Saturday, January 29, 2011

Anticipation is the Name of the Game


I had a couple of new shows on the other night I was really looking forward to seeing on the Discovery Channel; Sons of Guns and Desert Car Kings. I was not completely happy with either one. Desert Car Kings I'll get to in another post.

Sons Of Guns was interesting, but like all reality shows any more it was more soap opera than how to. Not that I expect to become a gunsmith by watching TV, but I did tune in to see the 'hows', not the personal interaction.

Pawn Stars is the King of the business reality genre. They manage to combine real, hard information, with the drama of the bidding battle and the personal interaction between The Old Man, Rick and Corey. And Chumlee. Who could forget Chumlee? Chumlee is proof that God protects idiots. How else do you explain some one with his intelligence, appearance and charisma being an international star?

But, I digress.

Sons of Guns tries for that same mix, and may get it right eventually, but I need more hard information and less soap.

A couple of things they did right; talking about the silencer for a shotgun -yes they are legal. Contrary to popular opinion, it is legal in this country to own ANY firearm you can afford the license and the background check for. For a silencer, the background check will make you fondly recall your last prostate exam.

The bits about the Civil War Cannon were cool too, but I would have preferred more loading and aiming technique and less 'Yahoo; look what we done did'. I also have to wonder about the SWAT Master Key they developed. Basically, they mounted a shotgun under an M-16 for the purpose of blowing open doors during SWAT raids. The idea is who ever uses the shotgun can then move his hand mere inches and have his M-16 available as he steps into the room.

I'm no expert on SWAT tactics, but I do know a little about the capabilities of a shotgun and the capabilities of the M-16. Given my druthers, for stepping into and controlling a crowded room, I'll take the shotgun any day.

Especially one like this.

I'll check it out again next Wednesday for sure. Hopefully they will start spending more time on the facts and less on the soap. It was good enough to give them another try.

3 comments:

Trooper York said...

Don't dog all reality shows. There might be one on soon that you and the wife will have to watch every week.

But keep it under your hat.

For details, email me at trooperkirbyyork@live.com.

Trooper York said...

Hey, I hope that Big Ben didn't attack anybody this week. Just sayn'

An Edjamikated Redneck said...

Trooper, Thanks for the visit!

I'm lost with the Big Ben reference; it must be football related. I don't watch football.

I watch the Bengals.

I went by a barbershop the other day and the guy had a sign out that said: 'I miss Dave Schula'

As far as the Super Bow... I mean the Big Game (don't want to get in any copyright trouble), I haven't watched one in years.

Think about it. How bad does the show have to be when the biggest attraction is the flippin' commercials?