The new season of "Gold Rush," the top-rated series on the Discovery Channel, begins with a March 2017 encounter between Todd Hoffman and Parker Schnabel, who are both attending a construction trade show in Las Vegas.
Hoffman, who's known for his optimistic predictions, announces that he's aiming to mine 5,000 ounces of gold in the new "Gold Rush" season, because now he's got "the best ground we've ever had."
"That's what you said last year," an unimpressed Schnabel replies.
Clearly, Schnabel has been paying attention. As any "Gold Rush" viewer knows, every season Hoffman -- who lives in Sandy, Oregon -- sets gold-mining goals some call ambitious and others call over the top.
True to form, the two-hour "Gold Rush" Season 8 premiere, which airs Friday, Oct. 13 on Discovery, features Hoffman again vowing that his crew will dig up 5,000 ounces worth of gold.
It's the same promise Hoffman made in Season 7, which was a whopping disappointment. Hoffman started the season leading his crew, which includes other men from Oregon, to a mine in Baker County, Oregon. That turned out to be a bust. After crew defections and assorted other problems, Hoffman moved his operation to Colorado.
The season ended with Hoffman falling far short of his 5,000-ounce goal, and Gresham's Dave Turin, long Hoffman's right-hand man, getting into a brawl with Trey Poulson, who was doing some work for the Hoffman team. When the season finale aired, Turin appeared in a special that looked back at Season 7. In a surprise announcement, Turin said he was leaving the show.
