JC / Railbird

I assume those ‘Laguna Beach’ techniques must mean stretching and bending reallity? Does Chantal get a script like Lauren Conrad?

I gave Jockeys a shot, but I’m not sure who it is supposed to appeal to. The hardcore horse racing fan probably had a really good laugh at the last episode, as I did. There was only about 10 minutes of any redeeming value in the entire series – when Talamo went to the stewards. I think that’s the kind of reallity show fans are looking for since the stewards office is the Fort Knox of the game.

If the show is trying to appeal to the typical Animal Planet viewer, the melodrama is sure to disappoint and hardly ‘compelling’. The jockeys are uninteresting – sipping wine and driving nice cars. You find out they’re not that much different than the over-deified American pro athlete. If you’re looking for relationship drama, Laguna Beach is probably better anyway. The horses here are just bystanders to the human drama the show tries to weave.

I judge the penetration of any tv/music/movie by its torrent penetration, especially when trying to figure out if anyone 18-25 is watching or listening. This show has scant interest in that domain and zilch on public trackers. Even the most arcane of media can have deep penetration on trackers. Jockeys does not even register on a cable channel with wide distribution. This leads me to believe that if anyone is really watching, they are mostly likely in the oldest subset of viewers. This is the growth everyone is pining for – the olds.

The show is now banished from my DVR for the flagrant foul commited last week by insulting my memory and intelligence.

Posted by o_crunk on March 19, 2009 @ 8:44 am

I have to admit that I’ve recently become addicted to the Real Housewives of NYC (and the Gawker racaps, natch)… now there’s a reality show!

I can’t say that I love Jockeys but I don’t hate it either. I can look past all the stupid stuff and enjoy getting a glimpse in the jockeys room or hearing their take on various racing related things. That scene in the Steward’s office was telling, they really punked out on giving Talamo a fine or suspension, and it seemed to me like he felt like he could get away with it again.

I am curious though about who the hell is watching it outside of anyone who already knows about racing.

Posted by dana on March 19, 2009 @ 9:52 am

I wonder … Animal Planet reports the show attracted 9.2 million unique viewers and you have to figure a good percentage of those were racing fans, forgiving “Jockeys” anew each week for Denman’s dubbed calls and the other flubs, but who made up the rest of the audience? Demographic info would be interesting.

Agree, o_crunk, the final episode was a travesty, not least for moving the Breeders’ Cup Classic to Friday and treating the race as a showdown between Curlin … and Tiago?

Posted by Jessica on March 19, 2009 @ 11:33 pm