On TLC'S 'HARD SHINE,' Life Lessons from a Rebel Hot Rodder
- New 10-Part Series Premieres on TURBO ON TLC at 10PM, Following New Episodes of AMERICAN HOT ROD and AMERICAN CHOPPER -
June 20, 2007
SILVER SPRING, Md.– Five trainees, six high-end hot rods and a rebel with a cause. After a decade of ground-breaking work as a hot rod craftsman with an attitude at the renowned SO-CAL Speed Shop, it’s time for Jimmy Shine to give back. In the new ten-part series HARD SHINE, Jimmy gives a quintet of trainees five months to prove themselves as fabricators in the shop – and the chance at a full-time job building hot rods at the famous SO-CAL Speed Shop.
HARD SHINE airs on ten consecutive Thursday nights at 10 PM ET/PT beginning July 12, as part of TURBO ON TLC. The TURBO ON TLC block is the on-air home for TURBO, the multiplatform, multimedia destination for Discovery Networks’ best “motorized” content, from choppers to supersonic jets and everything in between. Thursday, July 12 also marks the premiere of 12 straight weeks of all-new AMERICAN HOT ROD episodes at 8 PM ET/PT, and six new weeks of premiere episodes of AMERICAN CHOPPER at 9 PM ET/PT.
HARD SHINE follows the tumultuous growth of Jimmy Shine as a manager, mentor and sometimes social worker as he tries to pass on the lessons he learned under SO-CAL boss Pete Chapouris, whom Shine sees as a second father. “Look inside a hot rod … you’ll find yourself,” says Shine, who will guide the trainees and give them the opportunity to make something of themselves and their lives. “When you build a car … you build your life.”
For the trainees, the chance to stand out and move beyond their past lives is invaluable: There’s Richie Nogueira, 27, a self-described gang-banger who has been in and out of jail for half his life and now wants to go straight; 24- year old Sarah Allen, a hot rod fanatic who lost her inspiration when her dad died in a tragic accident; David Lohr, 37, who struggles with walking away from a 16-year job and a secure family life to gamble on pursuing his Southern California hot rod dream; and Mark Lightner, 26, a loner who spent much of his teens in juvenile detention and strives to leave his drinking and drug problems behind to make a better life for his wife and two kids. The fifth trainee, who left the shop soon after starting working with Shine, was Jezebelle, 24. She is an artist, but wanted to focus on building hot rods.
In each episode of HARD SHINE, the trainees are put to the test working on expensive hot rods for demanding clients, and pitted against time constraints, a sharp learning curve and their own weaknesses. The ride is explosive, with mistakes delaying builds and inexperience fueling fights and clashing egos. Shine’s demand for perfection hits more than a few speed bumps along the way. Shine passes on his vast experience, but ultimately it falls to the trainees to prove they have the passion and potential to make it in this high pressure business.
At the conclusion of HARD SHINE, only one trainee will be given a permanent position at SO-CAL, but all hope to go away with a wealth of hands-on technical and life experience they can apply to their own worlds.
HARD SHINE is produced by Beyond Productions with Geoff Fitzpatrick as Executive Producer. For TLC, Mark Poertner is Executive Producer.
About Discovery Communications
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