That's freaking IT.. I'm starting a TV show (kinda long)

[MMcCall]

So I've been watching the re-runs of American Shooter for years now.. even though I've seen every single one of them, there's not much else in the genre. Week after week of re-runs, and every time I tune in, they're playing the freaking End of Trail episode from 2002. Whoo, look at Holy Terror go, she sure can shoot for a little girl!

Lo and behold, I'm checking out the OLN menu, and there's Shooting USA! Jim Scoutten's finally gotten the lead out! I kick back with my soda and popcorn, and tune in, captivated, for.. END OF TRAIL. Whoo, look at Holy Terror go, she sure can shoot.. for a girl two whole years older than the LAST TIME WE SPENT A WHOLE EPISODE ON END OF TRAIL. I am depressed, to say the least.

I decide to give it another chance. I once again obtain soda and popcorn, and kick back for the next Shooting USA. I see AR-15's! Good deal! Unfortunately, the whole show is dedicated to some Army competition which doesn't relate to my shooting experience at all. Melancholy ensues.

I decide, with a dearth of other options, to tune in again this last week. (I am, by this time, sick of soda and popcorn.) I guess it was just too soon for another End of Trail, so we made do with some lever-action competition, thrilling in it's intense discussions on the merits of 1800's levers vs. new production levers. I commented, using phrases learned from sailors.. comments that earned me the Stink Eye from my wife and banishment to the Batcave.

This settles it. I've got a DV camera, AVID software, several powerful computers, and production experience.. and I'm not afraid to use them. Most of my friends are shooters, some with extensive military and police experience, that would be happy to contribute. I don't care if I have to broadcast them on the local cable access channel, my shows will be a live combination of S. W. A. T. and Concealed Carry magazines, with issues like CCW, home defense, RKBA activism, and the psychology of converting new shooters. Nary a percussion cap will be spent, or a lever-action levered. If you want these, YOU KNOW WHERE TO FIND THEM.

Stay tuned.

PS: To Mr. Scoutten - You have my utmost respect, sir, and I mean that honestly. You produce a fine product, one that simply doesn't mesh with my personal tastes. Please keep up the good work, there's room for all of us in the sport.

PPS: I've watched that other show, Shooting Gallery, exactly once. Guess what the topic was? COWBOY SHOOTING! It was like deja vu, with lower production values. Let's get some online suggestion boxes going.

 

[OF]

Go, baby, Go!

- Gabe

 

[PromptCritical]

Start Rolling!

I'm all for it!

When I get back to Portland, I'll definitely tune in, or help if possible.

What goes into getting a show on cable access anyway? They can't pull the plug based on subject matter as far as I know. Remember that uproar about Jim Spagg a few years ago? They couldn't take him off the air.

I love the idea about spreading the gun gospel and getting liberal panties in a bunch.

 

[ceetee]

I'll help! Let's meet up! Oh; ummmm...... Oregon, eh? Well... Make sure and mail me some episodes, and I'll get 'em on our local "Public Access" channel...

 

[IAJack]

So...

Lets start our own TV show written, produced and starring members of THR. Surly there are enough members and talent on here to make it work. We could do it on the whole gun culture and our POV - on all topics, just like this board but in video?

 

[PromptCritical]

THR TV...

Can Oleg do video graphics? Gotta have some good visuals.

Segments on new hardware, accuracy tips, accessories, cleaning tips, SAFETY, laws, stories of guns saving lives, and of course, RKBA.

Call up Ted Nugent for music.

How ya gonna pay for this? Don't be an advertising whore like some gun rags. You know, never having a negative review of anything. Although, manufacturer samples sound appealing. Ooh, ads from local dealers and ranges.

Must..Stop...Rambling...

 

[Justin]

Michael Bane has already beaten you to the punch.

Look for 'Shooting Gallery' on the Outdoor Channel.

He's also planning another show that will deal more with force-on-force competitions.

 

[Double Maduro]

MMcCall,

I live in Portland, let me know if I can help.

DM

 

[Average Guy]

Fantastic!

A buddy of mine (with a prosumer DV camera) and I have talked about doing our own gun-related DVDs for...well, years now. We have access to cops and ranges and weapons, and we just haven't gotten past the talking stage.

A few years ago, my wife's cousin started talking about putting out a youth lifestyle magazine. They followed through, and it's taking off bigtime (metro.pop magazine). Fortunately, I was savvy enough that time to actually get on board with them. They're paying me now.

