Reality TV and Me?
I don’t think so. To date, three production companies have gotten in touch, suggesting ideas for a TV series based, in various ways, on my life as a Maine guide. Two were New York companies, one a Maine firm. The last was the most interesting, but even so, I couldn’t see a good fit for myself, nor would I wish to impose upon clients.
I’ve asked different sports of mine what they’d think of being followed while having everything we do and say filmed and recorded. The answers were unanimous, and probably obvious. First of all, we don’t necessarily want anyone to know where we’re going. That in itself is a kind of unspoken, backwoods credo. A fisherman’s haunts and honey holes are sacrosanct.
Secondly, many successful sports are not interested in popularizing their methods. Some are of course, and lots of money is made doing it. Guided fishing tends to be more of a private enterprise, honoring Chatam House Rules (what is said and done there stays there). It’s what keeps bringing those sports back to the well each time.
The last reason it seems unlikely that I’ll agree to such an idea is that I watch absolutely no reality TV. The ones I’ve seen advertised don’t look like reality to me. To be more precise, I should probably say, “my reality.”
To that intrepid producer looking for the silver bullet, breakthrough idea, I’d suggest this. Find someone to foot the bill, then come and have yourself filmed for 3-5 days through every aspect of the experience–canoeing wilderness lakes, streams, and rivers, cooking everything you eat over an open fire, having intense fish fights, and heart-stopping wildlife sightings. Watch the metamorphosis that happens to you and then see whether you’re inclined, or willing to talk about it afterward to reality TV watchers.
Let’s start there.
