What’s Worth Watching: Dive In to Discovery’s New Series Unearthed

Unearthed, Series Premiere (Friday, May 1, 10/9c, Discovery Channel)

Unlike Discovery’s other treasure-hunting series, Unearthed doesn’t just have its hunters seeking out standard valuables like gold (Bering Sea Gold) or oil (Backyard Oil) . Instead, the men on Unearthed are after a far more elusive prize – black truffles – or as they call them “black diamonds,” one of the most expensive gourmet cooking food items in the world. The thing is, black truffles are part of the mushroom family and grow completely underground. Hence, “unearthed.” These guys bring their hoes out, and their pigs and dogs, to sniff out the truffles in hopes of making a fortune.

Unearthed warns that things can turn deadly in Falls City for the truffle men of Oregon while tensions rise to find these “diamonds.” To add to the pressure, the peak of the truffle season only lasts ten weeks. As you’ll see in tonight’s episode, a record-breaking drought is making the search mighty difficult. As one of the hunters says, “You gotta do what you gotta do to survive.”