TV ideas for 2012

[Anthony Gray]

  How about a documentary "Who designed Merion?"

 

That's funny! Unfortunately Charlie won't get it. Even with his loudmouth tie.

  How about a wet tee shirt contest with the combatants of Grudge Match 3?

[Anthony Gray]

  A Biggest Looser featuring John Kavanaugh.

[Garland Bayley]

  A Biggest Looser featuring John Kavanaugh.

Featuring Barney in a Fred Flintstone drive train golf cart.

[Tim Leahy]

How about bringing that hot blond female golfer back from your previous show.
You two play one key hole on the course the pros are playing that week and the loser has to do something stupid.

[Jim Tang]

Golf Hoarders:  Each week you profile a golf nut and his collection of various golf crap he's collected over the past 20 some odd years.

The Pro Goes Local:  A slightly different version of an idea mentioned earlier.  Each week have a pro play a well know public track that gets lots of play.  Have him play a round, chart all his shots and have him post a score.  Break down his round with stats such as number of putts, average driving distance, fairways hit, GIR, etc.  Put some graphics up showing the line the pro took off the tee and where his tee shot ended up.  The local guy could then make a fair comparision between his game and how he plays the course vs. the pro's game and how he played it.

[Tom Kelly]

"Monkey Tennis"

or

"Youth Hosteling with Chris Eubank"


If neither of these are possible then you could get a couple of pros each week to play a round or 9 holes with hickory clubs. During the round you could chat to them about the state of their game and how they are going to approach the course they are playing that week e.g. which holes to attack, lines off the tees, pin positions they expect to play, how changes to the course since last time have affected their thinking (if applicable) etc.

I reckon it would be quite interesting and you could profile the course at the same time as having some fun seeing how they get on with the old equipment. Maybe each week you could use equipment from a different era?

[Bret Swanson]

I love it when there is a crane shot that allows you to actually see the flight of the ball in relationship to the target.  
...
Or, for the normal angle behind the player at ground level, place the camera much lower so we can see the inital flight of the ball.  Also love the worm cam for putts.    

I agree completely. Coincidentally and fortunately, Golf Channel/NBC seemed to be heading this direction with the Chevron broadcast at the end of this season. I noticed more crane shots and many more down-the-line shots from much further back, which really allowed the viewer to see much more of the ball flight, if not all of it. These shots may have not made as much sense with old standard def, but with HD, it is really great. Can you remember the old standard def days when the camera would appear so close to the player that an iron shot would invariably just exit the right-top corner of the TV screen? Every shot looked exactly the same. Perhaps that old camera technique carried over into the HD days and they've just figured out there's a better way to film it? Anyway, I think more wide panoramic action shots would be terrific.

[Terry Lavin]

I say Golf Channel cans Kraig Kann. More Lauren Thompson. Lets have her host a show about the Dark Underbelly of gca.com.  Maybe "Access  Whorin' With Lauren".  Now that could be architecture that sells.

[William_G]

Charlie,

Good luck in 2012.

I think you should cover Bandon more often, LOL!

Seriously, the camera technology we have is being under utilized in golf.

The movement of the bal is lost to everyone adn its worse than hockey in that way...and in golf we essentially know where th ball is going beforehand.

The movement of teh ball in the air is very intersting whether for a good or bad shot and is raely shown. Same goes for putting.

thanks

PS also can the gal who hosts the main golf events for GC...terrible!...can't even remember her name! Tillman?

[Dan Kettler]

How about a real WITB with all the details on what the pros are doing to tweak their clubs?  Include the interaction with the tour van dudes.  Do this without it being an infomercial for Callaway, TM, Titleist, etc

or...

do something like NFL films where they mike the players and caddies, extract Tiger's F-Bombs, better yet, extract Tiger completely, keep Joey, but condense and show highlights with the actual audio/video.

or...

show actual interaction between the pros and their teachers, not the tweaks going on during tournament week, but more so on the off season when they are making changes.

or...

anything with courses the average Joe doesn't get to see.  Couple it with the tour stop of the week.  Focus on the great courses in the area.  I don't want to hear about Cog Hill, I want to see and hear about Chicago Golf Club.

or...a special on hot tour wives.  Mask it as some charity deal, but we want to see what great golf games bought these guys.

or...UFC with TGC folks and tour pros.  Faldo vs. Miller, Chamblee and Feinstein vs. Tiger, Morning Drive Lady vs. Kelly T.

or...some valium for Michael Breed.

