How many of us get the opportunity to clean up toxic bird poop, dive for golf balls in alligator-infested waters or assist in the artificial insemination of a horse?
Of course, how many of us would want to?
To Mike Rowe, host of the Discovery Channel series Dirty Jobs, those jobs (and more) are all part of an honest day's work. By serving as an apprentice to everyday men and women who perform the jobs no one else wants, Mike has found a hands-on way to pay tribute to a nation of unsung heroes, and get more than a few laughs along the way.
Rowe is constantly putting his hands into places that are often curious, sometimes dangerous and always dirty. From roadkill-removal specialists, to bat biologists, to professionals who determine the sex of chickens, Dirty Jobs offers an illuminating look at what lies beyond the world of 9 to 5. And no one, it seems, is better suited to the role of good-natured guinea pig than Mike Rowe.
This isn't the first Discovery Channel assignment for Mike. Before Dirty Jobs, Discovery sent Mike to the Valley of the Golden Mummies to host Egypt Week Live! There, he opened and explored ancient tombs live on air with Dr. Zahi Hawass, Egypt's foremost archeologist. From Egypt, Mike traveled to the Bering Sea for the filming of Deadliest Catch, the network's series on Alaskan crab fishing, a profession widely considered to be the most dangerous in the world. Now, Mike has been given his own series and free rein to explore the dirty side of earning an honest living.
In cleaner days, Mike Rowe sang professionally with the Baltimore Opera, sold over $100 million of "simulated" diamonds on QVC and appeared in several dozen Tylenol commercials. He also hosted Worst Case Scenario for TBS, On-Air TV for American Airlines, The Most for The History Channel, No Relation for Fox and New York Expeditions for PBS.
In San Francisco, Mike is best known for his work on CBS as the host of Evening Magazine, a position he held from 2002 to 2005. Along the way, he has narrated over 1,000 hours of television and has performed dozens of theatrical productions.
If he survives dishing the dirt and scooping the slop on Dirty Jobs, he plans to take a long shower and return to the stage.
