Season 1

In this gritty series we get intimate and real with 6 crew members of Poncho Drilling’s Rig 108 and their support staff as they explore oil and gas fields throughout central Alberta.  Camaraderie, intense labour, personal issues and battles with the elements are just part of the dangerous, daily grind and the overall interplay of Poncho 108’s crew.

Many of the drilling locations take the crew hundreds of miles from home, separating them from family, friends and loved ones for weeks at a time.  How do these men – some bachelors, some breadwinners – juggle their grueling and hectic work schedules with their elusive personal lives, especially when time off is at a premium?

Season 2

The Rig II: Oil Sands reunites us with 30-year-old Donny MacPhee, the tough-minded, straight-shooting rig manager from season one. After months at home, stranded by an industry-wide slowdown, Donny is chomping at the bit. He leaps at a job offer from emerging company Bronco Energy, which has just inked an innovative new partnership with the Bigstone Cree First Nation in Wabasca, Alberta. Donny’s task? Assemble a new crew, get an untested new rig into the field, and drill a whole series of wells—in five short months—in Wabasca’s intensely demanding environment. To add to the stress, Donny’s crew must grapple with the unfamiliar challenges of drilling horizontally.

This season, we get a closer look at a head-office management team in Calgary. The Bronco honchos face pressures of their own: meeting the expectations of investors, supporting and prodding the team on the rig, and delivering on their commitments to the Bigstone Cree, to help bring prosperity to the community while respecting its culture and the environment.