August 26, 2010
A Very Special Scrappers, on Spike TV
Tuesday night, Spike Television, in cooperation with Discovery Health, proudly presented a very special episode of Scrappers.
One of their featured Scrappers, Sal the Tiki Barber, was taken to the hospital with a rare case of Ebola, the flesh-eating virus. Co-produced by the Discovery Health network, his case was followed on Trauma: Life in the ER.
It is suspected that Sal contracted the rare disease last week, when cameras caught Sal using a dirty garbage bag as a toilet.
In other Scrapper news this week, Noots proved unable to drive a van, Dino and Mimmo earned $17.50 apiece for a full day’s work, and Darren professed his love for his mother’s chocolate milk.
The prognosis for Sal is fair, with the possibility of ever earning any money low.
Mr. Blog's Tepid Ride 
It’s making me sad that I can’t tell where the reality ends and the spoof begins.
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Here’ the scary part. This was 90% spoof free. Sal actually did have a giant pus filled abscess on the side of his face that took him to the hospital. As for Darren and the chocolate milk, I downplayed it. Severely. If I have time that should get an entry itself.
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There’s no sound to properly express the emotion I’m feeling.
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Somone on Relic Radio would come up with a clip.
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Gee, a guy who dumps into a plastic bag while working in dirty basements and other hygenic environments comes down with a giant abscess on his face.
WHAT ARE THE ODDS!??!
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Those guys spent the first three episodes acting all tough then all the sudden one of them can’t go to work because of a bad zit?? What a PUS-FACED WUSS
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All of you negative people to come down off your high pedestals into the real world. These are real guys that the MAJORITY of people can relate to. They are the funniest thing on television.
By the way, the higher the pedestal, the harder the fall.
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The majority of the world has not taken a dump in a bag on TV. Have you?
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And you’ve NEVER stopped the car to take a leak? If you were on the highway and nature called, could you hold it until you got to the next gas station, or would you look for a tree to hide behind?
This is REALITY TV. What did you expect him to do? Try and hold it while they drove for an hour to get him home. It’s not like there a public toilets handy where they’re working. Get out on the street and get your hands dirty before you judge.
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If you were on the highway and nature called, could you hold it until you got to the next gas station, or would you look for a tree to hide behind?
How many of us brag about it on TV? There is a certain way of presenting yourself. I wonder why Donald Trump never takes a leak behind a tree on The Apprentice? Stay classy Sylvia.
What did you expect him to do? Try and hold it while they drove for an hour to get him home
Was he in the desert? Was he in Iraq? He was in a commercial/residential area in Brooklyn. The nearest bathroom was one pizzeria away.
Sylvia, is this really the battle you want to fight, over a guy taking a dump in a garbage bag? If you do, then come back and post video of your next trip to the bathroom. I guarantee you, I don’t want to see it, and you don’t want to post it.
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You have obviously never been in a position like that. The bathrooms in restaurants are FOR CUSTOMERS ONLY. They get very cranky about someone coming in off the street to use their facilities. Try it some time.
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Sylvia, sure I have. Not to be smug (I apologize if it sounds that way) but this is the difference between reality and “reality TV.” In reality, Sal is surrounded by a Spike TV camera crew. If Sal walks into a place, with two camera guys with him filming, and asks to use the bathroom, who will say no and lose the chance to get their store shown on Spike TV? That’s a nice plug. “Reality TV” makes it look like Sal is all alone or with his partner. He is not. A television camera crew opens a lot of doors. And restrooms.
And at any rate, anyone as street smart as Sal seems to be just walks in and uses it anyway. Try it sometime.
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The problem as I see it is you are only looking at one part of the show. Maybe it wasn’t their finest moment, but don’t write them off because of it. this is the first time they’ve done a reality show and they’re learning as they go. Give them a chance. They’re the best thing on TV in a long time. Perfect? No. Hilarious? Yes.
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Part of the show? Give it a chance? Go and check- I watched and wrote about every episode. I’ll say what I said in my final Scrappers blog again right here- the guys themselves don’t seem like bad guys, but the show makes them look like buffoons.
