Review: "Street Tuner Challenge" (Season 2)

Yeah no one asked but...

First let me admit that I hate mainstream media. I never listen to the radio, rarely go to the movies, and I canceled my Cable subscription 4 years ago and haven't looked back. I'm certainly not the guy you want to review a TV show! (lol)

However, I finally saw Episode Two (and a glimspe of Ep 1) of "Street Tuner Challenge" last night @ my friend's house (the same guy who recorded, then deleted Ep. 1 cuz he needed the HD space for "Weeds"?!?). But I digress...

Already knowing what the finished cars will look like, it was interesting to watch the show for "show's sake"; Very MTV-wannabe, very "16-28 male", visually speaking. Certainly not produced with diehard tuners, racers, or even show-car fans in mind. I found myself hoping for a couple commercials just to remind me I was watching mainstream media.

Having met most of the Fireballed! Racing guys on many occasions- and I'll admit they're not the staunchest crew out there- in my opinion the production thus far taints the seriousness in which they take the actual under-the-hood aspects of their products in favor of the over-the-top visual designs Hollywood loves so much (the fact that they insist on referring to the FBR team as "the hollywood team" kinda says it right there). Fireball Tim certainly knows how to work the camera and certainly ads to the entertainment value of the show, so it makes for good TV I guess. I really wish I knew more about the other crews (Focus Sport, Skunk2 Racing) and could compare their "treatment".

As a fairly new car "enthusiast", I do like the different directions each shop is taking their cars and the persona to match is cool too (can you say "executive pre-production meeting"?). From what I saw of Episode One and Episode Two in its entirety, I think the show will get better (i.e. less camp, more technical) as the season progresses.

At the end of the day, it's just another "reality" TV show designed to space out the commercials and make me think Smirnoff Ice isn't just another flavored malt beverage. If my friend remembers to TiVo them I'll probably watch the rest of the episodes just to give STC/Speed Channel the numbers and validate the MINI brand. (Wow- I could be blatantly pimping my own online show right now, but I got C+ in Marketing!)

As a non-TV-watcher I look forward to other objective reviews of the show as they begin to surface.

Look! A pirate! -->