Happy Wednesday friends. I think this is going to be my last post on a Wednesday for this feature. Looking at the numbers there just isn’t very much interest in it. Probably due to the shows I’m writing about here. At least I hope that’s all it is. I am not too surprised by it. The thing that brought most people together in the beginning, including myself, was the housewives shows and particularly, at least in my case, the love to hate JZ. That is after all how I found all of you. So you can either thank JZ for that or kick her in the teeth for it. I’ll leave that to you 😉
My original intent for this feature was to talk about shows that are shown on networks, primarily, Non Bravo networks but still, ‘unscripted’ programming. Programming that at best, is a re-enactment of something that May have happened but with the usual made for TV embellishments. These shows typically revolve around some sort of family business so they always include a little bit of drama along with the day to day operations of the business. They’re all the same in that way and as such are somewhat predictable. Once in awhile, there will be a twist that no one, or at least me, saw coming. Truthfully though, many of these shows are forgettable to me so I forget to record them. If you know me by now, you know I don’t watch Anything in real time. I Hate commercials and enjoy the ability to skip past them with a couple button presses on the remote.
Yesterday, in response to a poster, Empress laid out the plot for each episode remaining this season for RHONJ. As much of a joke as I’m sure she meant it to be, it was also fact, I’m certain of that. One of the shows I’ve been talking about is Hardcore Pawn. Even that, is very predictable. Baby Seth bashes his sister, Ashley, She bashes him, they tell each other to eff off, Les tries to make them work together. Mixed up in all of that, some asshole brings something in and demands money for it resulting in their ejection from the store. The End. Even with the ‘normal’ clients, staged for the cameras. Hence, FauxAlity (thank you once again Lisa Renee).
Then we have the Repo company programs. Operation Repo, South Beach Tow (which I’ll talk about below), Lizard Lick, and the like. We see things on these shows that would land a normal citizen in a prison cell. Last time I checked for instance, it’s illegal to fire a gun at somebody under any circumstance. If a person is Going to fire a gun at somebody, it better be to protect his/her own life or someone is going to jail. I would think that firing explosives, like fireworks at somebody would fall in a similar category. FauxAlity. Bottom line is though, People don’t seem too interested in talking about these programs. Perhaps because they Are so ridiculous. So from this point forward, I’ll be moving this feature to Saturday when there are no Bravo type shows to be reviewed and it will be whatever is in my normally empty head that I talk about.
Here’s a show for today.. South Beach Tow. Another family run business with an eclectic cast of characters. The business is run by Robert and his two kids are with him. The repo footage on this show is somewhat believable. The company’s primary focus though is to tow vehicles from where they aren’t supposed to be parked. I mentioned above, Twists. Rob, had hired a driver (Perez) that for some reason, Robbie, his son, hated. Didn’t trust him. It turns out that this guy was dating Robert’s daughter, Christie, with his permission. That isn’t all that was going on though. It also turns out that Perez, was helping the competition steal Robert’s tow contracts, apparently with Christie’s knowledge. The last episode ended with Christie walking out on South Beach Tow, With Perez. Is it real or is it made for TV? The best part of that show for me is Bernice. One of the drivers who absolutely in no uncertain terms doesn’t take shit from Anybody. Even with her footage though, a lot of it is simply staged. Has to be.
Another show I’ve been talking about is American Chopper- Jr vs Sr. This show ends its season this coming Monday. Mikey is leaving the show, he says 100% certain of that. A couple weeks ago, Sr and Jr met privately to discuss what kind of relationship they would have in the future. Apparently, the two saw the results of that meet differently so next week, Jr will go To OCC to talk to his father face to face, with the cameras turned On. The reasoning as I get it, is to have a video record about who said what. Jr wants to whole Sr vs Jr thing done. He’s finished with it he says. I don’t know about everybody else but if it weren’t for the conflict between the two, I would have lost interest in the show years ago. I don’t think this really fits with FauxAlity because I know this feud is real. The motorcycles the two of them build, are real and for real clients. Michael in the heyday added levity to the show but as far as I’m concerned, with him leaving, and this feud ending one way or another, there really isn’t a point to the show anymore. Just like Empress laid out the season of RHONJ, I can lay out the American Chopper show as it would exist without the Sr vs Jr conflicts and Mikey’s contribution. OCC builds a motorcycle for client X. PJD builds one for Client Y. Both present or unveil their projects to the clients. The clients love them. The End. I don’t see it lasting another season if that’s all they have to offer.
