- Off Limits (TV series)
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Off Limits Genre Reality
DocumentaryFormat Live-action Written by Avgail Schotz
Jill Michelle WilliamsStarring Don Wildman Composer(s) Wild Woods (music) Country of origin United States Language(s) English No. of seasons 1 No. of episodes 12 Production Executive producer(s) Lauren Lexton
Tom RoganEditor(s) M.J. Loheed, Drew Nichols Camera setup Multiple-camera Running time 60 minutes Production company(s) Endemol Company Distributor Authentic Entertainment Broadcast Original channel Travel Channel Original run May 16, 2011 – present External links Website Off Limits is an American reality television series that premiered on May 16, 2011, on the Travel Channel. The series features "untold stories and secrets" of America's most iconic cities as host Don Wildman ventures and sometimes trespasses through unexplored areas where not many people have dared to go before. First season episodes aired every Monday at 9PM EST. The show was then moved to Tuesdays with new episodes airing at 10PM. For the remainder of the season, the show was moved to Thursdays at 8PM EST.
Contents
Synopsis
Adventure seeker and series host, Don Wildman travels across America ignoring the warning signs to explore dangerous "off-limit" areas in major cities throughout the United States. Cities that may just be a tourist destination for ordinary travelers, but for Wildman and his crew of urban spelunkers, its like embarking on a journey to rediscover a city's past by uncovering it's secret history.
In the introduction, Wildman states:
“ In every city, every town are places sealed off from the rest of the world hiding their amazing stories behind locked doors inside barbwire where they say you cannot go. I'm Don Wildman, and these are the places I live to explore. The ones they tell you are... Off Limits. ” Episodes
Season One (2011)
Ep. # Title Original airdate 1.1 "Los Angeles" May 16, 2011 In the season premiere, Don Wildman travels to the "City of Angeles", his hometown, where he goes kayaking in the L.A. River, ventures inside the hidden L.A. aqueducts, infiltrates a former Nazi military camp high in the valley, climbs one of many active clandestine oil rigs next to a neighborhood, and navigates the miles long stretch of "lost canals" in Venice Beach. 1.2 "Seattle" May 23, 2011 Don reveals the "Emerald City" from the Space Needle, rides the rails of the Electron Project in a railcar where the tracks are right above a 10 mile water plume, tries to find the remains of the USS Burton, a Mosquito Fleet steamboat that sunk in the Gig Harbor near Puget Sound, goes underneath the 520 floating bridge, explores a remote tunnel pass in the Cascade Mountains where an avalanche occurred, and climbs to the top of a massive Douglas fur in the Seattle rain forest to cut it down. 1.3 "San Francisco" June 6, 2011 Don travels to "The Bay City" where he discovers an old dungeon for punishment cells in San Quentin State Prison, travels to the Navy fleet of ghost ships destined for the scrap heap in the Suisan Bay and goes aboard the USS Iowa. He also visits Oak Knoll Naval Hospital where L. Ron Hubbard was a patient and thought up the inspiration for Scientology, investigates Camp Tracy an old World War II internment camp, a "black site" for Japanese POW's where Japanese-American translators would interrogate them, and heads to the once rough side of town to explore Pier 70, which is now an abandoned ship yard building. 1.4 "Arizona" June 13, 2011 During his trip to Tucson, Don discovers how pioneers created cities in the desert to create populated cities and uncovers a secret missile silo called Site 17 from the 1960s with Titan II nuclear weapons so powerful it could have started World War III. He learns the legend of the old Dutchman Mine in Goldfield where thousands of miners flocked to find the richest ore in the world and goes panning for gold at the Old Wasp Mine. Then wanders around the massive compound of "The Boneyard", a final stop for retired U.S. war planes at Davis Monthan AFB, where they are restored by AMARG for museums. Don also explores the Theodore Roosevelt Dam that runs on hyro-electric power which helped Phoenix grow as a bustling city, and the Biosphere 2, an experimental self-contained martian space colony in the Sonoran Desert. 1.5 "Tennessee" June 20, 2011 While in "The Volunteer State", rough waters of the Nolichucky River causes Don to get thrown overboard while traveling down a Class IV river on a rafting trip to find the ruins of "Lost Cove", a hidden moonshining town deep in the Appalachian Mountains. Then it's off to the Smokey Mountains to make "White Lightning" moonshine by grinding corn at the Valentine Mill and bottling the hooch at the Ole Smokey Distillery in Knoxville. Next, Don learns about the local legend of Underground Chattanooga when citizens took it upon themselves to re-build their town 10 feet above water level after a flood wiped the town out in 1867. Also Don explores the drift mine of McNabb and a limestone cave system at the Mt. Raccoon reservoir and power plant in eastern Tennessee. 