What is up with Speed TV?

[AJ Roadster NJ]

Yikes. Without re-raising all the angst from a few years ago, when you could routinely tune in to SpeedVision (remember that name?) and see videos of races in the past, the "new" Speed is making me a bit nuts.

First, there's Car Warriors. You have got to be kidding me. Yet another show where persons of dubious cranial capacity create piles of doo-doo in a 72-hour window. Those cars (I use the term loosely) must get crushed after filming, right? Nobody in their right mind would actually drive one down the road.

Then last night I saw Car Science for the first time. You have got to be kidding me [redux]. A show aimed at the intelligence level of a very slow 4th-grader is slotted into a late evening time? How dumbed down have we become?

Here's my point (sorry, takes me a while to get here). I have a son who is about to turn 11 years old. We have many, many, many hours together in the garage that I absolutely treasure, where I've taught him how to think through a problem, categorize potential solutions, be self-critical, select the optimal solution to the problem, and move ahead. We have done some really neat things together this way during my Roadster build, which included him assembling the pistons, floating wrist pins, connecting rods, and rings while I watched and advised (well I did help with the rings). When I started my Roadster for the first time, he was sitting next to me.

I don't want him to watch these shows. They exhibit what I would call irrational engineering in order to create "entertainment." It's as though Snookie (or whatever that airhead's name is that embarasses the rest of us in Jersey so much) has started building hotrods.

This is not a good thing.

Here endeth the rant. We now return you to your regular programming.

AJ

[first time builder]

I agree, I can't stand the team leader on the pro team, everything is "BRO" . grow up ! Then he sands the car with 36 grit paper and sends it to the spray booth !
Then the other guy can't remember the girls name and keeps calling her Baby. To start with trying to do what they expect in 72 hours is just crazy.
Chip Foose and a team of 50 took a whole week !

Kenny

[riptide motorsport]

its called tv.....turn it off, all the channels are the same

[South Dakobra]

I watch "My Classic Car".
I always laugh at Dennis Gage and the "feature" cars he'll choose. He's at a show and they show background shots of some awesome cars. Then for instance his latest pick for a feature was a 1977 Toyota SUV. I've seen him choose museum piece trucks and numerous other off-the-wall cars and bypass some cool stuff.

[AJ Roadster NJ]

I enjoy Dennis Gage too. His shows from inside the Leno collection are incredible, I think that could be a series all by itself.

There are other shows I enjoy on Speed as well of course. My rant that started this thread was really directed at the ridiculous shows featuring morons screaming at each other, threatening each other, and building really questionable cars in 72 hours on no sleep.

I do not see the value in those shows. Can't we leave the "reality" shouting to the motorcycle drama queens?

[PhyrraM]

I don't know if it's still on, but I enjoyed the BullRun 'reality' race show. My brother and I would so kick *** on that show. (assuming it's all on the up-n-up)

Dennis Gage cracks me up, but I like the fact he is willing to showcase cars without some high dollars in them sometimes.

ANY peek into Leno's garage is always a treat, but I wonder what the long term holds for those cars? I sometimes daydream of finding a way to con Leno into test driving some his fleet. (that's prolly stalking, huh?)

[Jack FFR1846]

You mean that speed has shows without "nascar" in their title? Who knew?

[South Dakobra]

I enjoy Dennis Gage too. His shows from inside the Leno collection are incredible, I think that could be a series all by itself.

There are other shows I enjoy on Speed as well of course. My rant that started this thread was really directed at the ridiculous shows featuring morons screaming at each other, threatening each other, and building really questionable cars in 72 hours on no sleep.

I do not see the value in those shows. Can't we leave the "reality" shouting to the motorcycle drama queens?

Agreed here also. I watched one the other day where in a hurry a guy took a bfh to a tab on an engine block interferring in the quick install. Blam! Broke the cast block. You lose!

I never watch NASCAR and watch SPEED all the time.

[Someday I Suppose]

You know I keep hoping Car Warriors will get better. I do sort of like the concept of a car show contest, but I can't stand most of the people on the all star team, Rich Evans is annoying, the woman who is supposed to be a mechanic but I've never seen her do anything other then smart talk. The interiror guy Scott I think has done some interesting stuff with foam, and the one painter Rhino has done some pretty impressive looking stuff in very short period of time. I always wonder though how bad it looks up close, certainly they haven't wet sanded and polished anything.

Maybe it will get better though, I keep hoping it will :-)

That or they just need to bring back Junkyard Wars... I miss that show.

[PhyrraM]

Junkyard wars was the original. The granddaddy. I miss it too.

[jbcobra67]

Jack, you are so right. I get sick of looking at the guide and seeing 12 to 14 hours of Nascar. I'm from the deep south and can't stand to see cars go around and around for 3 or 4 hours. Then someone complain because they got bumped.

[oldguy668]

If Speed didn't carry Formula One, I wouldn't pay the $6 a month it costs me to have their hillbilly station on my TV.

[AJ Roadster NJ]

Then you must've been happy yesterday. I don't know yet if I really like the idea of DRS and tires made of gummy-bear rejects, but all in all the strategic challenge of the race was fun to watch.

Alonso's start and run down to the first corner has to rank as one of the all-time great starts, up there with Senna's start in the rain at Donnington in '93.