Reality TV...???

[Vic Piano]

I don't usually watch any so-called reality TV shows but this morning (while having some breakfast) I turned on the tube and went to the Speed Channel. there was a program called "Hard Parts South Bronx", apparently its a show about an auto parts store in the South Bronx and the guy that owns it is suppose to be able to get any part for any car in several hours or less... A guy from Long Island pulls up in front of the store in a '32 Highboy Five Window Coupe and tells the guy he needs king pins for the car. Right away the parts guy starts calling the Coupe a Roadster... He's on the phone calling (everyone he knows in the parts business ) and asking for king pins for a '32 Roadster. He never once said its a '32 Ford and he obviously doesn't know about Joblot (in Queens, NY) or how to use the internet to locate parts... What's worse, he looks like a complete idiot when he continues to call the five window a Roadster, leaving him and the show with no credibility with any viewers that have a clue. In my day job, I'm a television producer and I've done a number of automotive related programs for broadcast and home video and it always amazes me when I see these type of programs that dispense erroneous information. Obviously they don't do any research and often the hosts are not qualified on the subject. Sorry for the rant but I had to do it...

[Fibber Mcgee]

I think they gear alot of shows towards the majority who don't have a clue." Don't let facts get in the way we got a show to get done" is the mentality.

[Mike in AZ]

lol....yeah, the same on epay sometimes.....a "coupe 2 door sedan"....etc....etc.....even a '40 six-window coupe....guess that split rear window counts as 2.....Mike

[37 Coupe]

I think the best car related show on TV today is the one on Discovery's Velocity channel titled "Chasing Classic Cars". Mayby some of the guys in the New England area know of the classic car dealer the show is based on Wayne Carini,F40 Motorsports. Some of the cars are exotic Ferraris etc but some shows will feature Fords like a Model A and woodywagons some found,and getting ready to be sold at auction,not always the ending or profit he is seeking. The very worst on this channel is Desert Car Kings where they fix up cars from a salvage yard in Arizona,they showed a 5 window 36 coupe awhile back that they kept reffering to as a 3 window.

[PhoenixFear]

I've heard of the show, never watched it. I work at an auto parts store at the moment so I can say that the show probably has to be set up that way for entertainment purposes only. It gets boring real quick after selling oil change stuff and tune-up parts for Honda Civics all day.

[Old Henry]

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Now you know how I feel about every lawyer movie or T.V. show I've ever seen. Don't even watch them any more. Before I was a lawyer I loved Perry Mason and aspired to be like him. Now I know there's so little reality in that show it's disgusting. I guess with entertainment it's better not to know the reality - it destroys the entertainment.

[mike in tucson]

All of these shows follow the same format regardless if they are involved in re-doing a bar/restaurant, building a car, towing cars off a Chicago freeway, or trying to make a blubber butt skinny......they all ignore the real detail and focus on a CRISIS such as a deadline. They all include a lot of personality clashing. Watching any of these shows will not help you learn about restaurant operation, building cars or losing weight. They are geared for the dumb ass segment of the population to sell whatever the ads are promoting. IF some production company could only do a car related show that taught us about how to lead in a quarter panel, how to buff a paint job, how to adjust flathead valves....well, that production company would lose big $$ fast!!!

[Butch11443]

Vic, that show is terrible. I'm suprised you didn't lose your breakfast. I watched about 5 minutes of it once, never again.
Butch

[Pat/Ohio]

Hi Vic,

I have several friends that for some reason refer to Any hot rod or street rod as a roadster . I have tried explaining the difference between a Tudor Sedan and a roadster to them.....lasts about 2 hours!

Pat

[37 Coupe]

Same thing here. A friend said he was looking to buy a 32 roadster,when he got it and I went to look at it was a 28 Tudor sedan,he said "same thing". It is a chopped top,Chevy engine powered car and I told him one thing for sure that is not a Model A,not now anyway.

