[IMG]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/54/MonsterGarage.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://www.bikernet.com/news/images/PhotoID9783.jpg[/IMG]
[B]Network:[/B] Discovery Channel
[B]Original Air Date:[/B] 2002-2007
[B]Seasons:[/B] 5
[B]IMDb:[/B] [url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0346343/]Link[/url]
[B]Theme song:[/B]
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qNbKmUQHF4[/media]
[B][I]Monster Garage[/I][/B] was a television show for the Discovery Channel hosted by Jesse G. James. Each episode was an hour in length and was conceived and produced (along with Jesse) by Thom Beers.
The show aired the series finale on June 12, 2006. Jesse G. James, the host of the show, did not participate.
[B]Premise of the show[/B]
A team of five people with mechanical, fabricating, or modifying expertise is assembled to modify a vehicle into a "monster machine." On the show this generally meant making one vehicle that could transform into another such as a PT Cruiser which could change into a Wood Chipper, or a school bus which changed into a pontoon boat. Occasionally vehicles were modified so as to hide no vehicular functions, such as a police car which doubled as a donut shop, or a Toyota Tundra which was modified so as to allow it to discharge a motorcycle at high speeds. Build teams which successfully completed their assignment were rewarded with expensive tool kits.
[B]Rules[/B]
According to the show, the rules are as follows:
[list=1]
[*]When complete, the monster must appear to be stock.
[*]The team has $3000 (later raised to $5000) for parts.
[*]The team has seven days to complete the monster.
[/list]
[list]
[*]The first day is for designing
[*]the next five are for building
[*]and the seventh day is for the test of the monster.
[/list]
In practice, as the series progressed, some liberties were taken with the first two rules, at times becoming punchlines. In one episode, when a Chevrolet El Camino was turned into a Figure 8 race car, James discarded plans for a spoiler on the vehicle, sarcastically citing the first rule.
Starting with season 4, the winning team also donated a toolkit to a high school of their choice.
[B]Host[/B]
Host Jesse G. James claims to be the great-great-grandson of the cousin of the legendary wild west outlaw, Jesse James. Jesse G. James has both mechanical and metal fabricating expertise, and is the founder, owner, and head bike builder for his custom chopper shop, West Coast Choppers. Jesse says he likes monsters that go fast and do something. He prefers hard working build crew members. His favorite monster vehicles to date are the Ford Ambulance Wheel-stander and the Chevrolet Blazer Pikes Peak hill climber. One of Jesse's ambitions throughout the run of the show was to build a monster that will top 200 mph, which he was unsuccessful at achieving. Announcing for this show was done by Brett "The Big Schwag" Wagner who is the current host of the Speed Channel show Pass Time. He was very memorable for frequently shouting out "You gotta be kidding me!" during the tests of the "monster" vehicles and signing off every episode saying "the next monster garage challenge is JUST...AROUND....THE BEND!!!".
[B]Failed Monsters[/B]
With rules as strict as they are in the Monster Garage, there is a 1 in 10 monster build failure rate. When a team fails to complete a vehicle in time, it is destroyed by host Jesse James.
[B]Failed Monsters and their Ultimate Demise[/B]
[list]
[*] Cadillac Hearse/Car Crusher "Grim Ripper" — was the first failure on Monster Garage. The build team spent more time goofing off than building the car. In one scene, the original Batmobile appeared at the shop, and Jesse quipped "tryin' to weld" when asked what he was doing. The non-functional Car Crusher was then sent to Terminal Island to meet its fate in a scrapper. At the suggestion of the scrap machine's owner, the Hearse came to an explosive end with a propane tank in the back. In Grim Ripper II, the team spoofed the demise of their first project by having the car in which they arrived at Terminal Island meet the same fate as the first hearse.
[*] Scion xA/Rock'em, Sock'em Scions — In this two-episode special, Jesse handpicked a team of the best Monster Garage participants at the time, while the producers picked a "mis-fit" team of quirky and somewhat anti-social participants to build Rock'em Sock'em Robots out of two new Scions. The winning team would win a "special edition" set of Mac tools while the other team would see their creation turned into scrap. Jesse's handpicked team, dubbed the Red Rockers, secured the Scion xB, while the producer-selected Blue Bombers received the xA. In the challenge, the Bombers' xA suffered transmission issues, meaning the Rockers won by default. Some members of the Bombers stayed to see their failed monster off, only to find out that they would be receiving tool sets as well.
