Discovery Channel’s Alaskan Bush People is not canceled. Why?

Alaskan Bush People

Do the Alaskan Bush People get paid? We asked! Read our interview with the Brown family.

Alaskan Bush People Season 1 Recaps: Episode 1 | Episode 2 | Episode 3 | Episode 4 | The Wild Life

Season 2 Recaps: Episode 1 | Episode 2Episode 3 | Episode 4Episode 5 | Episode 6 | Episode 7 | Episode 8  | Wild Times | Episode 9 | Episode 10 | Episode 11 | Episode 12 | Episode 13 | Episode 14 | SHARK WEEK! | Episode 15 | Episode 16 | Lost Footage | The Wild Year

NEW! Is Alaskan Bush People Fake? Does It Matter?

Alaskan Bush People
There were a lot of things about Discovery Channel’s unscripted series Alaskan Bush People that didn’t pass the smell test. Now there’s more foul air surrounding the Brown family, and it’s very likely we’ve seen the last of them on TV.

 

Commenter Talkeetnachris tipped us to this:

Billy brown was just charged with stealing over $13000 filing fraudulent PFD claims in Alaska. His near life will be in prison. A few other family members were also charged. This guy and his family are frauds. I have lived off the road system for years and these people won’t last a year. You have to be self sufficient. Hell, I even had to stitch a band cut on my leg once. Many of these shows only have entertainment value with no real practical lessons on what really living on your own is about.

Many commenters doubted that the Browns were actually living off the land, as the show depicted. Instead, it appears the Browns may have been living off of fraudulent Alaskan Permanent Fund Dividend applications. According to Anchorage’s KTUU, patriarch “Billy Brown alone faces 24 felony counts and is accused of illegally obtaining $13,080 in dividend cash for himself and others. The charges do not describe why investigators believe the Brown family was not eligible for the dividends that some members received between 2010 and 2013.” Also indicted were five of Billy’s seven children: Amora Jean Snowbird, Joshua “Bam Bam,” Gabriel “Gabe,” Solomon “Bear” and Noah.

This will come as disappointing news to the many fans of the show who appreciated the Browns’ family values and the off-the-grid lifestyle that they claimed to represent. The credibility of Discovery Channel and Park Slope Productions has to be questioned, as they apparently weren’t diligent about checking the Browns’ backgrounds (even before these indictments came to light) and then aired a special episode with the family defending their authenticity. And personally, recapping Alaskan Bush People has been great fun, and I’m going to miss writing about it and reading all of your comments.

I’m so mad, I could punch a fish.

Update: Get this. Discovery Channel says they are “currently filming new episodes.” From the Alaska Dispatch News:

Stair said that between October 2009 and August 2012, the family did not meet the “physical presence requirement” to receive PFDs. This means the state believes the family spent more than 180 days a year living outside of Alaska and lied about it on their applications, Stair said.

Sean Martin, director of communications at Discovery Channel, wrote in an email Thursday that “we don’t divulge our actual shoot dates, so cannot let you know when filming concluded on season one, but can confirm that we are currently filming new episodes, but have not announced those air dates yet.”

I don’t even…

 

28 Comments

  1. My children and I love the show.We get angry because everyone seems to work like slaves except the father Billy.He’s a bum and lucky to have those respectful , hardworking children.If he was a real father they would already be set up in a decent house.The boys are obviously carrying his burden.My prayers are with them

  2. Den möchte ich erleben, der nicht alles für seine Kinder bzw. Familie tun würde. Für mich nur sympatisch. Und wer noch keine Fehler im Leben gemacht hat, der hat noch nicht gelebt. Die Lehre daraus ist entscheidend. Allen ein geruhsames Weihnachtsfest

  3. I enjoy the show. My children enjoy it. I would rather they watch ABP then spend hours on a video game. Its TV people, they never claimed to be perfect nor claimed their family is. If you do not like it then turn the channel. We enjoy the wholesome entertainment. I am a parent and teach my children the difference between reality TV and reality. We as a country have more pressing issues other than was Ami a “child bride” or is the show “real”. Watch it or turn the channel, it’s called free choice. No one is perfect, ask the Duggars.

