There’s a trend on TV these days that seems to suggest everything is bigger in Texas. That would explain why the Lone Star State has become a mecca of reality TV, with shows like Big Rich Texas, Texas Women, Donna Decorates Dallas, American Hoggers and Top Chef: Texas spreading like wildfire across the prairie. A&E has joined in, having launched the massively popular spinoff Storage Wars Texas to record numbers earlier this month.
Producer Thom Beers — who knows a thing or two about fronting successful reality shows, having been the brains behind The Deadliest Catch, Ice Road Truckers, Black Gold and many more — took time for a quick Q&A about his new show, which airs tonight at 10:30.
Channel Guide Magazine: The show had a huge debut. Any theories as to what the massive appeal is?
Thom Beers: [It has] real characters in authentic situations who don’t really like each other and are chasing buried treasure!
CGM: How do you go about finding the people who appear on the show?
TB: We started casting from the real world of storage auctions. Then we expanded out to antique dealers and resale store operators. We love bigger than life characters who aren’t afraid to tell you what they think.
CGM: Is what makes it on the air pretty representative or what really goes on, or is there a whole lot you have to leave out?
TB: My god no. It’s kind of like Deadliest Catch where we shoot 400 hours for every hour that makes it on TV. For every locker featured in Storage Wars we’ve probably gone through 10 others that didn’t deliver anything but a trip to the dump.
CGM: Any other Storage Wars spinoffs in the works?
TB: Storage Wars Texas is kicking butt and Storage Wars NYC is in the works.
Photo: Courtesy of A&E