[*] De Lorean DMC-12 Hovercraft — In an early attempt to shave time off the build, the team removed the outer bodywork of a De Lorean and put it on a donor personal hovercraft. Quite angry about this decision (even though he himself declared early on that he didn't like the project), Jesse fired one of the team members after a snide comment. Working again with a "new" De Lorean donor, the team tried unsuccessfully to make the monster hover but ultimately ran out of time. The car was eventually towed to a naval base where a tank tracked vehicle crushed the unfinished vehicle. <--- Probably my personal favorite :v:
[*] Mazda Miata Jetski — Some fans have noted that the reason why this build failed was the engine might have contributed to the air intake being flooded due to the heavy weight in the nose area. Nevertheless, three members of the build team opted to send the Miata to the scrapheap with a dynamite explosion.
[*] Dirt Track Camaro — For the second time in MG history, this build had an all-girl build team (the first was the Black Widow Demolition Derby Car, which was heavily gutted moments before a demolition derby). However, a plague of miscommunication and personal differences sent this Camaro to a steel smelter and eventual recycling into rebar.
[*] Peel Trident Micro Car — With a team composed of mostly dwarves, the team attempted to put a Hayabusa engine into a tiny Peel Car. Some fans felt that the team was compromised due to their small stature, but Jesse coldly stated that he gave no team any exceptions; they were all equal. Other fans feel the project was simply too ambitious for builders of any size. After they failed, Jesse, sporting some of his personal gun collection, took out the Peel with a .50 calibre sniper rifle.
[*] Anglia Nitro Dragster — The team did not give themselves enough time to fire up the engine. The engine ended up not firing due to timing issues, and Jesse brought it to a construction site where a crane dropped a large metal box on it.
[/list]
[B]Succeeded monsters destroyed in Day 7[/B]
[list]
[*] Mazda RX-7/Doom Buggy — Unsatisfied with how the Sandrail performed, Jesse destroyed it with a Dillon Minigun. <-- An instant classic!
[*] 1970 Cadillac Coupe DeVille/Demolition-Derby Car - In day 7, Cindy Regimbald lost the demolition derby, leaving the car smashed from the derby.
[*] 1970 Oval Racer/RC Car - During the challenge, after Jesse lapped the car about 5 times, he rammed his car into the rear fender of it and sent it smashing into wall of the short track. The monster was totalled, and it was stored outside the Monster Garage, later to be cannibalized in future episodes.
[*] 1969-1970 Classic Farm Tractor/Crop Circler - The vehicle was built successfully, but Jesse decided the project was uninteresting, so he burnt it in a desert with a flamethrower. <-- Same here, pure win :v:
[/list]
[B]UK version[/B] (which I've never heard of before)
A UK version of the show was aired in 2004 by Channel 4. The team always included a Hell's Angel known as "Cookie". There was a budget of £3,000. Only 3 days were used for the build. Cars often looked radically different from the production models. Challenges included; converting a Toyota into a lawnmower, a Lotus into a hovercraft, and an ice cream van into a riot truck. In one episode, the team sold the internal fittings of the car that was to be transformed (A Rolls Royce) to raise funds to convert it into a muck spreader.
The UK series lasted only 8 episodes.
[B]*** Source: [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monster_Garage]Wikipedia[/url] ***[/B]
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Me, being a gearhead and a metalhead, I believe this was hands down the best TV show I've ever seen (definitely WAY better than Mythbusters), seriously, I consider Monster Garage as the BEST TV show I've ever seen on Discovery Channel. Not only because of Jesse, the bands, the monsters and stuff, but how people interacted as they were building the monster, there were often arguments, even fights sometimes! It was really entertaining.
Now, on to some of its highlights!
[B]Jesse James unloading a Dillon Minigun on the Mazda[/B] (definitely the coolest)!
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODiSfBUMApA[/media]
[B]A Hearse dying a horrible death:[/B]
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrJQTQaLgQc[/media]
[B].50 Caliber Sniper Rifle vs Peel Trident:[/B]
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wjkd7fi7_j4[/media]
[B]A DeLorean crushed by a hovercraft:[/B] I can't find any vid of it, I could only find a pic:
[IMG]http://www.forum-auto.com/uploads/200312/veedub_1070297456_delorean1.jpg[/IMG] <-- It was SSSICK! DeLorean fans can [I]still[/I] be heard crying over it :v:
Let's discuss the awesomeness!! :D
This show had one badass theme song.
Best car was the Ambulance doing wheelies. that one was badass
[QUOTE=Batmoutarde;23953530]Best car was the Ambulance doing wheelies. that one was badass[/QUOTE]
That one was _Really_ cool!! :D
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQRbBxp7iCE[/media]
Oh Discovery Channel... when will you be THIS awesome again?? :smith:
Man, I haven't watched this show in ages. Last time I saw it, I was channel-surfing and I came across a Spanish-language version of it.
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