  4. This is the stupidest program on the air and so phony. I lived in Alaska for 30+ years and the people of Alaska are embarrassed by the showcasing of these phonies and permanent fund thieves. I hope this show gets cancelled and these goobers go away v

  5. Leave the Brown family alone. People make mistakes in life, some intentional and some unintentional. I’m inclined to believe this mistake may have been made in the name of survival. How many people actually realize how much it costs to feed, clothe, and shelter a family of their size. The small amounts of those annual (that’s once a year people) dividends most likely didn’t put a dent in their survival budget. Now that they are looking to make money for a few years of tv footage the government puts them under a microscope and trys to take them down. It’s ridiculous! Go after the big dogs double dipping government pensions, you’ll find more money there to offset the deficit I’m sure. Even in Alaska…

    • Theft if theft, no matter how you slice the cake and the Brown boys are NOT boys, their grown men so if they want to eat and clothe themselves then let them get a JOB and not steal off the backs of regular hard working people.

      • That is exactly how I feel about the 50% of Americans who do not pay Federal Income Tax. More than 90 million Americans on welfare. I work 2 jobs barely making ends meet. I don’t qualify and nor would I ever shame myself to sign up. It goes all over me to hear the rapid increases every month of more recipients. They are stealing from my family. Welfare is breaking our economy. Soon there won’t be enough tax dollars to pay these benefits and you can kiss it all goodbye.

    • Billy Brown is Acting sick because he’s looking at a jail time. He’s playing the “I’m too sick to spend time with other criminals like myself” for the judge that’s hopefully going to be putting him away.

  6. I tried to record the series last night and got the message that the series has been canceled. Has Billy’s health declined so they have to move or has legal problems caught up with them? Has it really been canned?

  7. Super entertainment. Nice to watch something on TV that doesn’t involve the police attempting to catch up with the bad guys. So much crap on TV these days. Leave the Brown family alone.

  8. OK, it looks as though many critics are loaded for bear. I remember when the Beverly Hillbillies were number one in their time slot, and CBS executives were ashamed of the show.
    How about spending some time investigating the millions of dollars professional politicians are ripping the public off with sweet heart deals; or the laws they break and get a pass because of their titles. ( Another thing, please pay attention to sentence structure before you hit post, so as to give some semblance of intelligence.) I will get off my soap box now.

  9. I love this show and I will continue to watch it, no one is perfect and some make mistakes, please dont cancel this show, its something me and my children can watch without any obsenities or bad stuff on it.

  10. I am a city girl but really enjoy this program. I can even let my grandsons watch it. I am sorry if these people are in trouble but why are you only going after them and not the thousands of people that do this on a daily basis and they are not all nice people. I really enjoy this program and will continue to watch it. Maybe some of us can learn something from this program. Maybe how a family should get along? I hope it stays on a long time while the family continues to have their ups and downs. They still pray and stick together.

  11. Honesty, millions of dishonest people within the states file false information and steal daily from the government in receiving assistance for food stamps, housing, etc! The Browns claim(s) are revealed only because of their popular TV Show. Somebody is always hating on someone else who finally gets a decent break in life that they don’t have it! How many Reality Shows are “For Real”? Please!! At least I can watch this show without the need of the Ratings pushing “Nasty Trash Mouths” talking about their sex drives or the lack of! At least this show is about a family striving to work together and NOT trashing other people to elevate themselves! I am positive that we all have ugliness that would be revealed, if the cameras stayed on our lives 24/7! Give the Browns a break! My family will keep watching!!

    • Susie Q and Cynthia Cody said exactly what I was thinking. I don’t have to sit and listen to 5000 beeps because they are saying the f-word too often. I absolutely hate hearing those nasty words either but its great to be able to hear a family talk without all the foul language. Just like the Duggars. Not one family in this world is perfect. Where every thing that every person has ever done is perfect. Give me a break!! People act like they have no skeletons in their closet. Please.

  12. I love watching the bush family they made a mistake the government steals from us all the time so they will pay back the money and move on leave them alone bunch of Hippocrates I will watch them every time there are on tv period

  13. Will continue to watch The Bush Family , for there are lessons to be learned on how things will be dealt with . LIVE AND LEARN8

  14. I have loved the show since the beginning. I will continue to watch it as long as it is on TV. I do not care that it is fake, it was made for TV entertainment. I do enjoy watching it

  15. I knew it ..that something was going to pop up about these ppl alaskian bush people cause every reality show thrre is something bad i was waiting to hear about one of the being molested by one of the siblings….iam glad that wasnt happening but y do use have to put them three the mud….i love the show and the family alot …i pray for them all….ty lynd a boyer from starks louisanna.xxxooo

  16. I love the Brown family. Nobody is perfect. He who is without sin cast the first stone. If you don’t like the show change your channel. i will not touch a stone.

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About Ryan Berenz 2166 Articles
Member of the Television Critics Association. Charter member of the Ancient and Mystic Society of No Homers. Squire of the Ancient & Benevolent Order of the Lynx, Lodge 49, Long Beach, Calif. Costco Wholesale Gold Star Member since 2011.