OMG not a genre show (well, yes, technically, but not the genres I usually watch)

Mr. Mouse and I pretty much shun "reality t.v."  We do watch The Biggest Loser, Restaurant Impossible and American Pickers, but crap like the Kardashians, that Honey Boo Boo atrocity or people wrassling alligators in swamps makes me want to hurl.  It was with trepidation, therefore, that we turned on the History Channel's Down East Dickering.  Or, if you want to be accurate: Down East Dickerin'.  I must admit that I loved it.

Part of the charm is the entirely on-point accents.  I LOVE Maine accents and they are nigh impossible for anyone who is not a Mainer to get right (see any movie ever set in Maine, for example).  These guys are some wicked local - two of them appear to have some Canuck in them and their accents, while strong, are not quite as "Maine" as the others - and it's all kinds of awesome.  Even though I do not have a Maine accent myself, I have a tendency to pick up other's accents and by the time the last episode was over, Mr. Mouse was rolling his eyes whenever I said anything.  You can take the girl out of Maine but you apparently can't take Maine out of the girl.

The show follows three pairs of dickerers, guys who don't want to work real jobs and prefer to peruse Uncle Henry's for goods and services for which to sell, barter and trade.  One pair is located in the greater Bethel area (I used to spend a lot of time in Bethel and it's fun to see familiar places), one pair is up in Sangerville (Dover-Foxcroft region) and the third is somewhere off Route 1 (maybe Lincolnville-ish?) Technically, only the area around Route 1 is considered "down east" but I'll give them a pass.

I read an online article - which described the show as "American Pickers with a redneck twist," which is absolutely right on - where the author was skeptical about the potential hickifying of two characters' nicknames, "Codfish" and "Yummy."  She thinks this was unrealistic artistic license.  I think it's probably spot on.  The real name of the Codfish guy is "Cordwell" which is pronounced "Codwell" if you're from Maine.  It's not a stretch to nickname someone "Codfish" from "Codwell," in my opinion.  The other nickname, Yummy, could be a bit far-fetched, I suppose.  Except that back in the day I worked at a Maine seaside resort hotel.  One of the local lobstermen was nicknamed "Grunny," which was short for "Grunion" which is a funny little fish.  Grunny, Yummy - not that far apart.

I don't get back to Maine very often.  Now that I've found Down East Dickering, I can get my fix in between trips.