The Reality of Reality TV, Interview with Dave Redmon from Ice Road Truckers and Worlds Most Dangerous Highways

Please make sure to read the article The Reality of Reality TV and the interview with some of the cast from Small Town Security in the other 2 articles related to this series.  The links are at the bottom of the page.
 
Mike Furches (MF): Can you tell us some about Dave Redmon?

Dave Redmon (DR): I live in a small town in Alabama outside Birmingham, was in the army in the early 80's after H.S I work as a service tech until I got old enough to drive Semi's. I went to driving school at 20 years of age even though I had experience driving in the army back then it was not verifiable. After school I bought my first truck in 1987 and even had my own repair shop while driving.

MF: Can you share some about how you became involved with the shows that aired on The History Channel?

DR: I was found on Youtube. They had been watching me for some time and I posted an explosive video about a company I was leased to and the same weekend I was contacted for season 1 of deadliest roads.

MF: What were your experiences with the three shows was one any different than the other, primarily in the way they were produced and the stories presented?

DR: As for the 3 shows they were so different it was unreal. When I got to India I met my field producer at the Deli airport and we were filming 10 minutes off the plane. I had my field producer and several camera and AP's and a driver. They treated me great! I never had any trouble.

Now when I got to Alaska it was like a whole new world, they played like they were going to make you look great then when you back was turned, I had one guy there that treated me right and we got along great. It was so bad I would not let my field prod ride with me any more so the camera guy did his job. This was a week or so before the taped firing.

In Bolivia all I can say is they were trying to get someone killed. After me and Rick left they started showing Lisa better roads to drive, not as bad as the others had to drive. Rick left because of the fact that Lisa did not want to drive the bad roads so she did not have to. I left because I got deathly sick and was not getting better (Parasite).

MF: Season 5 of IRT is where it seems much of the controversy has come about; tell us about your thoughts on Season 5 of IRT?

DR: Season 5 was… I was there to do a job but no one would let me do it from Tony to Phil to Lane. It was like I was not wanted there and I found out later that I was scripted to be fired 4 weeks in yet I made it 7 weeks until they fired me. I never got a ticket, had an accident, or run into the ditch and I delivered every load they gave me. Even after I was fired I stayed and finished filming. The F150 truck scene was 2 weeks after I was fired and I drove Phil’s truck the day before I left for aerial shots. As for scripting, they have shots they need to get on a daily basis and a good Field Producer can get those and you not know it, but in Alaska the crew was all young and had no experience and they had no clue and wanted to put their own spin on things and it just did not work. They love to cut and paste, if you hear someone talking and you did not see them say it, it did not happen then. There are wild lines that we sat in the truck several times throughout the show and repeat these lines over and over just for the audio.

I was treated unfairly For sure! Watch the India show then watch the AK show, what do you think? They took everything I did wrong and used it against me 10 fold in Alaska.

MF: It seems as if the company Carlile had a favorite in Tony as a driver, can you tell us some about your experiences of working with him?

DR: Tony and his mother work at Carlile. Harry is his golfing buddy, in any co you have a chain of command from dispatch to mgrs. Tony never works that way he goes strait to Harry if he has a problem and even slipped on the show. Lisa and him where getting heavy haul shacks and Tony said "I talked to Harry if you do this right you'll get H/H" they have a H/H supervisor that makes those choices.

MF: The show also clearly showed that he had a tendency of showing up late, was this true of him?

DR: Tony late? He was late everyday! Production called it "Tony Time," he would keep us for hrs waiting for him. He drunk dialed me once at 4 am and came to work 6 hours later. I said something about it yet it was overlooked.

I spoke up about him several times to a deaf ear. He is the company favorite so he does no wrong. He nearly got killed in an accident 2 weeks before we met yet he was allowed to go out with me? Unheard of in the trucking industry.

MF: What are your thoughts on the others in the show you have either worked with or had experiences with in the past?