1.6 "Buffalo" June 27, 2011 Don travels to frigid Buffalo, New York in the middle of winter to investigate the abandoned and haunted Buffalo Central Station. He also explores an old tunnel from the 1800s, a 100-year-old powerhouse, and concrete grain elevators. 1.7 "Secrets of New York Islands" October 4, 2011 Don follows the endless waterways to find out how the islands of New York made the greatest city in the world possible. He gets access to Castle Williams on Governor's Island, an isolated stronghold from the 1800s that once saved New York City, uncovers the ruins of Bannerman's Castle on Pollepel Island, the fantasy island arsenal of the biggest arms dealer on earth, canoe's through a tugboat and ferry graveyard in Staten Island, and investigates Long Island's Gold Coast mansions, Land's End and on the verge of ruin, Myron C. Taylor House, and scrambles around a forgotten remains of the Renwick Smallpox Hospital (once nicknamed "Dead House") on Roosevelt Island, an island once used to keep the less desirables out of the city. 1.8 "Dirty Secrets of Boston" October 11, 2011 Don goes underground in Boston for a look at America's first subway, "The T" that broke ground in 1895, where workers discovered a mass grave with 900 skeletons that included British soldiers from the Battle of Bunker Hill. Then he takes to "The Interceptor", a130 year old tunnel in a sewage super highway, Main Sewage Works, built under the city in Dorchester that was one of the first centralized sewers in the country. Don also checks out the second largest waste treatment plant in the U.S., an innovative structure on Deer Island that helped clean up the once-filthy Boston Harbor, and climbs one of the the plant's high-tech windmills that provides power to the city. Lastly, he investigates Fort Strong on Long Island, a concrete fort built in the 1890s that was a part of a coastal defense system to protect the city from warships. 1.9 "Transforming The Big Apple" October 18, 2011 Don returns to New York City and uncovers the Big Apple's hidden secrets. First, he goes inside the Washington Arch in Washington Square Park, then he explores the Sawmill River, the 20 mile river that runs beneath the streets of Yonkers that is under restoration for the town's riverwalk project. Next, it's off to Brooklyn to go canoeing in the filthy Gowanus Canal and under the Brower's Mill Bridge which was used in Washington's retreat from the British during the Battle of Brooklyn. Don also checks out the labyrinth beneath Plymouth Church, a place once called the "central grand depot of the Underground Railroad" ran by Henry Ward Beecher in Brooklyn Heights. Then he investigates Brooklyn's Green-Wood Cemetery, one of the most exclusive cemeteries in the country. Lastly, he goes to Coney Island Creek to climb aboard a homemade submarine named Quester built by steelworker Jerry Bianco to find sunken treasure on the Andrea Doria. 1.10 "Hawaii" October 25, 2011 Don travels to Hawaii to visit Coco Palms Resort on Coconut Coast in Kauai, a once popular resort for the rich and famous now ravaged by Hurricane Iniki in 1992. Then it's across the island to Koloa to explore the rusty remains of Hawaii's first sugar plantation from 1836, and rides ATV's up the mountains to Huleia River to find the water source of the Waita Reservior, the largest man made reservior in the state. He then checks out the Tersuo Harano Tunnel, a hi-tech tunnel system bored into a dormate volcano at the base of the Ko'olau Mountains to make way for the "H-3", a huge highway that comes out of Honolulu which took 37 years to build. He also uncovers secret bunkers from World War II and an abandon hospital on Ford Island, discovers a cave sewer system under the town of Waikiki Beach, and learns about ancient Hawaiian blood rituals.[1] 1.11 "St. Louis" November 1, 2011 Don visits St. Louis to explore the city's rapid change through the years and gets up close and personal with the mighty Mississippi River when he transverses the Eads Bridge, a steel train bridge over the river. He sees how St. Louis became the brewing capital of the U.S. when he visits the historic Lemp Brewery complex in Benton Park and goes into the honeycomb caves used to store the lager beer below. Then he explores the Ashley Street Power Station that was constructed in 1902 for the 1904 World's Fair and to provide electricity to the city. Also, Don checks out the decapitated Cotton Belt Freight Depot which delivered cotton to the city by a greedy robber barren. Lastly, he climbs atop the first dome made of cast and raw iron in America inside the old court house.[2] 1.12 "Pittsburgh" November 10, 2011 Don climbs the towering remains of Pittsburgh's steel industry, scales its bridges, dives into its murky rivers, and explores its mysterious tunnels to reveal how this dirty industry town turned itself into a hi-tech 21st century metropolis. Similar shows
Don Wildman also hosts:
- Cities of the Underworld (History Channel)
- Filthy Cities (Discovery Channel)
- Mysteries at the Museum (Travel Channel)
- Weird Travels (Travel Channel)
References
External links
Categories:- 2011 American television series debuts
- American documentary television series
- Travel Channel shows
- Documentary stubs
- Non-fiction television series stubs
- United States reality television stubs
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