'Gold Rush: Parker's Trail' Returns April 5 on Discovery

L-R: Parker Schnabel, Sam Brown, Fred Lewis and Karla Ann

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

February 27, 2019

HIT SERIes ‘GOLD RUSH: PARKER’S TRAIL’ TRAVELS TO PAPUA NEW GUINEA FOR THIRD season on discovery

‘GOLD RUSH: PARKER’S TRAIL’ Returns Friday, April 5 at 9 PM ET/PT on Discovery

(LOS ANGELES) – Gold miner Parker Schnabel and his team of friends are about to embark on their biggest adventure yet: they’re heading deep into the tropical highlands of Papua New Guinea in search of gold. Finding it will prove more challenging than anyone ever imagined. ‘GOLD RUSH: PARKER’S TRAIL’ returns for a third season on Friday, April 5 at 9 PM ET/PT on Discovery. The hit series returns after a successful launch in 2017 as the year’s #1 new unscripted cable series in M25-54, and double-digit ratings growth in its second season.

Last year, fans watched Parker and his friends head into the jungles of Guyana in search of the legendary “El Dorado” or “Mountain of Gold,” where the risks soon outweighed the riches after getting caught up in local unrest. Has Parker learned from this previous experience?

There’s two reasons Parker is now going to Papua New Guinea: The first is to try to find the motherlode without any million-dollar mining equipment, in what’s considered one of the toughest, untapped, gold rich environments in the world. The second is personal: He wants to reconnect with his Grandpa John’s war history.

John Schnabel served in the South Pacific while in the Air Force during World War II. He mentored and shared much of his life story and wisdom with young Parker, but divulged little about his wartime experiences. After Pearl Harbor, when John was 24 years old (Parker’s exact age today), he enlisted as a Navy aircraft mechanic, helping the Allied Forces take the fight to the Japanese and change the tide of the war. Parker sees this expedition as an opportunity to gain insight into grandpa John’s past, while he learns to mine with tribes in their diverse territories.

This year, Parker will again be joined by survival expert and wilderness guide Karla Ann as well as long-time friend and adventure cameraman Sam Brown, who is responsible for filming much of their epic adventure. New to the team is Special Forces Medic Fred Lewis. He has the military and medical experience to help keep the team alive. 

Parker and his team will venture off-grid to learn the local mining techniques making Papua New Guinea’s 21^st Century gold rush thrive. The odds are stacked against them as they face volcanic mountain ranges, flashfloods, landslides and some volatile tribesmen. Can Parker and his team survive against the elements and still find gold? One thing is certain: They will need to overcome a huge amount of adversity if they are to succeed in the jungles of Papua New Guinea.

GOLD RUSH: PARKER’S TRAIL is produced for Discovery Channel by Raw Television, where Dimitri Doganis, Sam Maynard and Craig Blackhurst are Executive Producers, Ceri Smith Production Executive. For Discovery Channel, Matt Vafiadis and Joseph Boyle are Executive Producers and Jessica Mollo is Associate Producer.

About Discovery Channel:

Discovery Channel is dedicated to creating the highest quality non-fiction content that informs and entertains its consumers about the world in all its wonder, diversity and amazement. The network, which is distributed to 88.3 million U.S. homes, can be seen in 224 countries and territories, offering a signature mix of compelling, high-end production values and vivid cinematography across genres including, science and technology, exploration, adventure, history and in-depth, behind-the-scenes glimpses at the peoples, places, and organizations that shape and share our world. For more information, please visit www.discovery.com      

About Discovery:

Discovery, Inc. (Nasdaq: DISCA, DISCB, DISCK) is a global leader in real life entertainment, serving a passionate audience of superfans around the world with content that inspires, informs and entertains. Discovery delivers over 8,000 hours of original programming each year and has category leadership across deeply loved content genres around the world. Available in 220 countries and territories and nearly 50 languages, Discovery is a platform innovator, reaching viewers on all screens, including TV Everywhere products such as the GO portfolio of apps; direct-to-consumer streaming services such as Eurosport Player and MotorTrend OnDemand; digital-first and social content from Group Nine Media and a strategic alliance with PGA TOUR to create the international home of golf. Discovery’s portfolio of premium brands includes Discovery Channel, HGTV, Food Network, TLC, Investigation Discovery, Travel Channel, MotorTrend, Animal Planet, and Science Channel, as well as OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network in the U.S., Discovery Kids in Latin America, and Eurosport, the leading provider of locally relevant, premium sports and Home of the Olympic Games across Europe. For more information, please visit https://corporate.discovery.com/ and follow @DiscoveryIncTV across social platforms.