Edd China Leaves WD

Seen this the other day. Its sad, but its respectable. The last few seasons and especially the ones shot in the US were very lack luster IMO. I wish ED and Mike the best
 
Saw this last night. I respect the integrity he displays in this video.

Some of the earliest shows were the best, when their budget was really small. Some of the later stuff has been more entertainment for the masses than I had to come to love.
 
First HSE now this! My happy places are dwindling. I love watching Edd work. Hopefully he keeps it up with his YouTube channel. I can't believe Mike went along with this.
 
Rupunzell said:


Bernice
Click to expand...
Yep. just heard. I only discovered Wheeler Dealers this past year but it became one of my favorite shows. I get it what he saying as the reasons for leaving.
American audiences don't have the patience to listen to his long technical explanations. :(
 
Go to the YouTube link, read the comments. Majority of comments are much about how Velocity/Discovery channel has diluted the wrenching-restoration process which Edd is the foundation. Primary reason why WD was successful in the UK, World Wide, America is Edd's wrenching and restoration content. WD audiences on a global scale is speaking out about fact, no wrenching with Edd, no interest in what Velocity/Discovery channel has done. This is precisely what happens when bean counters, investors-bankers-stock holders are allowed to drive products based on greed and what they learned as a cookie cutter MBA. This is not about American audiences not having the patiences to absorb what Edd presents, fact is that IS why the American audience watches WD. It is much about what producers believe is marketable and will produce the largest audience allowing the sale of advertising en mass. These producers have been indoctrinated by their school of visual productions to deliver their engrained "Hollywood" orthodoxy of what appeals to an audience, flash fantasy, images of desire with little to no actual factual-educational content.

Simply note the cars that are topics of WD and who those cars appeal to. Or why the vast majority of "car" shows gross me out in each and every way. The original WD was a non-typical exception when they had a total crew of four.



Bernice


sjmst said:
Yep. just heard. I only discovered Wheeler Dealers this past year but it became one of my favorite shows. I get it what he saying as the reasons for leaving.
American audiences don't have the patience to listen to his long technical explanations. :(
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
It was Ed's wrenching that made the show. Agree totally with Bernice about Hollywierd they produce junk. Car shows need to be about the cars not the drama of the people around them.
 
Rupunzell said:
Simply note the cars that are topics of WD and who those cars appeal to. Or why the vast majority of "car" shows gross me out in each and every way. The original WD was a non-typical exception when they had a total crew of four.Bernice
Click to expand...

Absolutely right on target there, Bernice!! Most car shows we now see on TV (down here anyway) are all about the 'big-heads' who drive "flash-tanks", or the idiots who are the so-called "motoring-media celebrities" who appear as guests on the show. Gone are the days when you could tell that whoever was invited as a guest to appear on any of our motoring TV shows knew at least a little bit about cars! Nowadays it seems that they are "hired" to act as tellers-of-funny-jokes!! Switch TV off time!

cheers, Ian - NZ
 
I hope Mighty Car Mods isnt next :/ Ive been watching Marty and Moog for years! Just recently Veocity (I think) started airing their old seasons. They (Moog & Marty) said that while they are excited to be shown on network tv around the world, that they will continue to focus on their online presence as their main concentration. We will see.
 
I have had this very complaint about WD for a couple of years now. Edd made the show with his technical discussions and explanations. The last few seasons have been abysmal with more drama, less techy stuff and cookie-cutter formatting. I really cannot blame Edd for leaving and I truly do wish him the best.

This is my complaint with car shows in general. My Sunday mornings used to consist of coffee and car shows but most of them are not worth watching anymore. They all seem to devolve into infomercials for corporate products.

Years ago there was a show called Shade Tree Mechanic (at least I think that's what it was called) with two old guys who wrenched on whatever came into their shop. But they devolved from "today we are going to show you how to bleed your brakes" to "today we are going to show you how to put this $50,000 turbo charger onto your $120,000 Porsche." I lost interest and then -- surprise -- they went off the air.