Charlie - keep up the good work!!!

[David Kelly]

"Monkey Tennis"

or

"Youth Hosteling with Chris Eubank"

"Cooking in Prison?"

"Inner-City Sumo? Very cheap to make, if you don't do it SKY will.""

[John_Cullum]

The Golf Channel should devote an entire series as to whether George Crump first saw Pine Valley from a train's window or was it from his hunting adventures. It's fascinating stuff. There are even a couple of ancient phootographs, and then you could get into the U.S. geological surveys. The possibilities are endless.

[Andy Stamm]

For the Shell Wonderful World of Golf people, I've thought about it a lot, and maybe it's doable if you involve the equipment companies. An hour and a half of coverage of 2 players is an incredible amount of screen time, and an advertisers dream. If you involved a what's in the bag (not over the top commercial, but nice screen time for the sponsors) maybe you could get them to put pressure on the players to play. Maybe they could use one of the corporate days they get with sponsorship deals, to entice the player.

And if you do it on a Monday in the area of big tournament or in the fall, it might be feasible. I know I'd love to see it.

[Emile Bonfiglio]

Charlie, welcome. I won't comment on the crying but the neck tie selection lately is reason for concern...

I would love a show that takes a famous hole or popular hole design and shows the multiple ways a player can approach or play it. Also, tour level fitting process would be cool as well.

[Phil McDade]

Forget the Jans -- it's the Reverse Jans that's calling out for a Golf Channel feature....

(Shivas -- since you're out there: Time is nearing, and conditions seem to be ripening by the day. Your call, of course, along with your bag-boy Kennedy. But you know I'll be there...)

Here's something I'd like to see but have little hope of seeing:

-- Who are these guys, really? What are they like? Is Mickelson as nice a guy as he seems, or does he just play one on TV? Is Sabbatini the jerk everyone says he is? Is Stricker really the nicest guy on Tour? Why is Hunter Mahan prone to choking? How come Geoff Olgivy can't win more majors? Who's the hardest worker -- the guy who gets the most out of the least amount of talent (and don't give me Luke Donald -- he may be short, but he has tons of talent)? Who wastes his talent away, usually by boozing in the clubhouse til late?

Can the Big Break stuff. Show me something about professional golfers that I don't already know.

[Tom ORourke]

A weekly segment based on what you don't see if you are not at the event. I was at a practice round up at Winged Foot for the PGA that DLIII won. I saw so many neat things out there. At one point Sam Torrance was hitting it badly, and asked the guys in his group what he was doing wrong, and they all agreed it was ball position. Before you knew it Nick Price was down on the ground laying clubs down to help his alignment, and Els had him by the shoulders working on his setup. Later I went down to the food court area near the practice area where a big screen tv was set up. There was a big crowd around the tv as the soccer world cup was on, a game like Ecuador against France. I think the entire maintenance staff was watching. I was also at a practice round there for the Mickelson loss, and watched Bob Estes try to lay up out of the rough on a par 4 with a lob wedge and try 3 shots that moved a total of 4 feet. A camera crew could have filmed Tom Lehman not only giving my son a golf ball but bringing him inside the ropes to sign the ball and pose for pictures. Or seeing a trackman set up on the long par 5 on the back and watching J.B. Holmes unload and watch the guys he was playing with laughing when they saw his numbers. Give people a reason to attend by showing them the cool stuff they are missing. Take a camera and wander from the 10th tee at Augusta up to the putting green, then between the cabins down to the par 3 course, and show the cabins from the back so everyone can see how big they really are. Show the merchandise facility there. At Aronimink this year I was at the range Friday afternoon when Fluff came by. Furyk had missed the cut and the other caddies were sitting in the shade yelling at Fluff to come on down and start drinking since he had the weekend off. Mahan was on the range working with one of Foley's guys who had him almost crouching to hit shots. Neat stuff. I think the tour would love to show people what it is like to be at the event rather than just watching. 

[Ronald Montesano]

O'Rourke Tom...you would think, but you don't really know. The tour doesn't want to lose control over what is shown, hence the tidy package filtered to our flatscreens. Unless you go to a "Blair Witch Project" type of camera, you can't get unfettered, pure coverage of events. Imagine your place of work and how much the bean counters and EO-types would want shown/to relinquish control over.

