On the tube, On the Rocks

Xtreme4x4 has been in reruns for several weeks – or is it months? – now.

Four Wheeler TV has been in reruns for even longer, and worse that that, lately they’d been running the same couple of episodes over and over again. (I finally killed the series recording for it on my DVR the other day.) Worst of all, I am informed that the series is “not in production at this time.” It was a good show overall and I hope it returns, but I’m not going to hold my breath.

I could never find Superlift’s Offroad Adventures listed, so I never watched it. I later discovered that it was on a channel I didn’t get, had never even heard of, and that had gone bankrupt anyway. (“It burned down, fell over, and then sank into the swamp.”)

Trekken.tv wasn’t so hot, and it has been off the air for ages. So have a few other shows I never even saw.

4×4 TV was a good program – maybe my favorite – in that it wasn’t all testosterone-fueled offroading. It was just as much about the journey and the destinations as the vehicles. I liked the host, despite the fact that he’s one of those people that can’t *not* bring up his religion. No matter, as the show is long gone. I’m not sure they’re even showing the repeats anymore.

However, maybe there’s some good news among all of this offroading television wreckage… Starting on January 7th, On the Rocks TV debuts on the Outdoor Channel, with Rick Russell, Del Albright and others. That looks positive.

But there’s a worrisome side though, to me anyway… The host seems to be an unknown Hollywood actor, and one of the main cast members is a large “playful computer consultant” with a commercial grill and a smoker in his RV… There’s also a sample video clip on the website, which is filled with rock-crawling, a lot of talk about “maximum carnage” and “If you haven’t rolled it over, you haven’t been having fun” (uh, right) and lots of guys with their shirts off.

So it’s going to be “must-see TV” for me, although it may not be my cup of tea… But I’ll certainly give it every chance