Is this show cancelled? I haven't seen anything for it in a while. This is the only reality/competition show I could ever get into.
I really miss the British format and hosts. The American hosts look too trendball when the show seems to have it's own style. I miss Cathy Rogers. Does anybody know if there's a dvd being produced?
"The piano has been drinking... not me."
-Tom Waits
I agree. I'm American, but the British shows had more focus on the machines and the building process... which was the fun part.
As the episodes went on in the US, they tried to make the hosts edgy, and tried to focus more on personal drama and who won. It lost it's fun... although the Mega-Wars with the planes was fun in it's own right.
I wish they could remember what made the show fun and start it up again.
TLC sells episodes on DVD, but they are prohibitively expensive... even for a real fan.
<i>TLC sells episodes on DVD, but they are prohibitively expensive... even for a real fan.</i>
I stand corrected! I just went to TLC's Junkyard Wars site, and all the videos have been reduced to $4.99!
US broadcasts have ended. They have made new season of the UK series as recently as last year. They just did a pilot of a spinoff show, with a single "superstar" team, building a machine that is hauled to a "real" competition. (for the pilot, the competiton selected was the world punkinchunkin event. They built a machine (engine driven centrifugal, they called it "United Flingdom") and hauled it to Delaware in November. (It took second in its class with a 1600' toss). Oh yea, Robert was hosting that show as well.
The US network hasn't been interested in showing them once they stopped making their own version. They cost a lot more to make than things like monster garage/american chopper, etc, without significantly greater draw. (Also some internal politcs apply, shows don't move between Discovery and TLC, and with TLC's switch from education to home decor, there isn't room for it...)
Yea I noticed the format change. Well... I noticed that I never watch TLC any more.
I wish someone would at least show the UK one. It was better anyway.
-G
"Don't you know there aint no Devil,
There's just God when he's drunk."
-Tom Waits
What I think made the US versions worse ios how the contestants took it too serious.
shareomg... that's just terrible... all of it.
This used to be such a great show, and although I did prefer the British shows better than the ones made here in the US, they're all much better shows than a lot of the crap on TV these days.
This is just about the only type of "reality" shows worth watching... legitimate contests of skill. Not seeing who can stab somebody else in the back...
As far as TLC... I have not watched that channel AT ALL since they ignored their original core audience and tried to become a channel with nothing but bad reruns... The only thing I see on their schedule that at all whets my appetite are the reruns of "This Old House".
I would think that Discovery would just cough up the cash for the broadcast rights to the UK version, as I miss the show greatly; but then again who would have thought there would come a day when the Sci-Fi Channel (in the US) would show "wrestling"...
Yeah, JYW and other shows focused too much on drama and characters. That's gets boring really fast. Let the drama form on it's own. We don't need a confession chamber to know when people are pissed at each other. And goofy hosts, were just too distracting.
I don't frequent TLC/Discover, or ESPNs to often now that they are chasing the lowest common denominator.
British show is still going strong.
There's a new series running at the moment on C4 and a further one planned for next year. Looks like there's no sign of this finishing anytime soon!
last two seasons, from www.channel4.com:
2007 series:
Human Cannonball
Monster Trikes
Muscle Trains
Snowmobiles
Giant Skateboards
Mechanical Mortars
Airboats
Skid Pan Sumo
Earth Movers
Drag Sleds
Swamp Racers
Dozers
Paddle Boats
Sofa Speedway
Welly Wanging
2008 series:
Scrap Speed Record
Scooter Shooters
Superbikes
Decoration Dash
Dune Bashers
Powerboats
Rocket Railway
Fire Fighters
Semi-final 1: Snow Shifters
Semi-final 2: Deep Sea Treasure
Series Final: Land Tugs
Grand Final: Manphibious Madness
10th Birthday Challenge: Hovercraft
As it turns out, the first 7 (so far) of the 2008 episodes can be found quite easily if you know where to look. While they aren't the most original challenges compared to the 2007 season, some have been executed much more successfully. The rest of the episodes, and the 2007 and some earlier seasons, are also available if you look harder.
One barrier to showing these episodes over in North America could be music licensing: they've used snippets of a lot of recognizable tunes in the sound tracks.
"you're out looking for kicks, and somebody starts passing out the weaponised hallucinogens…"