Two Guys Garage is TOPS (in the commercial department anyway)

Iíve been accused on occasion of complaining about this show without providing any suggestions on how to improve it. Well, Iím going to offer one and I doubt the producers are going to like it.

Several people including myself have commented on the number of commercials on this show, especially when compared to ShadeTree Mechanic. The argument against this position claims that commercials are necessary etc. I donít think anyone has an argument with that but because TGG seems to some people to have more commercials than it should I decided to see if that is really the case.

I timed the commercials on several shows similar to TGG including an old episode of ShadeTree Mechanic. I counted only commercial brakes and sections of the show that were blatantly commercial in scope. In other words if the host mentioned the name of a product they were using on the show it wasnít counted as a commercial, but if the host spent time telling the audience why this product was better than any other it was considered an infomercial and counted in the total. Time spent installing any of these products was not counted as a commercial.

Lets look at the shows. Popular Hotroding TV, Horsepower TV, Dream Car Garage, Trucks, Two Guys Garage, and ShadeTree Mechanic. These shows are all similar in concept and presentation so weíre comparing apples to apples here.

Popular Hotroding TV had 8 minutes 30 seconds of commercials.

Horsepower TV had slightly less with 7 minutes 45 seconds, however they spent an additional minute selling parts so the total is 8:45.

Dream Car Garage had a flat 7 minutes of commercials plus an additional 1 minute selling products for a total of 8 minutes.

Trucks TV spent 8 minutes 30 seconds on commercials and an additional 1 minute 45 seconds selling products on the show for a total of 10 minutes 15 seconds or more than 33% of the show selling products.

That brings us to Two Guys Garage. A total of 7 minutes 45 seconds of commercial breaks combined with an additional 1 minute selling the front guard, 1 minute selling the running boards, 3 minutes selling the bed liner, and 30 seconds selling the auto wax at the end of the show. We also have to add the 2 minutes 30 seconds selling the products in the parts room. Total: 15 minutes 45 seconds. Thatís pretty bad guys. Over half the show selling products. That qualifies as an infomercial in my book.

I forgot to mention ShadTree Mechanic. I taped them all so I just picked one at random. It was the show where they guys rebuilt the Ford Ranger motor. Total commercial time 6 minutes 45 seconds plus an additional 1 minute selling new products. Less than half what Two Guys Garage is doing.

Is there any wonder after comparing these shows that many of us complain about the blatant selling on the show? I donít know why youíre doing things this way but I believe greed has a lot to do with it. I'm sure the producers know that Sam and Dave have kind of a cult following and someone is trying to capitalize on this in order to sell products. They're betting the fans wonít notice but Iím here to tell the producers that some of Sam and Daveís oldest fans have noticed and we donít like it at all.

If you want to improve the show then go to a format that isnít structured just to sell products. Thatís my suggestion. The current format is sell first present information second and if the show continues in this direction pretty soon instead of seeing Two Guys Garage in the TV guide we'll just see "paid advertisement " instead.

I've done my best to present the data as honestly and accuratly as I can. I tried to apply the same rules to each show and be absolutly fair in my assessment. Therefore, I invite anyone to check my figures against the shows that aired Sunday the 18th.

I sincerely hope the producers consider this suggestion because if the show keeps itís infomercial format, I for one wonít waste my time watching.

[BigBry]

The poor horse. Leave it alone. It's dead already...