‘Alaskan Bush People’ New Season Premiere Date Revealed

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Well, that was unexpected.

When Discovery Channel announced that its nature documentary series (yes, Discovery still airs those) Serengeti would air Sundays beginning August 4, I breathed a sigh of relief, assuming that it meant we’d be spared from new episodes of Alaskan Bush People at least until the fall.

Instead, Discovery will try to boost ratings for its least prestigious show by putting it on immediately after one of its most prestigious. Beginning Sunday, August 4, Serengeti (8/7c) will be followed by the midseason premiere of Alaskan Bush People (9/8c) and new episodes of Raising Wild (10/9c).

Serengeti and the return to its former 9/8c Sunday time slot should help Alaskan Bush People, which saw significant audience declines when it aired in the spring at 10/9c on Sundays following Naked and Afraid.

There were only five episodes in the first half of Alaskan Bush People Season 9ish, and there will probably be as many in Season 9.5ish. Expect the birth of Mother Ami’s grandbaby Elijah Connor to be prominent. We’re also expecting to see footage of Gabe and Raquell’s second marriage ceremony, which took place in June.

Raising Wild debuted in early June and aired two low-rated episodes before going on hiatus. Viewers were quick to point out that the characters and events in Raising Wild had a striking resemblance to those already seen in Alaskan Bush People. I figured that Discovery threw in the towel on Raising Wild, but it’s going to try to salvage the show by pairing it with ABP, which it should’ve done to begin with.

Will this finally be the end of ABP? Will Raising Wild be the heir apparent? Probably not, on both counts.

But one interesting development is Discovery’s business model for financing series. It has the potential to really put the screws to smaller production companies like ABP‘s Park Slope, as they’d have to front the money to produce their show and Discovery would still own the property. Stay tuned.

Alaskan Bush People Season 10ish premiere, Sunday, August 4, 9/8c, Discovery Channel