[bart78]

My dad and I went to look at what his friend said was an old ford roadster. He said all the car was there and in prety good shape for how long it has set and the guy was wanting 5,000 for it. We show up and and it's a t touring cat that's not in that good of shape. Told the guy what it was and he said I was wrong. I guess having a few my self makes me not know what I am talking about. Asked if I wanted to make an offer and I told him 500. He was pissed and told us to leave. Went on and on about how much it was worth. Told him what my grandad told me t's are like assholes everyone has one.

[Mark Slight]

Vic,

"Hard Parts South Bronx", loud, rude, overweight. Don't have a clue. One time was enough for me, shut it off in 10 minutes.

Mark

[richard crow]

years ago when you needed a body part you would go to the south bronx walk into a junk yard & ask the owner. who would say what color you want come back tomorrow & i will have it here. people in the mid west have no idea how bad it was there it look like berlin 1946. if your car broke down by the time the tow truck came it was to late i have a frend who sat in the car wating & they removed the tires you would not dear to get out

[Rowdy]

I seen it also. I noticed it had the readily reproduced 37-41 Kingpins. I have a couple of sets of those on the shelf. Not. Hard item to find. I thought it was really lame. Rod

[DICK SPADARO]

Ha, I just saw this post, It's reality TV just what the country wants, watch this nit wit act up or those problems are worse than mine philosophy so it generates viewers.

In response to the king pin topic, this was arranged by the production company. They called my business to integrate something interesting about the auto parts business and it was decided that the topic king pins would be different. We sent the production company spindle, axle and king pins for a demo on King pins. The production company then determined the format of the story which turned out to be the radio challenge and not a bad idea at that. It took 4 small snips and made a story line. It's TV, could it have been technically better, yes but its TV where no one got beaten, robbed or murdered. We got all our display stuff back the other day as promised but the guy with the coupe is still missing his king pins.

[37 Coupe]

I had the misfortune to be stationed at the Brooklynn Naval shipyard last 4 mounths of 1969. My 1963 Ford Galaxie never left the high fenced shipyard until January 5th 1970 my last day in the Navy, I seen what wheeless,set on fire cars looked like,never forget that XKE smoldering as I left and sped on to Ohio.

[bart78]

I think with all these car shows more people are going to think their rusted out pos is worth more. Some already have thought that. I find it hard to pay what some of these guys pay for some of the cars they find like on that fast and loud. Where I come from most of the old folks dont care about them and the rest just let it rot because it belonged to dad. I wish on all the shows they would say how much they got in it when done so some would see how much it costs to fix up an old car and realize they are not going to make much if any money off them.

[TonyM]

Originally Posted by mike in tucson

They are geared for the dumb ass segment of the population

This sentence says all you need to know about Reality Television.

[J Franklin]

Frank Zappa had a song with the refrain "I am the slime from the video, oozing along your living room floor"

[Vic Piano]

Originally Posted by DICK SPADARO

Ha, I just saw this post, It's reality TV just what the country wants, watch this nit wit act up or those problems are worse than mine philosophy so it generates viewers.

In response to the king pin topic, this was arranged by the production company. They called my business to integrate something interesting about the auto parts business and it was decided that the topic king pins would be different. We sent the production company spindle, axle and king pins for a demo on King pins. The production company then determined the format of the story which turned out to be the radio challenge and not a bad idea at that. It took 4 small snips and made a story line. It's TV, could it have been technically better, yes but its TV where no one got beaten, robbed or murdered. We got all our display stuff back the other day as promised but the guy with the coupe is still missing his king pins.

Dick, you're lucky the production company found you and someone actually had a clue. I've been producing/directing television shows for 40 years, including NASCAR, IHRA, Grand Prix, SCORE, ISCA (International Show Car Association), etc. and I've worked with knowledgeable people and some "announcers" who couldn't tell the difference between the front and rear end of a car... when you are shooting program segments to edit for a program, there is no excuse for not getting facts correct.