Is Clash Of The Ozarks Real? Explained!

The Discovery Channel aired a short-lived reality program during the winter and by the end of 2014 spring based on a rumored century-old family feud in the village of Hardy (Sharp County). 

The show, titled Clash of the Ozarks, aired for a single season comprising six episodes before being canceled. 

Leftside Pictures vice president and two-episode series producer David George was in the Ozarks looking for actors to star in a film based on a plot completely unrelated to Clash of the Ozarks.

Gary “Crowbar” Russell, the presenter of the local access TV program Ozark Outdoors, one of the people he met during his time was Hardy. 

After hearing Russell’s life story after life story, George realized he had the makings of a reality program. 

Russell had informed George that his family’s animosity against the Evans family had begun in the eighteenth century after a brawl at a local dance. 

As many as three persons were allegedly slain before the fighting ceased. 

According to Russell, the animosity that this incident provoked has persisted until the current day.

While this conflict set the stage for the show, the plot of the current century revolved around Russell’s property being threatened with foreclosure. 

Russell’s tax bill was due, and he couldn’t pay it without the proceeds from his moonshine still. 

It became more difficult for him to give off the taxes and keep his property when the still was broken into. 

In Russell’s mind, the still had been demolished by Kerry Wayne Evans. 

Then, Evans, who was suspected of working with a local rich lady known as the “baroness,” would pay back the taxes and take ownership of the Russell property. 

Besides Russell and Evans, the story mostly focused on Renee Clay, the “baroness,” who was an accomplice of Evans, and the Terrell brothers, Sevella and John “Marty,” Jimmy, and Mark.

The first edition of the weekly show aired on February 25, 2014, and the last episode aired on April 1, 2014. 

There was no season two of the program. 

While low ratings may have played a role in the show’s cancellation, legal issues involving the show’s main characters were also a contributing factor. 

In 2014, Evans was found guilty of illegally possessing a functional machine gun and given a six-month house detention term, a $4,000 fine, along with probation for three years. 

In the same year that Haney was convicted for the parole violation along with felony drug possession, Terrell was charged with manslaughter in a vehicle accident and was facing multiple drug charges. 

Russell’s sudden heart attack in 2016 undoubtedly put a stop to any plans for a second season. 

An intriguing twist to the tale is provided because Kerry Evans, Russell’s nemesis, took part as an honorary pallbearer at his burial.

Where was Clash of the Ozarks filmed?

Some exterior scenes were taken in the real Ozarks, but the majority of the program was shot in and around Atlanta, Georgia. 

Show creator and writer Bill Dubuque spent time in the 1980s working as a dock worker at the real-life Alhonna Resort and Marina on the Lake of the Ozarks, which served as inspiration for the waterfront resort shown in Ozark.

Most of Ozark was shot in Lake Lanier and Lake Allatoona, which are roughly an hour outside of Atlanta, and the set was recreated in Georgia after the team studied the Alhonna Resort. 

The Byrde family’s lakefront house is on a peninsula that protrudes into Lake Lanier; additional filming sites include a barbecue restaurant in Flowery Branch, Georgia, and Silver Skillet, a vintage diner in Atlanta where FBI agent Roy Petty eats at the beginning of season one.

Scenes for Ozark have also been shot in Canton, Lawrenceville, Duluth, and Norcross, however, Eagle Rock Studios Atlanta is used extensively for interior photography. 

The inside of the strip joint (Lickety Splitz), Buddy’s basement and Russ’s trailer, are all set up on a soundstage.

Who lives in the Ozark Mountains?

There are many beautiful natural features in the Ozarks, such as springs, lakes, waterfalls, caves, sinks (also known as karstic landforms), and caverns.

And then there are the man-made attractions, like the Lake of the Ozarks. 

In between the Appalachians and the Rockies, the Ozarks are the harshest geographical region.

Beyond the mountains, the forest has Blanchard Springs Caverns and over two hundred miles of trails. 

Several other state parks are scattered around the Ozarks, each dedicated to preserving the region’s natural beauty while making it easily accessible to tourists.

Everyone may find an adventure here, whether they want to explore a cave or go to a lookout point over a beautiful landscape. 

The natural beauty of the area is enhanced by the abundance of unspoiled woods and lakes that provide opportunities for a wide range of outdoor activities.

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