Reality TV Star for a Day! Even the title belies the truth. When I asked why we were taking a second 'take' for a reality TV show I was aptly told, "its not reality TV but unscripted TV!" And so my illustrious 3 day career started during the recent taping of the yet to be nationally aired, MY RIDE RULES.
MY RIDE RULES is a half hour reality TV show that premiered on Wed 8/3/11 and airs every week. It is the lead show into Adam Carolla's new, "The Car Show." There are 13 shows and I was privileged to be one of the contestants on show #9. You can search YouTube for the 30 second premise of the show, but in a nutshell, MY RIDE RULES, lets four ultra-competitive, very different people, who think their car is best, take a spin together in each other’s rides. Let’s face it… Everyone thinks their car is the best. At the end of each test drive, the other owners award points for appearance, performance and overall vehicle personality. The driver with the most points at the end of the show wins the MY RIDE RULES Trophy and $1,000 in cash. MY RIDE RULES! It’s the ultimate test drive!
My episode pitted my 2010 TESLA Roadster Sport vs. a 1996 FERRARI F355 Spider vs. a 1963 LINCOLN Continental vs. a 1934 AUBURN Replica. It is slated to air on WEDNESDAY 9/28/11 (subject to change) and after that in reruns.
Being a reality TV star dates back to an inquiry I got in May through the guys who 'Xtremed my ride' at Al & Ed's Autosound. They were approached looking for some exotic cars owners that might be interested. They especially were looking for Ferrari/Lambo, but Tesla had recently come across their radar. I wasn't sure if I wanted to make the 3 day time commitment (oops, did I just release a reality TV secret that the one-day shoot was actually over 3 days?), but a piece of advice my Mom gave my sisters years ago rang true: If you like a pair of shoes try them on so you're not left saying 'what if.' The shoes may not fit or may not look good on you so then you can move on. If you want the shoes even more, well that's where the advice fell short on explanation. So I replied that I was interested.
I drove to a place in Burbank where I had my audition. Just me, my car and my enthusiasm being filmed by a camcorder, the results of which were shipped off to the producers of the working titled show, "Come Drive With Me" who would make the final cut. My friend, Elie Rothstein, in his Yellow Lamborghini SuperLeggera, similarly auditioned but ultimately didn't make it! Then there came the back and forth e-mail negotiations. They wanted 3 full days (7 AM - 7 PM) in a 7 day period. Hey, I work for a living & wasn't banking on this new career paying the bills! We finally settled on a Sunday, Wednesday, Saturday shoot to minimize the work conflict. I was told that I would have to wear the same clothes each day, but I could wash them in between.
The format was to have 1/2 day for each car on the first two days and the final day we'd all meet at a studio lot in downtown LA near the Staples Center. If we drove our cars to each location on the 1st 2 days it was coordinated that none of the other contestants would park in the same neighborhood so as not to accidentally see the other person's car before the "reveal." They had a miniVan come around to pick us up and keep us sequestered. We had no idea what the cars were that we were going to see at each reveal. They wanted to truly capture the reality of the first impressions.
Other than the cars, MY RIDE RULES was about the personalities and it was the directors job to bring out what they had seen in those audition tapes. Esther, the Auburn owner, was in her early 30s & a mother of 5; that was the back story. Her front story was a bombshell bad girl model for low rider magazine covers and hired for cocktail parties for the rich and famous rock stars! Keith, the Ferrari owner, was a mid 30s entrepreneur who rented out exotics for the movies and also was in the movie-making business. He lives in the Hollywood Hills and frequented Playboy mansion parties. Jason, the Lincoln owner, was a 28 yo 'kid' from the barrio working his way up and out. He embodies the American dream that you can make something of yourself with honest hard work ethic! Lastly there's me, Dr. T, the Tesla owner. Just a dumb gynecologist working in Woodland Hills who thinks his fiscal Conservatism can mesh well with the Liberal Green party values to try and clean up the air but more importantly kick our addiction to foreign oil and thus decrease terrorism... and go rocket-fast doing it!
