Tuesday, November 26, 2002

A thumb's up for locally produced outdoors show

By MARK TAYLOR
OUTDOORS EDITOR

   If you've been hunting deer the past few weeks, maybe you've gotten lucky and stumbled across a good one.

    If you've been surfing channels on your TV, maybe you've gotten lucky and stumbled across "Buck Mountain Outdoors," a slick program highlighting the fishing and hunting of Southwest Virginia.

    "I've been trying to do it for two years," WSLS operations manager Bryan Gregory said of starting a local hunting and fishing show. "It's one of the reasons I came here from Pittsburgh."

    Gregory finally got the green light on a trial run of four shows. The final episode runs this weekend. You can catch it at 10:30 a.m. Saturday on PAX-TV, or at noon Sunday on WSLS.

    If you happened to have seen previous episodes, the upcoming show times might not sound familiar. That's because they're not. To get the show on the air at all, Gregory had to take random time slots.

    If you watch much outdoor programming, you know that there are some awful, low-budget hunting and fishing shows out there. I'm happy to report this isn't one of them.

    Buck Mountain Outdoors is not only informative and topical, but the production is top notch.

    Roanoke's Buck Mountain Outfitters is the show's title sponsor, and the shop's folks provide some of the show's content and hunting and fishing expertise.

    The actual video production is handled by a team of pros affiliated with WSLS.

    Avid outdoorsman Mike Wright handles much of the camera work. Gregory, a fanatical deer hunter, also spends some time behind the camera. Jamie Muro is the show's host and reporter. He's comfortable and smooth, and it's clear he knows about fishing and hunting.

    This isn't one of those shows where the star and his guides head into the wild, fish or hunt, then kill or catch the big one 27 minutes later. It's got more of a news magazine feel, with each show including about a half-dozen segments.

    Stories from the two shows I've seen have included a piece on a group of friends deer hunting together during early muzzleloader season, a story about striper fishing at Smith Mountain Lake, the tale of a young girl who bagged a big buck on opening day, and a segment on fishing for trout in the Roanoke River.

    Gregory said the team has specifically tried to provide at least one family-in-the-outdoors piece in each show.

    "That's one of the things we've gotten the best feedback on," he said.

    Each show includes a special outdoors weather forecast from meteorologist Marc Lamarre, which is a nice touch.

    "Mostly, we want to brag about what a great area Southwest Virginia is for hunting and fishing," Gregory said of the show's primary goal.

    Like so many outdoors-related TV shows, this one includes some advertorial - stories featuring the wares of the show's sponsors. In the case of "Buck Mountain Outdoors," those segments are the show's only advertisements. There are no commercial breaks.

    It's clear that if you fish or hunt in this region, Buck Mountain Outdoors will entertain and inform you.

    The question is will it be around after this weekend?

    Gregory said the station's management will consider public feedback and, of course, the financial bottom line before committing to more shows.

    Gregory, who has put in some 90-hour weeks recently while putting together the program on top of his other duties, said he is confident the show will return. The station has received dozens of positive phone calls and e-mails, Gregory said. At the same time, Gregory said he is making headway in his quest for sponsorship help from national brands.

    "We're looking at an April 1 relaunch," he said.

    If and when the show comes back it will be easier for viewers to find. Gregory said it will be locked into a time slot.

    CHARLIE'S ANGLERS: This summer ESPN announced that it would be breaking ground by launching the first prime-time block of outdoors programming by a major network. The block would run 8-10 p.m. Monday on ESPN2, and would be anchored by "The New American Sportsman."

    Hosted by "Silver Spoons" and "NYPD Blue" alumnus Rick Schroder, "The New American Sportsman" isn't bad. It's beautifully filmed and the subjects have been relatively interesting.

    The block's real eye-opener is "Fish On!"

    To get an idea of what the show is about, one need only examine its logo. Basically it's a copy of the old "Charlie's Angels" logo, a silhouette of three scantily clad women. In the case of "Fish On," the women are toting fishing rods instead of pistols.

    The show's stars are Dierdre Delaney, Tara Rain and Michelle Baney. They fish, sure. They also explore, and they swim. In fact, they swim a lot.

    Rarely do they wear anything more than bikinis.

    Fishing shows featuring chubby guys catching bass after bass can get a bit old, so I'm all for seeing something different.

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