No, it's not about atomic disaster mutants, or a killer man-like reptile with an attitude problem and anger issues. Instead, "Swamp People" is an absolute splitting of the atom ratings winner. I'm sure it was a long shot to a lot of people at first, myself included. I have to admit, even I as politically incorrect as it gets had my doubts when I first heard about the show. Then I watched it and that was it. I'm a "swamp junkie" looking for my next fix of the program in the backwaters of the bayou. Troy Landry is the undisputed rock star of the swamp. His affable manner and his battle cry of "Choot 'Em" not only resonates with the viewers but is emblazoned on everything from t-shirts to ball caps.
The show follows the lives of Cajun alligator hunters who hunt gators for a living, not sport. It is a bayou practice that has been handed down for generations for the past 300 years. Alligator season comes but once a year in the swamp, and lasts only 30 days in which to "tag out" starting on the first Wednesday in September. "Swamp People" follows the alligator exploits of some of the top hunters in the state of Louisiana, and in the process, has made regular bayou icons out of them. They are to alligator hunting, that Lynard Skynard is to Southern rock and roll.
The teams all have their fan followers and have achieved cult status. RJ and JR, Native American father and son take to the swamp with a fury, and in one episode they engage in a night time chase in the swamp after they discover poachers in their territory stealing their catch. The poachers are lucky they got away, as these two have a take no prisoners attitude. Then there's Bruce, he hunts alone with his dog, Tyler who is first mate aboard this one man boat. Bruce baits 'em, shoot's 'em and hauls them into the boat singlehandedly. Bruce dresses only in boots and coveralls, no shirt, dressing like a Chippendale dancer in a swamp full of danger.
Take Willie. He's always getting shot from a ricochet bullet and usually digs the offending lead from his body himself. He has more bullet holes in him than a slice of Swiss cheese. He has a small speech in the opening of the show that sums the lifestyle up in a nutshell. "If you think you can do this...good luck to ya"
Louisiana has some pretty amazing wildlife. Some of it can cause "vexations" to local residents. Wasp nest with angry residents with attitude, crazed geese that will attack at a moments notice, alligators who have lost their navigational beacons and end up in someones backyard pool and woodland critters such as raccoons and skunks that also enjoy the company of humans. If you're plagued by pest infestation, who you gonna call? In Louisiana there is only one call to make, call in the heavy artillery, call on Billy The Exterminator and the gang from Vexcon!
Billy is an amazing character. He is the Terminator of Pest Control who not only knows what he is doing but does it while making a Billy Idol fashion statement at the same time. Dressed in black leather and enough spikes and studs to stop a speeding felon's car during a police chase, Billy and his brother Ricky take to the field to help helpless citizens protect life and property.
"Billy the Exterminator" along with "Swamp People" have put Louisiana in the top of the ratings on cable television. In one episode they fend off attacking geese armed only with umbrella's. Billy has a conservationists philosophy when it comes to trapping wildlife. He traps 'em and then takes them to some secluded spots in the forests or swamps and releases them. He also is a proponent of natural pest control practices that are safe for the environment, humans and pets. Wasps and cockroaches aren't so lucky, the get exterminated Billy style.
Billy Bretherton is more than another wild child with spiked hair, he owns Vexcon Animal and Pest Control in Benton, Louisiana and learned his trade in the U.S. Airforce. He entered the armed forces at 19 as a training ground for law enforcement, but the aptitude tests showed that this backwoods boy wonder had a natural feel for the field of biology and entomology. After training he put to practice his new found talents at Nellis Air Base in Nevada.
Billy's brother Ricky, is the comic relief of the show. If Billy resembles a New York punk rocker, then Ricky with his long blond Southern hair looks as if he could be a member of the Allman Brothers Band. Not so funny is the fact that Ricky is highly susceptible to bee and wasp stings due to the fact that he's been stung so many times in the past he probably would have a reaction to wasp stings that would inflate him to the size of a Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade balloon. Billy was originally featured on a segment of Dirty Jobs on the Discovery Channel, the rest is pest control history.
Other shows have put a face on the South in the past, generally as situation comedies and parody, but, the new "reality" shows have rocketed the swamp culture into the hearts of America. Real people, real life, real situations, while The Dukes of Hazard gave a NASCAR feel to the "stars and bars" of the culture with a cast and story lines that moved at the furious pace of a Dodge Challenger on the quarter mile track.
We are fascinated with the alligator hunters and the pest controllers of the bayou. It's not an easy life by any stretch and these people are some of the hardest working people on the planet, and show business. They are the new kings of cable television. Want to try your hand at bagging a 700 pound gator into a small boat? How about a nest of angry wasps? In the world according to Swamp People's Willie...if you think you can do it...good luck to ya!