'Deadliest Catch': Thom Beers talks Phil Harris' confrontation with son, NBA threat

On the Tuesday, June 22, episode of Discovery's crab-fishing unscripted saga "Deadliest Catch" -- which airs at 9 p.m. ET/PT -- Capt. Phil Harris of the Cornelia Marie suffers the stroke that would eventually end his life.

Watch this space for more details on that, and what comes after, next week.

But executive producer Thom Beers doesn't want fans to miss tomorrow (June 15) night's 10th episode of the season. He fears that Game 6 of the NBA Finals between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Boston Celtics -- with coverage beginning on ABC at 8:31 p.m. ET, following a Jimmy Kimmel special at 8 -- will siphon viewers away from what he feels is pivotal installment in the ongoing story of Harris and his two deckhand sons, Jake and Josh.

And it's stress Beers doesn't need when he editing the episode which includes Harris' death.

"I'm having a hard time," Beers says. "I still haven't finished Episode 14. I can't watch it. I tell ya, it's killing me, and not for nothing, f*** the Lakers and f*** the Celtics. They can't get this f***ing basketball game done before my show?

"I'm not happy about this at all. They're playing tomorrow night, of course, and this is the send-off, this is the turning point. The show really sets the tone. It sets a whole different family dynamic. You're just going to go, 'What?' It's really intense. It's near the end for Phil."

Fans who have seen the promo for the episode know that Harris tells one of his sons that they're through, and he doesn't want to see him anymore.

(If you want to remain unspoiled, stop reading now.)

Asked if the confrontation contributed to Harris' stroke, Beers says, "If it hadn't been that Phil had been really ill in the past and was on blood thinners and was trying, but not doing a great job of taking care of himself, I'd say 'yes.' But it's one of the contributing factors, but certainly not the contributing factor.

"It's like anything else. You catch your kid doing drugs, and you're like, 'Whoa.'"

One might wonder where anyone could get drugs in the middle of the Bering Sea in the dead of winter, but Beers explains, "He catches Jake stealing his prescription drugs. That's going to happen, but the scene with the two of them -- Phil's like, 'We're done. I don't ever want to see you again.' It's just crushing. It's crushing."

But this isn't the end of the relationship between Harris and his son. Many changes are in store for the Harris brothers, who have appeared at several memorial services for their father, including a jazz funeral held recently in New Orleans (click here for a video).

New Orleans is the also the location for the companion roundtable show to "Deadliest Catch," called "After the Catch," premiering Tuesday, June 15, at 10 p.m. ET/PT. Mike Rowe of "Dirty Jobs," who narrates "Deadliest Catch," returns as host, and Jake and Josh Harris both make appearances, along with the captains and crew of the other crab boats.


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Photo credits: Discovery Channel