The doc of destruction, discovered by Discovery

He's not exactly Doc Hollywood, but S&T's resident explosives expert Paul Worsey will soon hit cable TV with a bang.

Worsey -- pictured plugging his ears in this St. Louis Post-Dispatch photo from a few years ago -- will soon co-host a 13-week series on the Discovery Channel called "The Detonators" (official scoop). His co-host, Braden Lusk, is a former student of Worsey's who now teaches mining engineering at the University of Kentucky. Together on "The Detonators," the two profs will talk to the blasters behind such structures as urban skyscrapers, massive steel bridges and giant stadiums. They'll also give viewers a behind-the-scenes look at the demolitions.

As Post-Dispatch higher ed reporter Kavita Kumar points out in a recent post on the Post's blog The Grade, Worsey "has blown up bridges, trucks, rubber snakes, dead chickens, and lots and lots of other things. So it's perhaps not surprising that the Discovery Channel -- the same people who have brought us Man vs. Wild, Survivorman, Verminators, and Dirty Jobs -- has found a kindred spirit in him."

Kumar calls Worsey "the doctor of destruction." And while Worsey certainly enjoys his work -- who wouldn't want to blow stuff up? -- he's not as nefarious as that moniker or his mad-scientist laugh would imply. He's just your average happy-go-lucky, barrel-chested Brit who happens to have an explosive personality.

Here's a more recent photo of Worsey with Lusk during filming on location at Missouri S&T's Experimental Mine. The watermelon in Worsey's grasp was later blown to smithereens. Eat your heart out, Gallagher.

"The Detonators" is scheduled to begin airing sometime during the first quarter of 2009. Stay tuned to this blog for updates.