So if you have the wherewithal to do it, then by all means, DO IT!

 

[cordex]

If this takes off, you should invite instructors to give short lessons as advertisment for their services. Win-win.

If you've got the bandwidth, you could run this as a online production. Or, better yet, you could distribute it to a bunch of servers (I'm sure you could come up with room on half a dozen available boxes just by asking on THR - I'll volunteer space on mine, for that matter) and let users watch video from any one of them. All you have to do is upload the file to each system and post links.

 

[Gump]

What you should do is invite a bunch of comedians to come on a episode of your show. Tell them that the premise of the show is about the life of being a comedian and all that goes along with it. Reassure them again and again that it is going to be a serious discussion on the wonderful life of comedy. When they get to the taping keep up this line.

Once the show starts give them all a “member†enlarging device and then shoot them

 

[JohnK]

There's also Guns & Ammo TV on the RFD network.

 

[MMcCall]

Thanks for the support and comments. I'm about 80% serious on this right now, if I wasn't getting ready to go back to school and finish my degree, it would be 100%.

There's just so much subject matter that hasn't been tapped, in favor of the same-old, same-old. Trick shooting is cool the first time, but irrelevant to what I use a gun for. I don't hunt. (I have, and I think it's great sport, I just don't use firearms in that manner.) I respect IDPA/IPSC guys, but I don't want to know about getting better splits from a custom gaming rig; I want to know about the best concealment rig for a double-stack auto, or why a certain holster works best for women's carry due to the way it sits above the hip, or WHY the average person should carry in the first place!

Gun shows now are an insider deal, by gunnies for gunnies. There is no way John or Jane Q. Citizen (or teenage Johnny or Janey, for that matter) is going to stop on one if they're just channel surfing. Dressing up in cowboy gear for End of Trail may as well be chain mail and swords for some SCA Renaissance Fair . I think if you feature some normal folks though, with real life concerns being addressed, we can draw these folks in.. that's the only way the firearms culture can survive today's pervasive negative mindset.

Edited to Add: I'm about an hour and a half from Gila and Marty Hayes at FSA, and within the year, will be a few hours from the new Thunder Ranch. Properly done, these could be gold mines, trading short sports as free advertising as Cordex mentioned.

 

[Justin]

A buddy of mine (with a prosumer DV camera) and I have talked about doing our own gun-related DVDs for...well, years now.

You know, several months ago my brother showed me some DVD's he had. All they consisted of were guys one mountain bikes doing incredible stuff, and it was all set to rock and hiphop music. I'm not a mountain bike rider, but even as a non-participant who knows nothing about the sport I was impressed with how cool it was.

My very next thought was that someone should go out and find really good IPSC/3 Gun/IDPA competitors and do something in a similar vein. Bust out a helmet-cam, some good tunes, a copy of After Effects with the Twixtor plugin, and a copy of Final Cut Pro or Avid Express and you'd be set.

 

[Average Guy]

Justin, I'm with you. The only difference between us (that is, my friend and me) and those DVD guys is...

They did it.

That said, it's not too late...

 

[MBane666]

Well, not to toot our own horn...

But the SHOOTING GALLERY episode up this week features Marty & Gila Hayes. Martin and Gila will also be featured in an episode in Season 3. We're starting a cowboy show (premiere January 2005) so we can keep SHOOTING GALLERY about serious stuff (with an occasional foray into wierdness...I spent some time with a Hollywood armorer going through about a billion movie blanks...the ammo bill was...well, BIG!).

This season has the hardest hard-core self-defense and training stuff EVER on television (at the NRA Show, Ted Nugent called SHOOTING GALLERY "the ballsiest show on TV!"). I have taken a fairly large amount of *grief* from various parties who, shall we say, don't love us, but The Outdoor Channel remains 100% behind the show.

Wait'll you see the stuff in the 360-degree shoot room at the National Tactical Invitationals!

Also, to steal yet another of your ideas, we're already under way on a SHOOTING GALLERY series of 45-minute training videos that is going to blow away everything out there. You'lll see Gila and Marty in the first five, as well as Walt Rauch's first ever video. We'll have a sampler DVD at 2005 SHOT.

