Coaster Shows on TV

[coasterdude5]

Reruns.

 

Around this time, they begin to air alot with summer around the corner. Also, they tend to have alot in June. But some of them you can afford to miss. Like the ones where half of the coasters that they feature are Vekoma's.

[SFOGdude25]

^Yeah, I was really shocked when one of the "Ultimate Thrill" shows featured a Vekoma SLC!

[WillMontu]

^ Not only did it feature an SLC, but it featured Paul Ruben raving about it

[maliboomer]

Reruns.

 

Around this time, they begin to air alot with summer around the corner. Also, they tend to have alot in June. But some of them you can afford to miss. Like the ones where half of the coasters that they feature are Vekoma's.

 

Read the OP.

 

In Belgium we cannot see the Travel Channel Shows.

 

I have no idea how to get the shows, however.. sorry. Anyone else can help?

[Ghost]

Sorry to bump this up but I so would like to get my hands on these shows... any ideas... please

 

If anybody out there could be of any help I would be so happy...

[Columbia]

With Summer just around the corner, its not just full time park operation to look forward to...but also the annual coaster shows on cable TV.

 

So, that being said...what do you most like about these shows - and what do you most detest?

 

Personally, I can't stand the "stereotypical" enthusiast giving stats throughout the ride...or the worst as I recall from last year...a featured passenger rattling off stats while wearing goggles on Kingda Ka.

[the ghost]

I''ve seen like 3 coaster shows, ever.

[ebl]

I used to watch those Discovery Channel shows every year---and have even appeared on a couple of them (in non-speaking parts, of course). These days, I have no interest whatsoever in watching them. Perhaps because I can see them all over YouTube nowadays as opposed to as recent as ten years ago.

 

Eric

[netdvn]

I used to watch coaster shows when I was younger and didn't know much about coasters. I found them fascinating and it gave me an interesting peek into the amusement industry that I've never seen before.

 

Then I discovered Coasterbuzz, Thrill Network, and Coasterforce. I started lurking around the message boards and over time, I learned a lot more information about the parks, rides, history, etc than I would've learned watching the specials on the Travel Channel or Discovery. So I'd watch them for the POVs but that was it.

 

Then I discovered POVs on Youtube and started watching those. They had no corny commentary, no stereotypical nerdy enthusiasts shouting random stats during the ride; sure the camera work was a little shaky but I preferred watching those over the specials.

 

It seems that these specials always pick the nerdiest of enthusiasts who know that Coaster-X is connected by 12,345 nuts and bolts or who love the ride so much, they have to paint their braces to match the ride's colors, no matter how boring or rough in actuality they really are (and yes I actually saw that on a special).

 

Nowadays the only specials I'll ever watch are retro specials from the 70s/80s/90s and maybe early 00s.

[DBJ]

What I don't like about them generally is that you don't get a feel for the park as a whole, especially their current offerings. I remember the KK one, and they literally passed right by El Toro, just to show KK, even though El Toro was the newer coaster. Or when they go to Cedar Point to show MF, but not Maverick. Or to SFMM, to show X/X2, but not Tatsu and so on. Compared to the ones produced for the Disney parks - season of Disney & Samantha Brown's shows - the coaster focused ones are just usually a mess of old / stock footage.

[larrygator]

My thought is anything bringing positive focus towards roller coasters is a good thing.

Edited April 22, 2010 by larrygator

[CorkscrewFoley]

Larry this is too true. One of the last ones I really liked was the feature Robb was in when they were doing the bit on El Toro, Voyage and Kentucky Rumbler. I enjoy any programme where I feel like I'm not being talked down to.

[Emiroo]

The "overview shows" such as most of the ones on the Travel Channel have just enough to keep you tuned in, but leave out enough so that you usually feel disappointed when they are over. The Extreme Terror Ride shows are a prime example of this. In the end, they typically feel like a missed opportunity. Decent GP viewing though.