Reality TV includes the drama both in front and behind the camera! Hats off to the crew of about 20 on site who mitigated whatever was thrown their way. This included a producer, director, camera & audio guys and gals as well as people behind the scenes who were firemen; not literally, but figuratively to put out the fires from the 'what now' category. One of them was working up to the last minute with me securing permits for the shoot in my home town of Agoura Hills. Between city hall, HOA & even getting each of my 10 neighbors to sign-off on the deal, it was a down to the wire event. Oops, forgot to inform the police that they would be filming along side the cars from a retro-fitted open miniVan and so the Sheriffs put an end to that test drive which was basically over anyway. The Ferrari broke down on the 405 on the way to the day one shoot; go figure. Luckily the owner had a second Ferrari (must be nice) which he slotted in seamlessly. The Auburn owner, from Carson, woke up to drive to Granada Hills (site of the 1st reveal though her reveal was not until day 2) only to find that her Mom had borrowed her car leaving her with no way to get to the set! Nearly 3 hours sequestered in a miniVan (waiting for the crew to go pick her up) I thought was on a hidden-camera show trying to catch me swearing! The Lincoln owner had no drama if you don't count the fact that he was closing escrow on his first home purchase during the day 2 shoot. He was often seen talking on his cell phone with varied facial expressions in between takes.
The crew was fun yet professional. They made the most of their camera angles and audio to make it a larger than life experience. At one point the large camera lens would be in your face, almost up your nostrils and next you were driving in the car with suction cup cameras mounted on the windshield and the chase miniVan following close behind. There was each contestant with their car giving a tour, then the reveal with the other 3 walking up to the car. Next was the discussion over the car on the driveway then the test drive. Finally they would sequester 3 people and one by one swap us out for on-camera private ratings and comments. We never did find out the ratings that the others gave, nor were we allowed to ask. More non-reality TV factoids? Other than my car, the driveways where the cars were shot were not those of the owners, but simply secured to vary up the background. At the end of the morning segments, we'd break for lunch, which the show had provided for everyone and then in the afternoon we'd do it all over again. It was surreal to feel like I was on vacation yet all these people were there working hard!
The final day was more about an assembly line of getting glamour shots of the contestants, the cars and the contestants with their cars. There was of course the finale which pitted the four cars at a four-lane stop light. The winner would get the green light and drive into the winners circle to collect the trophy and the trophy girl! The dozen or so hours of film footage now goes to the editing department to distill it down to 22 minutes which is the actual time of a half-hour TV show allowing for commercials. I hope they got my good side!
MY RIDE RULES is a half hour reality TV show that premiered on Wed 8/3/11 and airs every week. It is the lead show into Adam Carolla's new, "The Car Show." There are 13 shows and I was privileged to be one of the contestants on show #9. You can search YouTube for the 30 second premise of the show, but in a nutshell, MY RIDE RULES, lets four ultra-competitive, very different people, who think their car is best, take a spin together in each other’s rides. Let’s face it… Everyone thinks their car is the best. At the end of each test drive, the other owners award points for appearance, performance and overall vehicle personality. The driver with the most points at the end of the show wins the MY RIDE RULES Trophy and $1,000 in cash. MY RIDE RULES! It’s the ultimate test drive!
My episode pitted my 2010 TESLA Roadster Sport vs. a 1996 FERRARI F355 Spider vs. a 1963 LINCOLN Continental vs. a 1934 AUBURN Replica. It is slated to air on WEDNESDAY 9/28/11 (subject to change) and after that in reruns.
Being a reality TV star dates back to an inquiry I got in May through the guys who 'Xtremed my ride' at Al & Ed's Autosound. They were approached looking for some exotic cars owners that might be interested. They especially were looking for Ferrari/Lambo, but Tesla had recently come across their radar. I wasn't sure if I wanted to make the 3 day time commitment (oops, did I just release a reality TV secret that the one-day shoot was actually over 3 days?), but a piece of advice my Mom gave my sisters years ago rang true: If you like a pair of shoes try them on so you're not left saying 'what if.' The shoes may not fit or may not look good on you so then you can move on. If you want the shoes even more, well that's where the advice fell short on explanation. So I replied that I was interested.
I drove to a place in Burbank where I had my audition. Just me, my car and my enthusiasm being filmed by a camcorder, the results of which were shipped off to the producers of the working titled show, "Come Drive With Me" who would make the final cut. My friend, Elie Rothstein, in his Yellow Lamborghini SuperLeggera, similarly auditioned but ultimately didn't make it! Then there came the back and forth e-mail negotiations. They wanted 3 full days (7 AM - 7 PM) in a 7 day period. Hey, I work for a living & wasn't banking on this new career paying the bills! We finally settled on a Sunday, Wednesday, Saturday shoot to minimize the work conflict. I was told that I would have to wear the same clothes each day, but I could wash them in between.