We're also absolutely committed to getting stuff oon AS FAST AS POSSIBLE...what irritates you irritated the *heck* out of me, too! The show we filmed last week (in PORTLAND, dude, with Rich Daniel) will air around the end of September. It's giving me ulcers, to be sure, but it's real important to me to walk the talk.

For me, here's the bottom line: I don't play golf. I'm a shooter. I'm a longtime instructor (for my philosophies on self-defense and because I need the money, I urge you to buy my book TRAIL SAFE...you can get it at Amazon). For the past six years I've been on the front lines in the RKBA fight. I carry every day. What interests *you* interests *me!*

Michael B

PS: I'll let you know when the cowboy show launches, because you can *really* see Holy Terror shoot up close, analyze her style and maybe pick up some pointers. She taught me stuff!

 

[38SnubFan]

Great Idea!

MMcCall,

I think your idea is great! I would love to see a show which talks more about self-defense, concealed carry, and tactical methods. This would be something that the CCW owner could really use and benefit from. Although I live on the other side of the country from OR, if you decide to kick off your idea and it makes it big, I'll be sure to check it out.

Mr. Bane,
I checked out theoutdoorchannel.com and saw an overview of your show. Sounds like a good show dedicated to the shooting sports, which is something I like, but does your show also go into depth with self-defense and CCW? I can't say I've watched your show, since it's not available on cable here without spending a fortune for Digital Cable (gotta love Adelphia! ). If I ever do have the chance though, I'll check out an episode.

Sincerely,
MW

 

[seeker_two]

Mr. Bane,

Personally, I think you're doing a great show. I especially like the format of sticking to one subject--one type of shooting sport or training program--instead of 30-second blurbs about EOT or the Surefire training school b/t the firearm "infomercials" seen in most other firearms programs. I also appreciate the fact that you show a wide variety of people involved in the shooting sports--people of all sexes, nationalities, and backgrounds. Heck, even the HOST has an earring....

Keep up the good work, sir....


(...and keep that cute Russian chick on the end credits, too. )

 

[feedthehogs]

Shows take money from sponsors to produce.
If the shows sponsors don't support the content of the show, the show content changes or you get new sponsors.

A lot of what we like to do is not commercialy supported.

 

[MBane666]

Well, I have one less earring this second, thanks to my savage 13-inch Beagle, Alf, who successfully hooked a little doggie claw into it and *jerked.* This resulted in having a portion of my ear on my leg. As I mentioned on another thread, it took nine stitches to close it up, and sinse I live in the People's Republic of Boulder, I also got free grief counseling, loss therapy and a list of places to get the ear repierced. I did, however, have to lie and say I stumbled, fell and inadvertantly snatched the earring out of my own ear, lest Companion Animal Alf be hauled in for Mandatory Re-education.

I love competition shooting, but people buy guns for SELF-DEFENSE. People carry guns for self-defense. They need to know what training works and what training doesn't work (the thing I took the most heat on last season was a show with martial artist Michael Janich where we proved CONCLUSIVELY that the close-in tactic of block, step back and draw ALWAYS FAILS IN SIMULATION! This technique is STILL taught at some major firearms schools and to cops, if you can believe that. This season we're examing alternate strategies that actually work in the Real World as opposed to the Range World.

One thing I'm hoping to pull off in Season 3 is something Mas Ayoob did with me many many years ago--set up a mock trial where an armed civilian is being prosecuted for a righteous self-defense shooting. I was on the "stand" for about four hours, under hellish examination by an ace attorney from Roy Black's firm in Miami. I'm a professional journalist, I'm in *textbooks* on interviewing techniques and I'd describe myself as "quick" (one of the reasons Mas used me to terrify a room full of civilians and cops). The guy took me apart! Every piece of training I'd ever had was systematically used against me. Heck, *I* began wondering whether I was a psychotic killer! I want to replicate that on television, and Mas is up for it. THat'll be a show-stoppoer.

mb

 

[Jim March]

Count me out. I think I've developed an allergy to TV .

 

[MMcCall]

Sorry I haven't been checking this thread.. I've been busy lining up time and finances to start helicopter flight school. Man, I thought guns were expensive

Mr. Bane: I'll freely admit I've only seen your show once, and it was the cowboy stuff, so I wrote it off to same old, same old. That not truly being the case, I'll be back to check out your new stuff with bated breath! Sounds like you're all over it. Sorry I missed you locally.