Joost Blog

Arrrr, pirates. Sailing the high seas with abandon, brandishing their swords, paying no heed to the long arm of the law, swilling casks of ale, donning eye patches and striped shirts, and looting treasure chests full of gold and jewels...aye, it's no wonder we romanticize a pirate's life. Yo ho, a pirate's life's for me.

We've felt this way about pirates long before Somali pirates controlled high seas (and certainly before they took the captain hostage). Hero or villian, on the small screen they've always been the underdogs. No spoiler alerts are necessary, because hero or villain, you can probably guess the outcome.

• In the episode of MacGyver appropriately titled, uh, Pirates, modern day pirates kidnap an expert (treasure map reader?) who they think can lead them to a sunken treasure. Will they succeed?

• If you thought pirates only cruised the open seas, The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr., will prove you wrong in another episode cleverly titled Pirates. In this show, a gang dresses up as the wild seafarers, but their conquests take place in the Wild Wild West.

• Even Daniel Boone and Long John Silver took on pirates in their day. Mr. Boone takes part in a search for pirate gold after he's ambushed and robbed, while, in a life-imitating-art episode, Mr. Silver aims to free hostages from a band of marauders.

• More recently, (and closer to home for those of us in the U.S.), Delko and the Miami CSI's team try to take back a luxury yacht from the hands of nasty pirates.

• Even Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids - cartoons, people - found a pirate treasure map once. Which brings up the question - has the growth of the internet made treasure maps easier or harder to find?