On Demand Weekly

Every Monday, On Demand Weekly presents SoundWatch, a new weekly column on the latest in music entertainment available on demand, one of the most popular VOD categories. New contributor, Sky McCarthy, will give readers an inside look at what's happening in music on demand.
Email Sky or follow her on twitter: @ILiveSkyHigh

This Week: Respect the Old School: Older Artists Still Getting Airtime

What's Hot Now On Music Choice On Demand - Top 10 Music Videos (week ending 1/16/11)

Media savant T Tara Turk goes deep inside cable TV to reveal Video On Demand's Hidden Gems so even the busiest of our readers can get the most out of On Demand TV. Tell Tara what VOD shows you think deserves her attention.

South Beach Tow (VOD Hidden Gem)

By T. Tara Turk

Maybe I live in a world where dragon eggs get hatched (“Game of Thrones”), Schmidts sleep with CeCes (“New Girl”) and Palins host Today shows but man I have never seen the wranglings of folks who fight to keep from getting their car towed. Now, I do admit to catching the occasional rerun of “Operation Repo.” TruTV’s resident repo show, but apparently the final season aired in 2011 only to be replaced by “South Beach Tow”, produced by Jennifer Lopez under her Nuyorican Productions. Not any Jennifer Lopez. THE Jennifer Lopez.

“Operation Repo” was your standard family business, folks running into regular folks who hadn’t paid their car note. But this South Beach Tow has tipped the scales to crazy dot com. I thought maybe it was going to be an upscale towing company dealing with Real Housewives of Miami who park in handicap spots. THIS is not the case. These are folks who don’t pay their note, who park in the middle of parking lots, who block people in, who curse loudly, use racial epithets, jump on tow trucks to block them, spray paint vehicles, steal the tow trucks....holy insane asylum, Batman.

The antics are so high on this show that I almost believe these folks are planted. Anything is possible as any one of these car owners could be an extra in GIGLI (yes, I went there). How else could the camera catch one of the car owners stealing the tow truck from the POV of the truck? I know. Reality TV that’s not real. Shocking. That said, it’s hard to stop watching - make that it’s hard to divert your eyes from the shenanigans. Everytime you want to walk away, there’s another loud commotion or utterly ridiculous moment of behavior captured that refuses to let you turn away. It’s like the Jerry Springer of towing and Jerry Springer led to a musical on the West End...I’m just saying.