Back In The Saddle With "The Cowboy Way"

The Cowboy Way, the popular unscripted series about the misadventures of three Alabama cattle ranchers, returns at 8 pm ET Wednesday for a sixth season on INSP. And that means more opportunities to follow rancher and ace carpenter Bubba Thompson, rodeo champion and cattle dealer Cody Harris, and expert cattleman and horse trainer Chris “Booger” Brown as they maintain their Faith Cattle Company in South Alabama. The secret of the show’s ongoing success? “People are fascinated with the cowboys and their authentic lifestyle,” says Doug Butts, INSP’s senior vice-president of programming. “From brutally long hours and uncertain income, to the unrelenting amount of broken bones and injuries, these hard-working ranchers and businessmen are the real deal. Their unrivaled grit and strong work ethic shine through in each episode, and we look forward to sharing more of their heroic stories with our loyal viewers.” Of course, as the Cowboy Way cowboys noted during a recent conversation with Cowboys & Indians, when there’s a camera crew following you around the ranch, complications increase exponentially. “Yeah,” Booger Brown said with a laugh, “it’s very stressful and a lot of hard work when you got 200 head of cattle wanting to do what they want to do, and each of us is riding a horse with its own brain. But when you have your production crew there following you around — well, it’s hard trying to make all the stars line up and get all the action on camera.” “It gets pretty western out there with some of our crew members,” Bubba Thompson added. “Sometimes they stand in the wrong spots, but they kind of learn real quick. I mean, they either have to learn how things go around here, or they have to catch a rabbit and get on another job somewhere else, because they don't work out too long.” Throughout the six seasons of filming, Cody Harris said, “We’ve seen some pretty good wrecks. Trust me: We’ve had some wild experiences with the crew.” But what about the cowboys themselves? Do they ever find themselves thinking “Gosh, I hope they don’t show that on TV” after a mishap? “Yeah,” Thompson admitted, “that generally crosses my mind when I’m laying flat on my back in the middle of the pack. Whether I’m thrown off a horse, or I fall or trip — it doesn’t really matter. “But I’ll tell you what,” he added, laughing at some memory of an embarrassing incident. “Whenever that happens — they tend to use those videos and pictures more than they do all the other glamour shots, I'll tell you that. Whenever that happens, you just know: ‘Yup, you can write it down — that is going on TV.’” Still, these cowboys must be doing something right: Even before the airing of the Season 6 premiere, The Cowboy Way was renewed by INSP for a seventh season...MORE