Of interest perhaps to you SAMCRO fans, Kurt Sutter has a new show on Discovery. Outlaw Empires. Our DesignDiva pointed this out to me. the show airs Monday nights at 10pm. The show revolves around Kurt’s research into criminal empires. Apparently he’s been compiling this information for years from the people who are/were actually There. Sutter narrates the show as he takes us through the history of these criminal empires. This week’s show focused on the Crips. From beginning to now. Like most gangs, this group has spread like a bad plague and was Really thrust into national and even worldwide attention during the 1992 LA Riots. Apparently this group started around 1972 and was begun for self preservation in the violent neighborhoods. Unfortunately (My observation) these groups have become the source of the violence they once sought to protect themselves from. Perhaps they always were. Even within the gang(s) there are too many different groups or sets as they call them. No central leadership and as such, will never be taken apart. It’s an interesting show if you’re into that sort of thing.
That’s about it for this week’s FauxAlity Wednesday. Have a great rest of the week.
MTH.
8)
realhousewifeofaiken 
You are right. There are too many shows that fake tension to keep viewers engaged.
I enjoyed a certain home improvement show on a DIY type network. I noticed last season that nearly every week, suddenly mid-remodel the contractor was informed that the owners need to move in days earlier than originally forecast. So, the construction workers were forced to work around the clock to make the “new” deadline.
Allegedly. I don’t know many neighborhoods that would tolerate construction noise at 3 AM.
None will. Just let your dog out (if you have one) and let him bark all hours of the night. See how long it takes for the police to show up at your door. As for owners wanting to move in before the contractual deadline, they cannot do it. Not if the completion date is written into the contract anyway. They have to give the contractor the proper, pre agreed time to finish the work. At least that’s the way it is Here anyway. As you note however, without the conflict, there’s really no excitement to the show. Other than seeing the project come together.
BARKING DOGS …THE WORSE….I believe that most County’s here in Fla have disallowed the filming of these REALITY shows for Home Improvements… A bunch of folks filed complaints with Buidling Depts that INSPECTIONS were not being done according to CODE and we didnt care if it was for Charity or not.. If others had to follow the RULES..then they all had to follow the rules..
What was sorta funny was the one episode of Extreme Makeover… The contractor of record was a CROOK.. we all knew it.. OTHERS knew it.. and his SONS were the ones who are now in Jail for opening all those pain pill clinics here in Florida… lots of folks are in jail..some commited suicide and more are awaiting trial….
I can smell a CROOKED CONTRACTOR MILES AWAY…..
MTH… I do watch all these shows at random times…hit and miss for sure..
My fav station is ID TV…. and of course anything new BAIT CAR.. cause it’s so funny to look at those folks faces…..hahahahahahaha DER..
BERNICE..SBTOW… WHOA…what an animal she is…. and yea all for show..let’s rip a car door off..UM.SURE. I like the people walking to streets of Miami far better than the cast of characters… and of all the repop show.. OP REPO is my fav…Over Lizard Lick…
Still do Deadliest Catch… Now Outlaw Diaries..INTENSE.. and of course I am killing time till
SONS OF ANARCHY COMES BACK AROUND….Hopefully you will recap that program.. We should do a marathon the week before it starts to see how many others we can get on board…
Maybe a live chat ??? The last season of 24 Jack Bauer I live chatted with some people thru Instant Mess. hotmail…It was pretty cool…Of course we all were SAD when it came to an end…
REVENGE TONITE FOLKS…. Hopefully next season will lose the SAPPINESS that showed up the past 2 episodes… and they dont pull that hiatis crap and disappear for weeks..If they do that then I AM DONE…
So see ya on the flip side MTH… and know that I do read just dont always post….winks
Off to go see if TIT has imploded yet today..LOL LOL
Everything that is happening is ALL that I said would….HAHAHAHAHAHAH
Insurance payout from Bravo to TIT Season 3…$125,000.00
Film her..FREE
Edit her out…PRICELESS…. Never to be seen again….hahahahahahahaha
Bernice ripping of the car door is exactly what I’m talking about. Made for TV. Looking forward to SAMCRO and will definitely be up for talking about it.
Have fun, as I always do, bashing Lips McGee 😉
MTH..knowing that you also work with “tools” thought you would like to see this..It just arrived in my INBOX… OUCH !!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=E3mzhvMgrLE&NR=1
You just know through process of natural selection, that someone is going to try that at home. My problem with that is that it’s too prone to failure because not everyone is going to have the same salt content (what conducts the electricity in the body) as that hot dog or even the inventor. It’s a great idea though. Table saws and me have a healthy respect for one another. Especially after one spit a 2×4 at my chest because it got bound up. I’ll tell you some day about my bathroom sink counter and my mother’s face.