Begs the question -- if nobody likes these dramatic infomercials then why do bean counters continue to move to that formula? It doesn't take a business genius to figure this stuff out. For example, the vending machine at my work runs out of Diet Coke two days after the guy leaves but Dr. Pepper and the other vile crap remains stocked. You would think after a week or two the guy would learn to STOCK MORE DIET COKE!!

...but I digress
 
Huey said:
Begs the question -- if nobody likes these dramatic infomercials then why do bean counters continue to move to that formula? It doesn't take a business genius to figure this stuff out.
Click to expand...

Exactly. The infomercial move is one end of the equation. The move from demonstrating the technical aspects of something (TIG welding, gold mining, whatever) to featuring human drama (most of it engineered) is the other end of the equation. Somehow the buffoons in Hollywood think those two things sell above all else.

I used to watch Misfit Garage in the early days, in fact I sold them a car and was on episode 7 of season 1. But by the end of that season, they were plainly doing the engineered drama thing. My last watched episode was the one where they finally get their hands on an unobtanium windshield, I think for a Hemi Cuda or something like that they were building. Most of the show was spent trying to hunt this thing down, and they finally got it in the shop. Then Thomas Weeks is carrying the thing around the shop and does this completely fake looking pratfall across a bucket of crap that the inept crew has left in his way. Windshield gets shattered (I'm assuming it was a Dodge Neon windshield or something pedestrian like that) and people get chewed out. By the end of the show the car is put together, complete with a windshield, but no mention of how they procured a SECOND unobtainium windshield (because they didn't)... Having been on the show (and I'm assuming other reality TV shows are the same), I can tell you they are not based in reality at all. The script is loose, but they are scripted. I really can't believe this trend has not run its course by now.

Pete
 
I still like Graveyard Carz because I am a helpless Mopar fan and I find the show informative about classic Mopars. But even they are getting more and more dramatic as time goes on. Mark Worman is weird but once I began to understand his sense of humor he kind of grew on me (at first I thought he was just a giant you-know-what.)

I still like Stacey David's show Gearz. His show has grown less informative over the years but I still like the projects he takes on and seeing his impressive craftsmanship -- even though you don't always see exactly how he does it.

One show I sometimes catch on Sunday mornings is produced by Advance Auto Parts -- can't remember the name -- and it is actually OK. They do explain basic things.
 
Full Custom Garage with Ian Rousell is about the only one I watch anymore. He works by himself mostly, so no clue how they are going to turn that into a human drama showcase. :) He's a magician with metal, and a real artist, I love all the stuff he does.

I watched a couple episodes of Graveyard, but could not get past Worman being a giant you-know-what. So more human drama with the people he works with having to deal with him... no thanks.

Pete
 
I have been at Graveyard Carz shops and the last two places (not sure where He is at now). The corporate sponsorship He get's is crazy. (Brand new tow truck, brand new this, that)

I have been able to see some of the cars He has put together up close and personal. love the looks of the end results.
 
Compare these highly produced programs with these produced by Adam aka Abom79 solo machinist, videographer, artist.
Good videos about making stuff with machine tools, the real deal.
https://www.youtube.com/user/Abom79

The belief mass consumption programming must be produces to the lowest denominator to troll net the largest possible viewership for advertising dollars has become the standard for profit driven media production today. Regardless, there is a very significant viewership for programs like what Adam is producing. It is possible in time viewership will move away from programs produce for what they perceive as mass appeal and move towards programs produced by individuals.


Bernice
 
I watched an old episode of James May Cars of the People, season 1 episode one, talks quite a bit about Fiat and Lada and was very interesting; history, whit. I really like it NO drama but pointless destruction (that's a good thing). Very interesting about the Fiat factory and it's workers and such.
 
Dang. I must agree that recent series have reduced the amount of 'Ed time', glossing over the actual wrenching involved. To watch a show that basically removes that will be crap, IMO. That was the reason I watched the show in the first place. The American shows with all the drama between employees are crap, can't stand to watch them, as much as I want to for the old cars that are being brought back to life. It's the nuts & bolts aspect that is interesting, not the BS.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top