Repo Games is probably the only show you're going to see on television that focuses on the struggles used car owners have trying to hold onto their vehicles. Finally, a show for used car owners!
Repo Games airs on Tuesday nights at 11 on Spike TV (check your cable provider for channel info). The basic premise is two repo agents, Josh Lewis and Tom DeTone, knock on your door and offer you a chance to save your vehicle from being repossessed if you can answer five trivia questions on Repo Games. Get the answers right and your used car is paid off - not just the outstanding payments but the entire loan balance.
The show, through its first season, paid off 20 cars. Each show features interactions with three vehicle owners and a season is 10 shows long.
As SallyAnn Salsano, the show's executive producer said in a phone interview, "It's like crack. You can't stop watching the show." I have to agree with her. By the way, fans of reality shows may recognize SallyAnn as the producer of "Jersey Shore," which I don't watch - so I didn't know her.
SallyAnn has a hilarious description of Repo Games. "If Jeopardy went jaywalking, had a few drinks, and went on Cops, that's Repo Games," she said. Sure, she's had scores of interview about the show and has probably used that line before, but it's just too spot on not to include it.
Aaron Gold, the About.com guide to Cars might be affiliated with Top Gear USA as a producer but I have no connection to this production. Not that I wouldn't love a chance to write for it (after just watching a couple of clips). I just wanted to make that distinction.
SallyAnn, who has a frank conversation style, told me "Everybody is excited about winning new cars but people are struggling to keep their used cars."
The show works with actual repo companies around the country. For those not familiar, a repo company collects vehicles from owners who are behind on their payments. You never want to see a repo man driving away with your used car or truck. Unless, of course, the repo man is surrounded by a camera crew and some lighting and sound techs. There's a chance you're going to keep your vehicle with questions like, "Where is the Great Barrier Reef located?"
"It's just like 'Cops'. It's not a show you want to be on," SallyAnn said. (Well, if you're far behind in your car payments, you probably do want to be on the show.) "It's the only game show where you've already lost when we show up."
As SallyAnn points out, you would be surprised by the answers you think people should know and those you think they shouldn't. "You never can guess who knows what," she said. "Usually the easier the question, the more people get it wrong."
The show has repossessed everything from Mercedes-Benz vehicles to Oldsmobiles. The show goes to all kinds of neighborhoods. "In this economy, it could strike anyone," said SallyAnn. "Everybody has 18,000 excuses why they didn't pay for their car until they're told it's a game show. Then people will admit it."
Unbidded, she defends Repo Man against criticism that it is exploiting people. "In the end, you're fixing their world," she said. People who win aren't using the money they save for exotic trips, SallyAnn added. Instead, they're using the new-found funds to pay off other obligations. "They're not going from 'I can't pay my bills' to 'I'm going to Aruba,'" SallyAnn said.
Repo Games is in its second season in the truncated world of cable networks. It originally premiered on April 26, 2011, and had a 10-episode run. The second season has already aired two episodes with the third new show airing on July 26, 2011.
Here's a little info on the co-hosts of the show. Josh Lewis, 30, was raised in Reed City, Michigan. He served in the United States Navy before earning a degree in Political Science from Grand Valley State University in Allendale, Mich. It wasn't until 2003 that he was introduced to the car repossessing business by taking a security guard job for a repo company and soon was promoted to repo man. At his peak, Lewis was making $150 per car and has been addicted to business ever since. Lewis currently resides in Los Angeles, CA.
Tom DeTone, 41, was born and raised in the tri-state area (New York, New Jersey, Connecticut) until his mid-teens when his family moved to Arizona. At 19, he was introduced to the repo business after attempting to stop what he thought was an attempted car robbery. His quick reflexes and eye for justice immediately landed him the job as a "spotter" and has been working in the field on and off ever since. Detone makes his home in Phoenix, Ariz.
