Discovery ChannelWe haven't seen the last of Capt. Phil Harris.
Despite his tragic passing this month, the salty captain of Deadliest Catch will appear in the sixth season of the Discovery hit when it kicks off in April.
Executive producer Thom Beers told EW.com that the Cornelia Marie's king crab season (which runs from mid-October through mid-December) was fully wrapped when Harris suffered a stroke, and that cameras had already been rolling on the crew's snow crab season when tragedy struck.
A showman to the end, Capt. Phil encouraged producers to film his final days in the hospital. They obliged, and while the footage is no doubt see-worthy, whether or not it makes the show's final cut is being left up to Harris' family.
"We were there the entire time," Beers said. "We were there in the hospital.
"When he came out [of a medically induced coma], he was trying to talk. He couldn't, but he was motioning with his hand to my producer and camera man. We said, 'We want to give you your space and get out,' and he wrote on a piece of paper. It said, 'No, we need a great finish to this story.'
"He's just got out of a coma, and he's producing!"
Compelling to be sure, but producers won't make a decision on whether to broadcast the final moments until speaking with the family.
In the meantime, in addition to this weekend's Deadliest Catch marathon tribute to the captain, the network is planning another special that will air sometime during the forthcoming season.
A public memorial is also expected to take place for Harris sometime this spring, when the annual fan gathering CatchCon takes place in Seattle. A date has not yet been set, but the event usually takes place in late April.
According to Beers, Harris' sons, Josh and Jake, plan on scattering their dad's ashes on the Bering Sea when the next crab season begins this fall.
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Luckily, Harris' death had nothing to do with his day job. But that didn't stop it from making the cut in our Dangerous Reality-TV gallery.