This thread is disappointing me, as people are saying "I'd watch this" rather than "People would watch this." We're being selfish, thinks me. In the end, Charlie gets a dozen people (not quite enough for a demographic) who want to see what make a hole a hole, another score (still not a demographic) who vote for behind the behind the scenes (which is still edited, so not really behind the scenes.)

We need to challenge each other to go OTB (off-track betting or outside the box, I forget which) on this one and give Charlie some viable, serviceable ideas (as in, nothing that comes from Kavanaugh's other-worldly mind). If not, he won't ask again.

[Tim Martin]

One of the best things I have seen was done by NBC a few years back. They had Roger Maltbie spend the night with a group of guys in a Winnebago while waiting to get out on Bethpage Black. I think Charlie has that everyman quality that could make this type of show both irreverent and have some mass appeal. You could also slip some GCA in on them without making it the focus. And Charlie I hope you don`t lose your sense of self with this diet nonsense because I have always been impressed with the lore about the work you could do at a breakfast buffet.

[Rob_Waldron]

Charlie

How about an on going series of the chronological history of golf course architecture? It would great to have access "behind the fence" to see the design work of the notable golf architects over time. I am sure the ASGCA would have an interest in participating.  Good luck!

[Evan Fleisher]

More than 50 responses to this query by the esteemed former US Junior Champ, and not ONE mention of the ONLY guy in the game that moves the needle...do i really have to say his name?

Now that he's back in the winner's circle, the world's eyes will be upon him once again.  Let me suggest a few Eldrick-centric show ideas that will be sure to substantially increase the viewership of what remains a niche station:

   The Prince of Thais. Pat Conroy and Kultida Woods are co-hosts in this travelogue, where viewers are taken on an extended tour of Thailand.  Highlights include never-seen footage of Tiger dining on pot stickers and green curry, visiting a Buddhist temple, and touring the red light district in Bangkok.  
   Better ‘n Eldrick.  Dr. Joyce Brothers hosts this panel discussion, featuring in-depth interviews with those who have changed their names and gone on to stardom.  Scheduled guests include Tony Curtis, Marilyn Manson, Prince and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
   Tiger Beat.  A variety program geared towards teenage and pre-teen girls, all professing their love and adoration of the striped one.  Wacky contest winners are rewarded with autographed photos, golf balls, and other paraphernalia.
   Tele-tubbies.  Craig Stadler, Tim Herron and John Daly discuss the PGA Tour, and what it will take to challenge Tiger’s supremacy in the coming years.
   Stanford and Sons.  Co-hosts Tom Watson and John Elway profile both the famous and infamous products of the storied University in Palo Alto, where they prove continuously that graduation is no prerequisite for success.  
   Tiger Kwon Do.  Tips and techniques on the ancient martial art that helps give the Big Cat his edge, along with the fanatical conditioning, practice habits, focus, weight training, diet and mental strength that are his other hallmarks.
   Who Wants to be a Millionaire?  Join former Tiger caddie Steve Williams as he shares the secrets that keep him in the top 50 on the PGA money list without ever having to swing a club.
   Father Knows Best.  The late Earl Woods discourses on the tough love tactics that helped mold his son into a champion.  Early scheduled lectures include: “Why Tiger will be bigger than Gandhi,” and “Scotland is no place for a black man.”  Richard Williams acts as moderator.
   Tiger’s Tips.   Join the phenom himself for this lively and informative instruction hour.  Learn how to hit a sawed-off 230 yard 2 iron, nuke a 315-yard driver, and make any length putt through sheer force of will.

+1

[Jud_T]

I love Q school and the "Hunt for the Card" type stuff.  Find some compelling characters who can really play yet are scraping by on the generosity of friends, family and members back home.  Follow them all season in a reality show.  Hopefully one earns his card and goes on to the tour.  Lock 'em up in a contract and keep following him (hello Spinoff!) as he goes from eating pork and beans with a cold Schlitz in the back of an old station wagon to buying a McMansion, getting invited to play practice rounds with Tiger and grinding over 5 footers for a couple hundred grand a week instead of next week's rent.  Do an LPGA version.  Get some hotties, and some really butch types.  Hell there's a whole other channel here.

[Anthony Butler]

Later I went down to the food court area near the practice area where a big screen tv was set up. There was a big crowd around the tv as the soccer world cup was on, a game like Ecuador against France. I think the entire maintenance staff was watching.

