Race car drivers play poker or watch race car driver RACE!

I still can't believe that the network weenies spend production money for programming like that ...

How about it! I used to like to play Hold 'Em, but now it's so big and commercialized that it seems like someone wants to play everyday. It's lost the specialness to me at least.

I'm definately getting tired of the shows though, seems like every damn channel is trying to cash in on it by having some show with celebrities from their niche.

Watching poker, golf, bowling, cheerleading and whatnot all gets wrapped up in the same awful category to me. I understand how card playing catches on, but watching other people do something you can do with a few friends and a kitchen table befuddles me.

I dumped digital cable in Jan. The only reason I had it was to get speed channel and I really don't watch TV. Actually, I realized that I couldn't remember the last decent show I saw on there (I do not come home from work and turn on the TV, I may not turn it on for a week or more at a time. My wife will watch it though.) so I killed it. Then, I realized that I killed it right before the 24 hrs of Daytona (oops), so my friend recorded it on DVD for me and mailed it to me (the last 6 hours, which has all the recap/highlights anyway).

So, I guess the answer is "none of the above".

Watching Nascar drivers playing poker has about the same interest level for me as watching tap water warming to room temperature. Unfortunately, the same must be said for the bulk of SPEED TVs programming. It's become the same as most other commercial sports broadcasting; something that most viewers watch because they lack either the motivation or the skills to even attempt to participate in directly. Everything on TV these days seems to suggest that most people want to experience life vicariously- I don't get it. SPEED's Nascar programming is to real racing what 800 numbers are to real sex.

I didn't think their programming was that good.....

I have to wonder how many custom bike shop or stereo and rim installler reality shows we really need. Sure, one show (bikes, not rice) was kind of cool and I even watched it ... once. I just really don't care how much ballast and bling it takes to be a contemporary ball player.

Now if they wanted to make a GOOD show, I'd watch a race fabricator's shop, especially if they threw in enough real tech.

However, I've already got all the reality I can handle and then some. If I turn on the TV, I want to see good racing or good old fashioned escapism.

I'll be honest, I kind of like the idea of seeing NASCAR driver's playing Texas Hold 'Em. I also enjoy playing it, but it is sometimes hard to gather enough people at once to play it all that often.

I agree there are way too many chop/cut/rebuild, motorcylce, and ricer shows. I mainly stick to Spike for most of that. I enjoy watching a little Crank & Chrome, HP TV, C&D TV, and Trucks! The only thing is, half the time they are out of date or reruns, and they always do a day long install in a matter of minutes with no complications. Then the disclaimer shows up at the end saying portions of the install were cut for certain reasons (time). The other thing that kills me is they spend money and upgrade like we are all millionaires or something.

Out of all of them, Trucks! is probably the best because that guy Stacey has a lot of fab skills. He takes a rustbucket, and restores it no matter what the condition. The other guys tend to do simplistic bolt-ons that take little or no skill to perform. Stacey gets down and dirty in his projects and then beats the hell out of them when he is done. He also beats up other peoples......like Gale Banks Turbo GMC. :drive:

Chop, Cut, Rebuild .... doesn't the background music sound like cheesey 70's porn music?

I'd rather watch two donkeys doing the hibbity-dibbity or slap my ***** between 1x6's than watch 75% or more of what that channel plays.

I agree with you guys...but there actually is a fairly decent amount of good TV out there. The key is to get a tivo. I got one, and its changed everything. Every now and then I sift through a list of upcoming shows to decide what to record, and some shows you can set up to record automatically. This guarantees you get what you want, when you want it.

Most channels are mostly crap, but thanks to Tivo you can pick quality shows like:
- Formula One Decade
- vintage races on ESPN Classic (I just recorded the last Nascar race at Riverside (road course) from 1988
- Fifth Gear
- all road races
- quality movies that are on at weird times (I caught Where Eagles Dare and Kelley's Heroes recently, both quality Eastwood flicks)

Its worth every penny guys.

I agree with Al on the Tivo. What a great idea. As far as the nascrap channel goes, it sucks. Speedvision was great, Speed channel has way, way, way to much Billy Bob Bodine shit for me. Every freaking time I turn it on, all I get is Nascrap, there either talking about it, talking to other people who are talking about it. How many freaking shows do you need to have for guys driving in a circle? These shows are on every day, all day. Showing the one race a week would suffice. How do you get a full weeks worth of programming out of two races? I don't want see Nascar drivers do anything but drive, just like I don't wish to see Gardening tips by Boris Said and L.G.. On a racing channel anyway Speed does still show racing, you just have to watch tv when Dracula does.

Exactly. They are turning into the MTV of racing.

Stacey is the man. After watching him do a show on shaving door handles, frenching license plates, etc, he's gotten mad props from me as a fabricator. I'll step out on a limb and say it's the most technically accurate gear head show on TV right now... that I've seen at least.

no doubt. i stoped watching TV for a long time until we got a DVR(digital video recorder)... now i get all the star trek, stargate and spongebob that a man can handle

I got a GREAT idea....how about we cut the NASCAR programming by 1/2

I'd rather watch the European super truck semi races than another damn circle track race.

Or watch hours of Kenny Schrader and Micheal Watrip wax smart-ass about yesterday's race ...