Racing Reality

Shameful confession time; I watched The Ridges last night (hey, I live with Girls). It was an amazing 30 minutes of TV; amazing because nothing happened. No conflict, no interesting plot twists, no staged over-produced segments (with the exception of the mouse release in the kitchen). This was not the Kardashian's, on that show the producers at least have the decency to put the characters in situations where something interesting has a chance to happen. In some ways that made The Ridges the most REAL of all the reality TV shows, just two people with normal, boring, mundane lives.

Needless to say TV3's recent foray into prime-time fly-on-the-wall style reality TV is here to stay. You can debate the quality, but, like The GC, I am confident The Ridges will get ratings. Did I just sit back and watch? Nay (neigh?), I got brainstorming. Today, I present to you short pitches for TV3's next reality show, based around racing.

Race Vets
Medical related reality shows are popular. Animal related reality shows are popular. See where I am heading with this? Camera crews follow a bustling Veterinary clinic in Matamata throughout the racing season dealing with all the ailments which crop up in the racing industry.

Punters
This show will follow three punters over a period of 10 weeks. A grizzly veteran, a young up-and-coming gambler, and a novice with no racing experience (one of them a woman) . Each week our punters will be staked with $10,000, the show will follow the experts analysing the racing and placing bets, while the novice will use a different betting/analysing/staking system each week which they have found in a book or some dark corner of the internet. The show follows the ups and downs of big wins and bad beats.


The George Simon Experience
Who is this mysterious voice of the north? Who generates the dulcet baritone heard throughout the concourses and grandstands of Ellerslie and other northern racing venues? This show follows New Zealand's favourite race caller (or mine at least) as he travels the country in search of the perfect call. The preparation, the home life, the interactions of the daily life of George Simon. It also has great potential for crossovers into TV3's other reality IP such as, GS on the GC (George Simon travels to the GC to call a race meeting at Gold Coast race track), or the Ridges at the Races.

The Centre 
Behind the scenes of New Zealand's busiest race track (I don't know if that is a fact, but it will certainly help promote a fictitious TV show). Ellerslie's Event Centre is not only a venue for race meetings, but it is also a function centre hosting a range of events from balls and trade shows, to weddings and gigs. There is a host of possible drama when it comes to staging these events which can be nicely exploited in reality TV. The show will be shot around the 12 weeks leading up to Auckland Cup Week, with all the preparation and organisation for the week itself as well as the other events which take place at Ellerslie racecourse over the summer.

The Apprentice
Probably an unusable working title, we could have a subtitle ":the Jockey edition", I also liked "New Zealand's next top Jockey". This show will bring together 10 wannabe apprentice jockeys and one top racing stable. Each week the potential jockeys will compete in challenges related to racing, riding, and stable life to avoid elimination and hope to gain a position as the next apprentice jockey for the stable.

Yearlings
Karaka, January 2013, the hammer drops, David Ellis has just paid top dollar for another prized yearling. This show will follow the top 5 highest priced yearlings to remain in New Zealand from the Karaka sales as they are trained towards their career as a racehorse. The challenges and the triumphs of the stable as they hope to create another champion.

Well, that wasn't so hard. No wonder production companies like reality TV, you don't require a single original thought to create one. Lets hope someone with some juice is reading this and we can see some of these on our screens next year to save ourselves from Season 2 of The Ridges.