I think you might have your Winged Foot events mixed up, the World Cup was on during the 2006 Open not the 1997 PGA. It's always the even year between the Olympics.

[Tim Gavrich]

There have been a bunch of responses along the lines I've been thinking of.  I love Anthony Bourdain's show on Travel Channel and I know a bunch of similar concepts have been tried on Golf Channel, but what makes Bourdain's show fly is Bourdain himself.  He is the enigmatic, admittedly flawed but nevertheless compelling and authoritative figure through whom each place he visits gets filtered.  Such a show on GC would require a similarly dynamic established personality.

In terms of the architecture ideas, I couldn't agree more about how the audience is currently much too narrow to make an architecture-centric show viable.  That said, I think that Golf Channel's position as the unchallenged leader in televised programming about golf gives it the power to start to shape people's minds about the major issues facing the game.  I've detected a slight increase in passing mentions of architectural concepts during golf telecasts, which is wonderful to hear.  It also helps that we're seeing some architecturally very interesting venues cropping up (Aronimink and Old White as regular stops, Royal Melbourne for the Presidents Cup) that lend themselves to more and more discussion.

Otherwise, I think the instruction aspects of Golf Channel's offerings could use some tweaking.  The swing advice stuff from Michael Breed and all the others is great, but I don't see enough course-management advice or mental approach discussion--the sort of thing that saves mid/high-handicap players shots without them having to hit range balls.  I thought "Playing Lessons From The Pros" was great before it started to promote football QBs.

Revamp "Shell's Wonderful World of Golf," for goodness' sakes.  Do anything to give viewers insight into players' personalities.

Great to have you aboard, Charlie.  Welcome to the merry (usually) nuthouse.

[Howard Riefs]

Charlie –

Welcome to the treehouse.  A few ideas, with apologies for those that have already been provided.  


Equipment Science:  Go inside the manufacturers’ product development centers to learn about the latest equipment and what makes them work.  How does the face of the Nike Method putter roll the ball better?  How is greater spin generated by a new Titleist Pro V1x?  How do different shafts impact ball flight off the driver?  Target key Golf Channel advertisers to participate.


Pin Position:  Demonstrate how a hole’s pin placement impacts how to strategically play the hole.  Have Nobilo at a tournament play a par 4 hole to each of its four pin positions.  He can illustrate how the pros should play the hole and how amateurs can more strategic with their course management.  


“Wandering Golfer-esque”:   Recreate a series such as the “Wandering Golfer,” which aired on the Fine Living Network from 2004 to 2006.  “The show's host ‘wanders’ to a place well known for golf, play a course, chat to locals and dine well near the course. The show gives attention to historic figures and places or locals that have played a role in golf lore” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wandering_Golfer). The Golf Channel can tap advertisers as the host visits specific resorts, travels to key destinations; uses certain equipment; wears the latest apparel; etc.


The Spectator:  There are different ways to watch and experience a golf tournament at the course.  Golf Channel can explore how spectators can take in the action at key tournaments and/or majors.  How do they see the action from the six-spectators-deep mass that follows Tiger?  For example, I attend the U.S. Open each year, and typically take a different approach for each round (2-4):  Round 2 is getting lost in the Merchandise Tent followed by visiting various key holes and/or finding a perfect grandstand that provides a view of various holes (#17 at Bethpage Black has views of #1 green, #15 tee, #16 green).  Round 3 is finding a ‘favorite’ golfer playing a morning round and following him for all 18 holes (e.g., Tom Watson at Pebble in 2010).  Finally, round 4 is a bit of a slog, waking up super early to be one of the first in the 18 grandstand.  Thankfully, the 18 grandstand at some courses (e.g., Congressional) provide a view of #10 and #18.  I can envision Charlie spending a day among the raucous drunkards surrounding #16 at the Phoenix Open. American Express can be a segment sponsor, tying in their providing the mini TVs at the US Open.  


“Real Housewives of the PGA Tour”:  This.
http://www.golf.com/tour-and-news/pga-tour-wives-seek-reality-television-show
http://www.golf.com/photos/real-housewives-pga-tour/liz-estes

[Greg Tallman]

Charlie,

How about particpate in the Baja Off Road Race then sample the best golf in Baja at Cabo del Sol and Diamante.

 "Most people fly to Cabo to enjoy one of the world's best golf destinations... That would be boring..."