Ted Nugent is not a happy camper. I mean, hunter. The Discovery Channel announced last month that they were pulling the plug on American Guns, Nugent’s reality television series that centered around a Colorado family in the business of customizing, manufacturing and trading . . . you guessed it, guns. A July 26, 2012 New York Times article described the show best, “American Guns combines the appraising and haggling of “Pawn Stars,” the over-the-top customizing of American Chopper and a healthy dose of cleavage in a peppy package that resembles a hundred other small-business-based reality shows, except that the business in this case is the sale of deadly weapons."
Don’t feel too bad for Nugent though. Now he gets to spend more time personally guiding tours at his Michigan hunting ranch, a magical place where you can shoot deer, goat, sheep, wild boar—whatever.
Aside from the shocking surplus of reality-based shows about Romanian gypsies, Amish people, and southerners moon shining, fishing with their bare hands, and generally just being themselves, there are a few others that need to go away right now.
Doomsday Preppers – A November 13th USA Today article reported that it's the most-watched show on the network and that, "The number of preppers is unknown, but a poll done for National Geographic Channel in September indicated that 28% of Americans knew one."
Now, watching stories about the apocalypse (The Terminator, The Matrix, Dr. Strangelove, Wall-E) is nothing new. But watching people prepare for it–spending every waking moment thinking about nothing more than which gas mask to buy, if their fallout shelter is big enough, and whether they've stockpiled enough mayonnaise and ammunition–that is new. Twenty minutes of this show will make you want to start stockpiling ammunition too, if not to prepare you for the imminent collapse, then to prepare you to fight off these paranoid lunatics.
Drugs Inc. – Why in the world would there be a problem showing people the inside of a methamphetamine lab?
Sons of Guns – Come on, this one's a no-brainer. This is another show about a gun business specializing in manufacturing and selling custom-made weapons.
According to a January 10th article in the Huffington Post, "James Yeager, CEO of Tactical Response, a Tennessee company that trains people in weapon and tactical skills, claimed in a video posted on YouTube and Facebook that he would "start killing people" if President Barack Obama decides to take executive action to pass further gun control policies, Raw Story reports.
In a frenetic address to the camera, Yeager puts a call out to other gun rights advocates to "load your damn mags" and "get ready to fight" in what he claims will turn into a "civil war" if gun control measures in the country get any stricter."
After reading this bit of news, do we really even need to think about this?
My Strange Addiction – So, you feel overwhelmed because you don't have time for anything. No time to read that book you've been hearing about. No time to exercise or cook dinner. No time to take that beer brewing class. But, you do find time each week to learn about people who drink bleach and eat sofa cushions? That’s not OK.
Alaska State Troopers – Cops in a really cold, desolate part of the country. Awesome.
