Just watching those shows seems to have a negative affect on your IQ.
Elect Mayor
FRANKIE
...
Pretty much sums it up for me.
I know a few people who've had spots on a couple of reality TV shows. I know that they are scripted for a fact. A girl that a friend dated briefly would just end up making out with whoever the director said to, on a hairstyling reality show. As you can imagine, that relationship didn't last long between my friend and her.
I've been propositioned by a few studios who were scouting for participants on the automotive ones. They typically scout shops that do custom work and decide which of the show that the studio produces that your work and personality would be best suited for.
They don't make it really worth your time to travel. Essentially, you're doing what you do for a week and provide your own travel costs, while they put you up.
If you are into going on vacation or something, it could be worth participating, or if you live near one of the studio's shooting locations, but don't expect anything out of it, whether it's a competition type show or not. There is nothing in it for a shop, except for publicity.
As it turned out, we were selected for a show that entire shops participate in to build a car against a rival shop on a ticking clock. It was publicity that both my boss and I decided we didn't want our name attached to, so we didn't round anyone up to participate. The cars are near and sometimes are prop quality.