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It’s obviously dramatized to a point. However, a lot of people relate to them. People have worked with characters similar to them. Even when they argue, at the end of the day they’re still friends. They make a lot of people laugh. Read their facebook page. People love them for so many different reasons. I’m sure Jerry Lewis is just a regular, ordinary guy most of the time. Put him in front of a camera and of course he hams it up. As I said before, the bathroom scene may not have been their finest moment, but don’t write them off because of it.
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I only mentioned that “bathroom scene” (and there was no bathroom in that scene) once, and not even in this blog you are commenting on, yet you keep bringing it up.
I also wrote about Noots and Darren almost crashing because they couldn’t stop looking at a Playboy, Darren explaining how his mother makes his chocolate milk “with love,” Dino and Mimmo unable to spell the word “metal” despite being in the metal business, Dino and Mimmo consistently losing money or making almost no money after a full day’s work, Noots, confusing a poster for a genuine Picasso, and Darren complaining about his testicles. How good do they look now?
Maybe that just makes them regular guys. Maybe every guy looks at porn and has trouble with his genitals at some point. But not every guy puts all that on TV. Like I said earlier, how do you want to present yourself?
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One more item. I have no problem with you mentioning their Facebook page, it is fine with me if everyone goes there. I simply won’t post any comment that is only a plug.
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“Survivorman” acts at times like he won’t make it through another day, when in REALITY he’s a phone call away from rescue.
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That’s my point.
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They look exactly like the way guys on the street REALLY act. Like Darren said, “The world needs doctors and lawyers, but they need ditchdiggers too”.
Viewers comments are often, “I can see it happening” or “I’ve seen it happen” or “I know a guy just like that”.
Sal taking the camera crew into the Pizzeria, would be the same as Survivorman telling his crew to drop him off some water because he can’t find any at the moment.
Yes, they could do it, but wouldn’t that blow the reality out of the show?
Sir, you are entitled to your opinion of them. If you don’t like them, that’s fine. However, as an avid fan it’s unlikely that I’ll change my mind. At this point I think the best we can do is to agree to disagree. Thank you for allowing the facebook comment. I didn’t mean it as a plug, but on a second thought I guess it ended up that way.
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They look exactly like the way guys on the street REALLY act. Like Darren said, “The world needs doctors and lawyers, but they need ditchdiggers too”.
Did I miss the great ditchdigger reality show? Much as I respect the wisdom of Darren, there is a difference between real life and TV. Guys on the street get drunk and puke, guys on the street harrass young girls too. Do they get a show? Sure, yes, the world needs scappers. TV is different.
Sal taking the camera crew into the Pizzeria, would be the same as Survivorman telling his crew to drop him off some water because he can’t find any at the moment.
Remember the headlines when it was revealed that the guy from Man vs. Wild did pretty much that? Don’t start acting like there is an integrity to reality TV. Much more than you think on any “reality show” is influenced, directed, or just plain staged by the producers. You think Sal would tell the camera crew to not walk into the pizzeria with him? He didn’t tell them to not show him taking a dump in a bag! Seriously, you need to understand the effect the camera, the network and the producers have on the “reality” you see on TV. You already admitted that even a professional like Jerry Lewis hams it up on TV. Would “guys on the street” be more professional?
Sir, you are entitled to your opinion of them. If you don’t like them, that’s fine. However, as an avid fan it’s unlikely that I’ll change my mind. At this point I think the best we can do is to agree to disagree.
Did I try to change your mind? You came to me to change my mind! I am not interested in changing any minds. I gave my opinion. That’s all.
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As I said, you have your opinion and I have mine. I am grateful that we live in country that allows differing opinions.
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When you make your breakfast in the morning, do you imagine that you’re making Darren his chocolate milk….”with love” lol!
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Well, I hadn’t thought of that, however I will do it “with love” (as Darren would say). lol
Thanks for the debate. It was interesting.
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