Bluefield Daily Telegraph, Bluefield, WV

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March 23, 2011

Spike mines ‘Kentucky’s Mountain Treasure’ in ‘Coal’

By BILL ARCHER Bluefield Daily Telegraph

PIKEVILLE, Ky. — Thom Beers said he loves the challenge of telling a story with “high risks and high rewards,” and after a four- to five-year search, he found the right people to work with — Tom Roberts and Mike Crowder, president and chief executive officer, respectively, of Cobalt Coal — and the result is an incredible insider’s look at the underground coal mining industry, the likes of which has never been seen before.

Beers, CEO of Original Productions and the man behind “Deadliest Catch,” “Ice Road Truckers” and “Ax Men,” was energetic and demonstrative as he talked about “Coal,” Spike TV’s newest documentary/reality-styled series, due to premier March 30 at 10 p.m. Beers said that “Coal” was on his radar screen for several years, and finally, the time was right.

The large tray of cold cut sandwiches Spike TV provided for the press preview was probably too much for the three print and one broadcast journalists who attended the event, but the repartee that the screening stimulated provided for an interesting hour-long Q&A. Beers likened “Coal” to the real life drama of “Deadliest Catch,” and Eric Lange, co-executive producer of “Coal” emerged from the 10-week filming at Cobalt’s Westchester Mine near Big Sandy as “a changed man,” he said. “I had no idea.”

Roberts and Crowder were equally excited as they fielded penetrating questions from the journalists on issues ranging from safety to working with state and federal mine inspectors. Beers stood up for the coal industry when a reporter asked him if he had a concern about how the environmental community might react to a series about coal mining.

“Until we figure out a way to replace that 50 percent of electricity that keeps these lights on, I don’t want to hear about it,” Beers said. “My job is to make everyday heroes out of these coal miners,” he said. ‘Coal’ is not about politics. It’s about these men,” he said.

J.D. Wooldridge, superintendent of the Westchester Mine, and Jonathan Dotson, a roof bolter operator at the mine, attended the press conference and held their own in the Q&A. Kevin Kay, president of Spike TV, expressed his enthusiasm for the series and said “Coal” puts the network in position to develop more documentary style series with hour-long stories.

Kay also responded to the question about how the environmental community may react to the new series. “Spike is not the place you want to come to get a political point of view,” he said.

Beers said he hasn’t been as excited about a show since “The Deadliest Catch.” Spike will be hosting preview screenings in Morgantown today and at Washington and Jefferson College in Washington, Pa., on Thursday.

— Contact Bill Archer at barcher@bdtonline.com

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