barbini and Craig Piligian to host the show: servicing porta-potties and making custom-fabricated alloy wheels for Boyd Coddington Wheels
10. Sled Dog Breeder
Aired 12 April 2009 • 60 min
Breeding and training Alaskan Huskies as sled dogs with Martin Buser; revisit of dirty jobs in Alaska: Bird ringing common terns and Canadian geese ("Abandoned Mine Plugger"), fishing and processing of fish ("Floating Fish Factory"), cleaning up diesel spill in Dutch Harbor, Alaska ("Ice Salvage Crew"), incinerating toilet cleaner ("Bologna Maker"). The mail bag portion was taped at the Soo Locks on the floor of the MacArthur Lock in front of the upstream bulkheads.
11. Mattress Recycler
Aired 6 October 2009 • 60 min
Mike finds out what happens to old mattresses after people throw them out.
12. High-Rise Window Washer
Aired 13 October 2009 • 60 min
High-rise window washer, viewer mail: brine tank cleaner (Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay)
13. Toilet Crusher
Aired 20 October 2009 • 60 min
Toilet Crusher & alligator snapping turtle researcher
14. Camel Rancher
Aired 27 October 2009 • 60 min
Mike works at the country's only Dromedary camel dairy.
15. Tofu Maker
Aired 3 November 2009 • 60 min
Mike recycles computers before heading to Hawaii to make tofu.
16. Glass Maker
Aired 10 November 2009 • 60 min
Mike goes to Jonesboro, Arkansas to perform dung beetle research. Then he heads to Williamstown, West Virginia to try his hand at making glass art.
17. Rocky Reach Dam
Aired 17 November 2009 • 60 min
Mike journeys to Wenatchee, Washington to help maintain a hydroelectric dam. Then he explores a fish bypass system where he catches and tags fish and winds up wading through a pool of fish poop.
18. Safety Third
Aired 24 November 2009 • 60 min
Mike reflects back on his more hazardous apprenticeships and makes a case for safety.
19. Reindeer Farm
Aired 1 December 2009 • 60 min
Mike goes to Kentucky to try his hand at shrink-wrapping a houseboat. Then he heads off to Palmer, Alaska to spend a day working at a reindeer farm.
20. Marble Maker
Aired 8 December 2009 • 60 min
Mike goes to Hawaii to learn how to make dirt shirts at The Original Dirt Shirt Company. Then he heads off to Reno, Ohio to learn how to make marbles.
21. Fireworks Technician
Aired 15 December 2009 • 60 min
Mike becomes a specialty fireworks technician in Addison, Pa. and then helps examine a cow with a hole in its stomach at Arkansas State University.
22. Worm Grunter
Aired 22 December 2009 • 60 min
Mike goes to Florida to harvest clams at the Alligator Harbor Aquatic Preserve and later attempt to worm-grunt in the Apalachicola National Forest.
23. Maple Syrup Maker
Aired 29 December 2009 • 60 min
Mike travels to San Francisco to participate in the messy process of paint bulking. Then he heads to Wagner's Sugar Camp in Pennsylvania to spend the day making delicious maple syrup the old-fashioned way.