MTH.. would love to hear the counter/face story..
When we were tiling the house.. Cliff had the wet saw out.. It was my day OFF from helping as all he had to was the cuts… So GF and I were in the back yard having mass quantities of MARGARITA”S… more tequila than RITA’S……
All of a sudden we hear Cliff scream..SHSHIIIITTTTT cut my finger off.. We both look at each other..and say.. We cant drive to ER we BE DRUNK…LOL
Walk into kitchen to view the damage…HAHAHAHAHAHA
that ASSHAT had taken ketchup in the squirt bottle and squirted it PERFECTLY around the kitchen floor.. the cabinet doors.. the wet saw blade and tucked his finger in his palm wrapped his hand and had just enough RED to look REAL… GF and I are shitting a brick…. FREAKING OUT.. OMG what are we going to do..where’s the finger so we can take it with us… THEN…… CLiff starts laughing and laughing and laughing… he pulls his hand out of towel and waves all his fingers…. I WAS PISSED… he killed my buzz…… So I made him clean the MESS he made with the ketshup and I went bakc to drinking…. AH YEA good times
I paid him back later that year when he was hanging Christmas Lights at the lamp post..Thought I heard him say TURN THE SWITCH ON…. hhahahaha
zzzzaaaaapppppp…..
I just read the rest of your post. Dad was a similar type joker. Claimed he broke his wrist when drilling through a cabinet for a drain pipe. After we were all sufficiently freaked out, he picked up the drill and went back to work.
Mom was also a General Contractor. For nearly 30 years. She began by hanging Aluminum siding and the weather or risk mattered little to her. Over the years, Dad taught her to do several things of course. When I was doing a small remodel on my bathroom (typically small room), one of the things I replaced was the vanity. Before she started selling full time, she also did a lot of cabinet and formica work. Dad would build the cabinets and she would laminate them while he prepped the destination. I was the delivery guy. Well, she was making the counter for the sink in my bathroom, was nearly finished with the project and was cutting off the back edge of the counter to even it up, …. pushed it through the table saw, Thought she had it all the way through, leaned down to turn off the saw. At that moment, the blade caught the counter (about 24×24) and spit it right at her face. Nailing her in the mouth. The only thing that saved the inside of her mouth from being busted apart was she wore dentures.
I had gone over there that night to help with the counter and when I got there she wasn’t there. I asked my nephew who lived there at the time where she was. He said the ER room. I thought he was joking and later asked again. It turned out that he wasn’t of course so off I went. The ER clinic (part of the hospital system for our HMO) wouldn’t touch her beyond stopping the bleeding. It took a trip downtown to the hospital to have her sewn up by the plastic surgeon. I have several more about mom getting herself tore up either in play or on the job.
mth, fwiw, I would love to hear more about your Mom. Frankly, I think the woman deserves her own column. I give her the world of credit for doing what she did in a decidedly man’s world. It couldn’t have been easy – trust me I know. My boys in blue were betting that I’d fall on my face within two months on the force. 🙂
Empress.. as a chick in the construction biz.. I gave back as good as those guys gave out..I ALWAYS had the last word….. they may have talked about me behind my back..that didnt bother me.. But they were respectful to my face… they knew they had to be… I wrote the paychecks and provided them with work.. and I swung hammer and dug ditch right along side them… I always said TOOLS dont have a GENDER….
I miss those days for sure….
“I gave back as good as those guys gave out” – LOL! It’s what we had to do.
YEPPERS EMPRESS… I never heard them refer to me as a BITCH.. always.. “she’s one tough broad..and NEVER piss her off ” … and be sure that If you start an argument with her..be prepared to take it to the end…make sure you have your facts straight cause SHE KEEPS NOTES….hahahahahahaha
Still have those BOOKS of NOTES… Good for a re read on boring days..Cliff and I sit and laugh about those days……LOL
Okay, Look for the first one on Saturday. Might be more interesting to people than this ‘reality’ biz.
I’m looking forward to it. Thanks. 🙂
Yea! Revenge! I’d like to know what happened to Amanda during the last 10 years – you know, with her mentor from Japan, etc.
Have you seen the last couple episodes? The most recent one lays out when Amanda decided it was her mission to extract Revenge from the Graysons.
I have – I just would like to see how she was trained to do a lot of what she did and how some of those people fit into the puzzle.
Maybe they’ll start next season with it.