DR: I worked with Lisa and Rick in India and thought they were genuine. I was wrong; Lisa is so far from that I can’t explain. Rick is genuine and we worked together well. I still talk to him on the phone from time to time. Lisa on the other hand is a user she will like you till she gets what she wants then she's done. Rick and I watched her back in India yet when I get to Alaska she won’t give me the time of day. Then when we got to Bolivia she was a TOTAL Control freak and they show it on the show that's why she quit.

MF: How much is the real Dave Redmon like the person shown on screen in Season 5?

DR: On season 5 they did their best to make me look stupid! They never showed anything good I did and I didn’t know it until the show came out. They were editing season 5 while we were in Bolivia. Had I known what they were doing I would never have gone to Bolivia.

MF: What do you wish you knew then that you know now before entering into a program like this?

DR: If I would have known how they like to mess with peoples reputations and lively hoods I would have never have gone on the show.

MF: I know you like motorcycling tell me about your bike and why you like it?

DR: Sold my Motor Cycle last year. It was a Harley Davidson softail duce. I loved getting out to ride but I broke my back in India so it had to go.

MF: Also a thing I think people forget about is that you are a real trucker, what is it about trucking you like, or dislike?

DR: A lot of people forget when seeing us on TV we are real people that have real jobs to go back to. The thing I love is being on my own and the thing I hate is how drivers are looked down on.

MF: What would you want people to know about the real David C. Redmon?

DR: I’m a real human being, been married to the same girl for 13 years , and I’m the guy that gives the shirt off my back to help people and believe nothing you see on the reality shows..

MF: Another more serious question, and I have to ask, would you do the show again if they asked and what are your plans for the future?

DR: NEVER!!! I will not ever do this stupid mistake again.

MF: If there is a life lesson in all of this for people to learn, what do you think it is?

DR: The life lesson is never put your reputation in the hand of production companies like Original Productions without a serious contract because you will get used and they will be the ones cashing in. I did these shows with a broken back (I broke it on the show) a torn rotator cuff, bad knee, and a blown disc in my neck. Do you think they cared? No! I have not worked since I left Bolivia and have had 5 operations to fix these things including the back which I broke on their show. Do you think it was worth it?

To see the article, The Reality of Reality TV Click Here

To see the exclusive interview with Dennis Croft and Christa Stephens from AMC's Small Town Security Click Here

To see the video below, just click on it, if for some reason the video doesn’t appear or is distorted or not in full frame, click on the following link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVqt41CQCsk

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Ice Road Truckers Season 5 On DVD When The Script Goes Beyond Reality

Spoiler Alert: There are aspects of the season which will spoil part of the program viewing for you included in this review.

Many have a perception that what they watch on Reality TV must be reality and what they watch on the History Channel, must be history, right? Right! The reality is that many are often dooped by what is called reality and this season while watching what in the past has been one of my favorite shows, Ice Road Truckers, I had some serious questions and most came about by watching the events surrounding one of the shows primary characters, Dave Redmon. One of the concerns I had was the reality of what appears to be production scripting on the life of a real person who just happens to be on a reality show. Fortunately, there is enough footage available that with a little effort, one can see the reality of how a television show may have just taken on, and used, the wrong person.

As to how the show is put together, while it is supposed to be reality television, Ice Road Truckers Season 5 is filled with entertainment, character development in such a way that one can’t help but see the scripting of the program. It is beautifully shot, although season 5 seems to have some let downs when comparing to previous seasons, especially the spin off seasons of IRT Worlds Most Dangerous Highways. We have a unique cast of characters, made up of real people, unfortunately, some we like, and others we don’t. When realizing that we are watching scripted television, one may become frustrated at the direction the program takes as much of it just doesn’t make sense. That said, I was personally still drawn to keep watching.

