UK-based production company Tiger Aspect Productions is developing a Trains series for a major cable network, and we're in search of diehard railfans/ officionados who might host our new series.
The ideal candidate would be a true credible "insider", think Discovery's "Future Weapons", or History Channel's "Digging for the Truth" or "Mail Call". It's not necessarily a veteran historian we're looking for, but rather a true passionate fanatic of trains who can help communicate this passion to our audience.
The show is in development, but the idea would be to travel around the country/ world and get up close and personal with the past, present, and future of trains.
If you or a friend fit the description above, please send me an email at : fred.grinstein@tigeraspectusa.com. Please tell me about yourself, your passion for trains and where it's taken to you. What's your unique take on them? And make sure to send in a picture of yourself, any websites, video you might have.
Best,
Fred Grinstein Producer Tiger Aspect
Posted by Ocala Mike (Member # 4657) on :
I nominate (with tongue squarely in cheek), Representative John L. Mica from the 7th Congressional District of Florida.
Currently serving as Ranking Republican member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, he is nothing if not a "true passionate fanatic."
Posted by train lady (Member # 3920) on :
Mike, forgive my ignorance but is he fanatically "fer" or 'Agin" Amtrak.
Posted by notelvis (Member # 3071) on :
If it runs in his district he is "fer".....so long as someone else foots the bill.
If it runs somewhere else like Montana or California it's a waste of federal dollars and he would be 'agin'.
Seriously, I believe Mica once promoted a plan to eliminate all Amtrak long-distance trains with the exception of the Auto-Train.
Sanford, FL is in Mica's district.
Posted by George Harris (Member # 2077) on :
The one and only Chris Gunzler
Posted by Mr. Toy (Member # 311) on :
I second Chris.
Should he be unavailable I nominate the internationally renowned railroad expert George Harris, who has openly and enthusiastically demonstrated his skill communicating technical railroad principles in terms the rest of us can understand.
Don't anybody even think of nominating me, please!
Posted by ehbowen (Member # 4317) on :
Hear! hear! to both of Mr. Toy's nominations.
Posted by RRRICH (Member # 1418) on :
I think Chris or George would be GREAT for that job!!!!!!!!!!
Posted by ehbowen (Member # 4317) on :
Why not both? A "play-by-play" and a "color commentator" could work great!
Posted by 20th Century (Member # 2196) on :
Eric, I'm with you on that one! What a series that would be.
Posted by TNCMAXQ (Member # 4875) on :
On a related topic, you ever watch Great Railway Journeys or World Class Trains on PBS? Love those shows. They aired several episodes on the local PBS station but they have not been on the last few weeks. I assume they just ran out of episodes but I would love to see some new documentaries about trains.
Posted by dilly (Member # 1427) on :
quote:Originally posted by TNCMAXQ: On a related topic, you ever watch Great Railway Journeys or World Class Trains on PBS? Love those shows.
Perhaps I'm in the minority, but for me, watching an episode of either of the above-mentioned series is only slightly more entertaining than watching paint dry.
The writing is invariably stilted and stuffy. The monotoned narrator always sounds as if he's reading the list of ingredients from a box of breakfast cereal. The music is, without fail, strictly bargain-basement Muzak. The cinematography is rarely much better than the average home video.
Even worse, the well-heeled, typically elderly passengers always look catatonically bored, as if they've been embalmed. Strangely, most of them seem totally uninterested in the view from the train window, preferring instead to spend their extremely expensive rail cruise reading the newspaper or staring blankly into their cocktail glass in the lounge car.
Very depressing.
Then too, the lion's share of each episode usually has nothing to do with the train journey itself. Inevitably, the camera crew follows the passengers off the train, onto a waiting excursion bus, and then devotes the bulk of the program to showcasing bland tourist attactions many miles away.
I'd love to see a well-written, well-photographed, well-hosted series -- one that combines a coast-to-coast Amtrak trip with historical rail imagery and commentary from passengers, crew members, and "experts" who put it all into perspective.
Take viewers from one end of the train to the other. Then take them off the train at railroad points-of-interest along the route -- rail yards, rail museums, and classic railroad stations both active (like Los Angeles Union Passenger Terminal) and abandoned (like Buffalo Central Terminal). Give viewers a hands-on feel for what long distance rail travel is like -- and for what it used to be like, once upon a time.
It would be a passenger rail version of Michael Palin's "Around the World in 80 Days" combined with "Globe Trekker," and filmed (rather than videotaped) with the care, atmosphere, attention to historical detail, and budget of a Ric Burns documentary.
Will I ever see such a series? I doubt it. That's why I'd much rather travel by train than watch strangers sleepwalk through one on TV.
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Posted by Mr. Toy (Member # 311) on :
Dilly, it sounds like the program Mr. Grinstein is proposing would probably be more to your liking. Althought I have rather enjoyed the various PBS offerings, I agree they could use something more to perk them up.
Posted by George Harris (Member # 2077) on :
Dilly, thank you for my laugh for the day. "well-heeled, typically elderly passengers always look catatonically bored, as if they've been embalmed." I love it. I love it. And, I have also seen it in these programs, but not got it so clearly labeled until you said it. As someone once said, older people that are boring and rigid are not boring and rigid because they are old. The people like that have always been that way. It was just not as noticible when they were younger.
George
Posted by Big Merl (Member # 3251) on :
Can we add Jonathan as the sideline reporter?
Posted by train lady (Member # 3920) on :
Right you are , George. There are many 20 year olds and up who are rigid and boring. Walk into a6th grade class room and you will find 11 year olds in the same catagory. I don't know how others feel but as for me I don't pay any attention to the people in travelogues. I am interested in the scenery or the conveyance. People are coincidental to me.