The format was to have 1/2 day for each car on the first two days and the final day we'd all meet at a studio lot in downtown LA near the Staples Center. If we drove our cars to each location on the 1st 2 days it was coordinated that none of the other contestants would park in the same neighborhood so as not to accidentally see the other person's car before the "reveal." They had a miniVan come around to pick us up and keep us sequestered. We had no idea what the cars were that we were going to see at each reveal. They wanted to truly capture the reality of the first impressions.
Other than the cars, MY RIDE RULES was about the personalities and it was the directors job to bring out what they had seen in those audition tapes. Esther, the Auburn owner, was in her early 30s & a mother of 5; that was the back story. Her front story was a bombshell bad girl model for low rider magazine covers and hired for cocktail parties for the rich and famous rock stars! Keith, the Ferrari owner, was a mid 30s entrepreneur who rented out exotics for the movies and also was in the movie-making business. He lives in the Hollywood Hills and frequented Playboy mansion parties. Jason, the Lincoln owner, was a 28 yo 'kid' from the barrio working his way up and out. He embodies the American dream that you can make something of yourself with honest hard work ethic! Lastly there's me, Dr. T, the Tesla owner. Just a dumb gynecologist working in Woodland Hills who thinks his fiscal Conservatism can mesh well with the Liberal Green party values to try and clean up the air but more importantly kick our addiction to foreign oil and thus decrease terrorism... and go rocket-fast doing it!
Reality TV includes the drama both in front and behind the camera! Hats off to the crew of about 20 on site who mitigated whatever was thrown their way. This included a producer, director, camera & audio guys and gals as well as people behind the scenes who were firemen; not literally, but figuratively to put out the fires from the 'what now' category. One of them was working up to the last minute with me securing permits for the shoot in my home town of Agoura Hills. Between city hall, HOA & even getting each of my 10 neighbors to sign-off on the deal, it was a down to the wire event. Oops, forgot to inform the police that they would be filming along side the cars from a retro-fitted open miniVan and so the Sheriffs put an end to that test drive which was basically over anyway. The Ferrari broke down on the 405 on the way to the day one shoot; go figure. Luckily the owner had a second Ferrari (must be nice) which he slotted in seamlessly. The Auburn owner, from Carson, woke up to drive to Granada Hills (site of the 1st reveal though her reveal was not until day 2) only to find that her Mom had borrowed her car leaving her with no way to get to the set! Nearly 3 hours sequestered in a miniVan (waiting for the crew to go pick her up) I thought was on a hidden-camera show trying to catch me swearing! The Lincoln owner had no drama if you don't count the fact that he was closing escrow on his first home purchase during the day 2 shoot. He was often seen talking on his cell phone with varied facial expressions in between takes.
The crew was fun yet professional. They made the most of their camera angles and audio to make it a larger than life experience. At one point the large camera lens would be in your face, almost up your nostrils and next you were driving in the car with suction cup cameras mounted on the windshield and the chase miniVan following close behind. There was each contestant with their car giving a tour, then the reveal with the other 3 walking up to the car. Next was the discussion over the car on the driveway then the test drive. Finally they would sequester 3 people and one by one swap us out for on-camera private ratings and comments. We never did find out the ratings that the others gave, nor were we allowed to ask. More non-reality TV factoids? Other than my car, the driveways where the cars were shot were not those of the owners, but simply secured to vary up the background. At the end of the morning segments, we'd break for lunch, which the show had provided for everyone and then in the afternoon we'd do it all over again. It was surreal to feel like I was on vacation yet all these people were there working hard!
The final day was more about an assembly line of getting glamour shots of the contestants, the cars and the contestants with their cars. There was of course the finale which pitted the four cars at a four-lane stop light. The winner would get the green light and drive into the winners circle to collect the trophy and the trophy girl! The dozen or so hours of film footage now goes to the editing department to distill it down to 22 minutes which is the actual time of a half-hour TV show allowing for commercials. I hope they got my good side!
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