This season of IRT has a different flair from the past, we see one crew driving for the Carlile Transportation Systems group, a route generally known as the Dalton Highway from Fairbanks Alaska to Prudhoe Alaska and another group driving in Canada, from Winnipeg Canada to various remote communities. Through the course of this we see conflict between Dave Redmon, a new driver appearing previously in IRT Worlds Most Dangerous Highways, and his employers and co drivers, especially, Tony, a clear favorite within the company he works for despite his tendencies to be late and following his own schedule. We also see on the Winnipeg group three drivers where two drivers, Hugh and Rick team up and enter into what could be considered a race between the tortoise and the hare with the third driver in the region, Alex. Fortunately or unfortunately depending on how one views this series, we move from the excitement and danger of the roads themselves, (in some ways the stars of previous seasons) to the characters behind the wheels of the various trucks on the road. When seeing what transpires, especially with Dave Redmon in this series, a driver from Alabama with over 25 years of experience, I begin to wonder early on in the series, if this man was being treated fairly, and if in fact, this reality show could be doing more harm than good for the man. I knew he wasn’t an actor, and the way he was being presented and portrayed, in all likelihood, just wouldn’t work in most societies. If looking close enough, it became apparent; the editing process was not presenting him well. If however, one put themselves in his place, doing the work he was doing, they would likely find themselves feeling and acting more like Dave than they may realize.

Unfortunately in life we are often misunderstood, taken advantage of, and put at the mercy of the actions by others. How we respond to it is often be the measure of who we are and what we can accomplish, to a point. It is often said; ‘don’t let another impact your situation.’ That is easy for one who has a measure of wealth and independence, but for many who are at the mercy of others, whether an employer or a situation. It is easy to use words like ‘be strong,’ ‘persevere’ and others, but for most, words do not always allow one to escape their situation. This season of IRT shows what appears to me as an injustice in the way it represents, portrays, and impacts the life of one of its characters. Yet, he won’t allow himself to be anyone other than who he is. He speaks up for himself and often goes off and does things his own way. That is another reality of the world we live in, even when being effective at what one does and producing results, it does not mean others will want or allow us to do things other than the way they want. I love that my faith allows freedom and the opportunity to find peace. There are places of solitude where one can find peace with who they are and what they have done. The inconsistency and on screen antics of this show among the drivers by management especially regarding the driver, Tony Molesky, and his tendency to be late, and have other drivers consistently wait on him, was to me, just as atrocious as Dave’s antics. What is true regarding either driver is hard to understand or know as we the viewers of the program can easily loose confidence in the reliability of the story we are being shown. Unfortunately we live in a world that isn’t always fair, but that shouldn’t be a cliché we blindly accept, we should also accept, appreciate and understand the beauty of individuality.

IRT Season 5 is intriguing television. I honestly don’t see it as reality television though, especially Season 5. It is far more scripted than I would like and I don’t especially like the path it takes in the way it presents its characters. Unfortunately, while worth watching, it is the type of season that could play havoc on future seasons. Not because the characters in the show aren’t worth watching, in fact, they are, it isn’t because there was less danger in this season than in seasons past, it is because of the way the producers of the show chose to go with the characters and how they chose to impact their lives with what ‘they’ thought would be best for the show, thus taking it from ‘Reality TV’ to something that many programs have gone in the past. These types of actions have likely led to less appreciation for 'Reality TV;' it certainly kept Season 5 of IRT from being an enjoyable show in the end. When someone who can clearly drive the ice roads above the Arctic, in far less time, in a superior way over other drivers and isn’t appreciated or rewarded, one has to question, what is this show really about? If in fact there really is a Dash for the Cash prize or competition of some kind then the producers of this show would bring back Dave Redmon for another season to prove that he was in reality, the most effective and best driver on the show. Outside of working with the film crew in the truck, (where we also see some conflict,) driving really is a solitude type of job, while there are others on the road, to rob a man of his individuality, when he does it effectively, just doesn’t seem right to me, but since when did any of us really expect what was right from a ‘Reality Television Program?’

While there are some decent DVD special features with this product, I couldn’t help but miss out on the obvious exclusion, a follow up on the dispute between Dave, the Carlile Company and Tony. There are some outtakes and some interesting things, but while appreciated, even they fall a little short in content for me.

To see the video posted below, click on the video, if the video doesn’t appear or appears in distorted form, click on the following link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-T8K3XbduvA


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