DIRTY JOBS Back on Tuesday, January 6; MAN VS. WILD Returns Monday, January 12

(Silver Spring, Md.) – Two of Discovery Channel’s most popular series will kick off 2009 with all-new premiere episodes beginning in January. DIRTY JOBS’ intrepid Mike Rowe and MAN VS. WILD’s adventuresome Bear Grylls take viewers to new locales that are each in their own ways exotic, challenging and extreme – from plugging abandoned mines (Rowe) to surviving in the Dominican Republic during the region’s extremely harsh hurricane season (Grylls).

On Tuesday, January 6 at 9PM ET/PT, the Emmy®-nominated DIRTY JOBS kicks off its fifth season with nine consecutive Tuesdays of all-new episodes. Beginning with a visit to a bologna factory on January 6, host and creator Mike Rowe travels the country to showcase the downright dirty jobs that most people would go out of their way to avoid. Serving as apprentice on jobs such as plugging abandoned mines, making glass and banding birds, good natured guinea pig Rowe will need to call on more than his share of patience, humor -- and a strong stomach -- this season. But to Mike it’s worth it; these hardworking and skilled men and women are making civilized life possible for the rest of us. Additionally, the series will hit a milestone this season, when Mike conducts his 200th dirty job, to be celebrated with a special episode on February 24.

DISCOVERY CHANNEL/DIRTY JOBS AND MAN VS. WILD Premieres

On Monday, January 12 at 10PM ET/PT, MAN VS. WILD returns with eight all-new episodes that push adventurer Bear Grylls to the limit, as he navigates through some of the most extreme and challenging conditions he’s faced yet. Shot entirely in high-definition, the new episodes first take Grylls to Belize on January 12, before heading to Turkey, Transylvania, the Yukon Peninsula, the Dominican Republic, and the Badlands of Oregon. The ultimate adventure expert, Grylls uses his vast knowledge and survival expertise - which are tried and tested throughout these episodes - to show viewers how to get out of each location alive. The new episodes bring Grylls face-to-face with a killer bear, a deadly scorpion and a nine-foot boa constrictor, and will continue the hit series’ third season, which began in August.

DIRTY JOBS is produced by Pilgrim Film & Television; Craig Piligian is executive producer. For Discovery Channel, Gena McCarthy is executive producer. MAN VS. WILD is produced for Discovery Channel by Diverse Productions and executive produced by Steve Rankin. Dan Korn serves as Executive Producer for Discovery Channel.

(Image courtesy of Discovery)