 

The better shows are the ones that focus on a single aspect of a park/ride. Without a doubt, the two best pieces of rollercoaster journalism I've seen focus on construction:

 

Megabuilders - The Construction of Tatsu at SFMM

 

Build It Bigger - The Construction of Griffon at Busch Gardens Williamsburg and Renegade at Valleyfair

 

I've had both of these saved on DVR for over two years and still watch them regularly. They play them both a few times a season. Don't miss them.

Edited April 22, 2010 by Emiroo

[KDCOASTERFAN]

Discovery hasn't produced any new coaster/park shows since their last one that aired back in 03 because since then their focus has become more on the reality tv craze & running nothing but deadliest catch pretty much 24/7.I used to look forward to taping their annual memorial day thrills chills & spills lineup but of course that stopped after the summer of 2003.

 

What I really disliked about those shows was the fact that they were almost always filmed either at CP or SFMM & even complained to them asking for more variety to be featured instead of just the same two parks over & over but other than that they were pretty good....too bad I didn't have a DVR back then though because all my old VHS copies are no longer viewable since all I get on them is just tracking fuzz & sometimes just audio.

 

I just wish I could find my copies of the CP program & making of a coaster though as those were a coupe of the best shows that they produced IMO.

[eddie200330]

It seems like they only show the old reruns anymore and any newer specials are mainly geared towards the waterparks. As stated above, it gets really old listening to know it alls spouting out the stats while riding the coasters, albeit you get a good laugh out of it.

[Kingsislandfreak]

I watch them but only when i'm bored i've noticed the announcer says stuff but he probably does not even know what he is talking about.

[BJS1981]

To me, it seems like they show pretty much the same coasters over and over. Always showing the ones that have been around a while and never the newer ones.

[Nozzy]

I think it's the announcers that get me the most- the way that no matter what the ride is, its a terrifying ordeal that everyone is terrified of (yet it still has huge lines). The commentary can sometimes get annoying, but I would assume that that's what the riders are instructed to do (except for when they have the GP first time rider commentator, in which case it's all screaming). If they cut the amount of time they spend spouting hyperbole in half they could usually fit in another coaster! They also tend to not date well when they have too much hype- the last show I saw was sometime within 6 or 7 months ago, telling all about how great Hypersonic XLC is)

 

That being said, I admit that this was one big way I got into coasters, and learned my basic knowledge of things like upstop wheels. I think my favorite one ever was called Scream Park, and featured a bunch of people at Magic Mountain doing competitions on the rides. I remember target drop from the Skycoaster, Keep the ball in the cup on X, and Eat & don't hurl on Goliath. It wasn't memorable for the POVs or anything, but showed people having fun in the park and did a good job of explaining basic physics and concepts.

[Josh Linn]

I used to enjoy them years ago. I remember there being one in '01 or '02 that chronicled the construction of SFMM's Goliath, which was pretty cool.

[Chrisrad]

^^^ By any chance, do you remember what it was called? Or which network it was on? I would love to see Goliath's construction.

 

I just watched Mega Builders for Tatsu's construction.. pretty darn awesome!

[gforce532]

^It was called "Scream Parks" and it was a behind the scenes show of Magic Mountain. They showed the operations of the park and with the course of the hour they followed Goliath's progress till they end which they had a ride along. I believe it was dicovery channel. I had taped it and watched it many times because that was before my first visit to the park so I was very facinated with the show.

[Looty]

No bolt guns...no Tatsu!

[DOCTOR DOOM!!!]

I always hated that Mantis, Riddlers's Revenge, and Georgia Scorcher were all featured in shows at some point, but never Chang.

[B-RadG]

Yesterday I saw one called Megastructures- Building the Ultimate Roller Coaster on YouTube and it was actually really neat. It had 5 parts and although I think they exaggerated some of the problems just a little it was really really good.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkn_pUpGqxI

Part 1

[robbalvey]

That being said, I admit that this was one big way I got into coasters,

This was the same for me, actually. I was always into theme parks having worked at Disney and all, but it wasn't until the original Wild Rides in 1995 that I really started to pay attention to roller coasters and theme parks outside of Disney.

 

Here is another observation I've made - there has been quite a decline of interest in the hobby since Discovery Channel stopped airing these shows regularly.

 

--Robb

Edited April 24, 2010 by robbalvey