I dislike the show too, but it's better than some of these overly budgeted shows. I remember when shadetree mechanic was on, and they showed you how to change your oil and brake fluid and stuff like that. Or replace a driveshaft. Now, the guys who did that show have million dollar hotrods that they just throw parts at and the magically stick to the car. The producers won't even show the guys bolting the parts on, they just hold it near the car the next shot is the whole thing assembled. I'm personally tired of this. It's just like every other techincal reality show (Junkyard Wars, OCC, Monster Garage, blah blah blah). I loved them when they came out, and they actually kept to a budget and a premise. Now they have extra builders, extra money, "freebies" and they show more fighting/bitching/pissing than any actual building. I'd like to see two guys working on a taurus, rather than 20 working on a 800 horsepower Viper. There's even a new wave of overbudgeting. Pimp my ride and overhaulin are good examples of this (even though I like overhaulin, but it's still too much drama). Many of these new shows just throw money at a car without really building anything at all. Hell, Pimp my ride is just an orgy of bolt ons thrown as fast as they can into the car. Who cares? I like these shows for the technical aspect of them, not the drama. It's just too bad that nearly every one of these shows has gone "mainstream" and whored out to badly scripted crap or just making something look "cool" to their 14 year old target audience. Tuner transformations has some stupid scripted elements, but they at least do something I can afford and might actually do some day (engine swaps, turbo kits, nitrous, etc..). If I turn on horsepower TV, I can't afford a single thing they work on. That makes it boring to me. It's cool to see that blown hemi with fuel injection, but not every week and not for the whole show. These shows have done like all of the fad-shows in the past and have now over-saturated the market. In two years, most of them will be canceled and we'll be left with just the drama and none of the technical. They'll keep what sells, and most people who watch these shows are sadly not technical people but love the fights. Just look at battlebots and those types of programs. Robot fighting is more popular than ever (in local events and globally), but due to the networks oversaturating the market 4 years ago, there isn't a single show on anymore (well, robot rivals is on DIY, but it sucks hardcore and isn't really combat). There just isn't any drama in robot combat, and the producers/networks have discovered that selling out makes them more money, so screw the guys who like the nuts and bolts. I'd rather watch Tuner transformations than most of this bulls*** that's out there, and that's a sad statement. Someone needs to step up and cut the s*** on these shows. We don't want to see drama or rice, we want to see something that we can do in our own garage that kicks ass. Show me how to port and polish my intake manifold. I'd be glued to the TV.
