The Curse of Oak Island

The Curse of Oak Island is a multi-season reality television series that chronicles a team of treasure hunters run by brothers Marty and Rick Lagina and its search for legendary treasure on Oak Island off the shore of Nova Scotia. The American television production delves into the Oak Island mystery, featuring efforts to search for historical artifacts and treasure.
The program premiered on History on January 6, 2014. The twelfth season premiered on November 12, 2024.
The Curse of Oak Island follows brothers Marty and Rick Lagina, originally from Kingsford, Michigan, through their efforts to find the speculated treasure believed to be on Oak Island. The series discusses the history of the island, recent discoveries, theories, and earlier investigations of the site. Areas of interest include the "money pit", Borehole 10-X, Smith's Cove, Site 2, "Nolan's Cross", the "Hatch", and the "Swamp".
While wholesale treasure has not been found, some coins and artifacts have been dug up on the island over the years.
After centuries of excavation on the small island, some have speculated the show is a hoax and false news, while others speculate that if there ever was any treasure, it is already gone.
Initially, the cast consisted of a core group including Rick, Marty, and Alex Lagina, Dan and Dave Blankenship, Craig Tester, Jack Begley, Dan Henskee, Charles Barkhouse, and Peter Fornetti. Over time, the Oak Island team has expanded. Some specialists who have been brought to the island for specific purposes, such as Terry Matheson, Laird Niven, and Gary Drayton, have joined the team as full-time members.
A number of individuals have made recurring appearances, usually when their expertise is called upon in association with the treasure hunt. They may appear many times in one season and then far more infrequently in other seasons or not at all, depending on what is required during the ongoing search.
In addition to regular and recurring cast members, there have been several visits by people who have a significant and sometimes intimate association with Oak Island.
The Lagina brothers became fascinated with the island after reading the January 1965 issue of Reader's Digest magazine that features an article on the Restall family's work to investigate the so-called "money pit". Marty and Rick obtained a controlling interest in Oak Island Tours, which reportedly owns most of the island. The brothers were later approached by Prometheus Entertainment to do a reality show and engaged the assistance of father-and-son Dan and Dave Blankenship, permanent residents of the island who had likewise been searching for treasure since the 1960s.
The series explores various Oak Island theories and conjectures through conversations with independent researchers. Persons featured have included Zena Halpern discussing her theory about North African gold and sharing copies of a French map of the island that she claims is dated to 1347, J. Hutton Pulitzer discussing his theory of ancient mariner visitations, Petter Amundsen discussing his theory about codes hidden in Shakespearean literature and a secret project involving Sir Francis Bacon and the Rosicrucians, Daniel Ronnstam discussing his theory about the 90-foot stone being a dual cypher containing instructions on how to defeat the money pit flood tunnels with corn, authors Kathleen McGowen and Alen Butler discussing their theory involving the fabled Knights Templar treasure and an alleged relocation of historical religious artifacts to the island, and John O'Brien discussing his theory that the island contains treasures of the Aztec Empire. It has also been suggested by Zena Halpern, without evidence, that the Templars worshipped the Phoenician goddess Tanit.
Along with The Curse of Oak Island being broadcast on History, the series can also be streamed on the television channel's website. On February 1, 2022, the show's eighth season could be streamed on Discovery+. February 1, 2023 marked the ninth season appearing on the subscription-based streaming service.
The Curse of Oak Island: Drilling Down premiered on November 10, 2015, as a companion series following the parent show's season 3 episode "The Hole Truth". The series is a talk show where host Matty Blake, brothers Marty and Rick Lagina, and guests discuss specific details about previous episodes and the future of the search for Oak Island treasure. Guests are invited to the roundtable and interviewed about their research, knowledge, and Oak Island experiences.
Season one of History's The Curse of Civil War Gold debuted on March 6, 2018. In the spin-off series, Kevin Dykstra, Marty Lagina, and Marty's son, Alex Lagina, hunt for Confederate gold which disappeared during the American Civil War.
During the beginning of The Curse of Oak Island's 6th season (2018), Behind the Dig appeared as deep-dive episodes where Matty Blake, the Lagina brothers, and the Oak Island team present the viewers with behind-the-scenes footage of the treasure hunt and describe the processes the team uses in their findings.
First airing on History on January 8, 2019, the Digging Deeper extended episodes exhibit the parent series' unseen footage and discuss further information about the island's discoveries.
Beyond Oak Island, which premiered on November 17, 2020, showcases treasure hunts from all across the world. Host Matty Blake and the Laginas discuss past and present searches, sometimes traveling to the sites for a first-hand involvement. The show ended after 3 seasons in January 2023.
Premiered on November 19, 2024. Is a deep dive into the ongoing treasure hunt.
On May 13, 2015, Visionaire Studio announced they had received 50% of needed funds for The Mystery of Oak Island by posting on their Kickstarter page. As of May 2023, the puzzle game is still in development.
Editor, journalist, and author Randall Sullivan wrote The Curse of Oak Island: The Story of the World's Longest Treasure Hunt, documenting Oak Island's long history of treasure hunters and their successes and tribulations on and off the island. The book was first published in November 2018 by Atlantic Monthly Press.