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Posts:
4
Registered:
1/6/09
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(16 of 113)
Re: The host has GOT to GO!
Jan 6, 2009 7:18 PM
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In response to "Teedee":
I don't agree with you totally, but I don't think you're completely off the mark either.
My knee-jerk reaction to Matt's antics was utter embarassment -- I guess for the railfan community, since I don't know Matt from Adam. However, over time I decided I should not be so judgmental of him because I know that when I get really fired up about something I'm probably just as bad. On many occasions my wife has called me "a kid in a candy shop" about various things that light my passion. I also think that it is legitimate to question how much of it is really Matt, and how much of it is the producers/Hist. Chnl. demanding that he act so juvenile at time.
Having said that, there have been some gross inaccuracies. At times I just want to leap through the TV and throttle Matt. Even if he's just reading a script, he ought to set the script writers straight on a few things.
I also have to say I have come away from every single episode feeling like something was missing. I think some other people have hit on why that is. A topic like the Transcon is so rich, yet the editing includes so much repetition. So much more material could be fit into an hour show with better editing.
While I do think that Matt is somewhat responsible for the scathing remarks generated in these discussions, I think the larger part of the blame does lie with the History Channel and the show's producers. Look at the "Freight Train" and "Locomotive" episodes of "Modern Marvels", for instance. I thought those were fantastic, providing great insight at a level appreciable by railfan and casual observer alike, and a level respectful of all audiences. If History would take the same approach with Extreme Trains, the show could be much better than it is.
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Posts:
2
Registered:
1/7/09
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(17 of 113)
Re: The host has GOT to GO!
Jan 7, 2009 5:16 AM
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You have got to be kidding me! All of you, bashing Matt Bown for doing his best with what he has to work with (script) and doing what he is told by the show's producers and the History Chanel. If you cant stand it that much, TURN IT OFF, my son loves it and was crushed that it was not on last night. It is a chance for us to do somthing together that we both enjoy and have fun together watching. Sure Matt is a little animated and somtimes a little overboard, but so what. He seem's to be having a blast and loving his job, what's wrong with that. All of the people bashing need to either take a pill or change the chanel and stop complaining. We have become a nation of whiners, grow up.
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Posts:
20
Registered:
12/9/08
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(18 of 113)
Re: The host has GOT to GO!
Jan 7, 2009 6:29 AM
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Gee, "Dad", since you're so grown up and all that I would think you would realize that anyone who posts here has the right to either criticize or commend the host of the show, as is our opinion.
Now, I don't see posters getting chastised for supporting MB, so I would hope you would be mature enough to not chastise those that criticize MB. You see, you are welcome to your opinion, and I think no less of you for it. Those that feel the opposite of you should be afforded the same respect....don't you think?
And no....I'm not kidding you, nor am I whining, and I am quite "grown up" thank you. I will take my pills and change my channels as I see fit, whether you advise me to do so or not.
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Posts:
2
Registered:
1/7/09
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(19 of 113)
Re: The host has GOT to GO!
Jan 7, 2009 6:53 AM
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WOW bill, it seem's that YOU ARE CHASTISING me for supporting Mr. Bown! Your right, everyone is entitled to their own opinion, I was just stating MINE.
Your post would make one think that you tried out for the show and were not accepted because of your lousy attitude, or you are just a grumpy old man with nothing better to do with your time. And yes I am all grown up and a retired Marine who served his country proudly, I'm just tired of all the complaining. If you want to do somthing constructive with your time, be part of the solution and not part of the problem.
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Posts:
6
Registered:
12/17/08
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(20 of 113)
Re: The host has GOT to GO!
Jan 7, 2009 7:18 AM
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> WOW bill, it seem's that YOU ARE CHASTISING me for
> supporting Mr. Bown! Your right, everyone is
> entitled to their own opinion, I was just stating
> MINE.
No, he's chastising you for attacking people who criticize the show. There is a difference between saying that this is the greatest show ever compared to suggest that people who think otherwise are whiners and should take a pill.
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Posts:
1
From:
kentucky
Registered:
1/7/09
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(21 of 113)
Re: The host has GOT to GO!
Jan 7, 2009 10:19 AM
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I watch the show to see trains, not to see the host acting like an overjoyed 3 year old who gets to play with trains. I also could care less about watching the various construction machine operators performing their jobs-that's another show. I do like watching how the trains and the rails are maintained. I do not like watching the host attempt to work the machines, and I don't enjoy seeing his face as he narrates the show.I want to see the trains!
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Posts:
98
From:
Scrap Yard
Registered:
11/18/08
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(22 of 113)
Re: The host has GOT to GO!
Jan 7, 2009 1:26 PM
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Very few jobs require the constant level of focus and concentration that railroading does. People who act like Matt does on the show aren't appreciated by the railroad community. Please lighten him up and get your facts straight. The term "foamer" is a very powerful slur. We don't need to reinforce that stereotype. PROFESSIONALISM is what railroading is REALLY about.
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Posts:
11
From:
Soddy Daisy, TN
Registered:
12/29/08
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(23 of 113)
Re: The host has GOT to GO!
Jan 9, 2009 6:02 PM
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Old Fort grade or the Swannanoa Line is just north of Asheville, NC. Saluda, (I'm surprised it's never been mention due to it's 'extreme' grade.) is north of Spartanburg, SC. It's (or was, the rails are being ripped up) the steepest Class 1 railroad mainline grade in the US.
http://www.polkcounty.org/saludagrade/TheSaludaGrade.html
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Posts:
11
From:
Soddy Daisy, TN
Registered:
12/29/08
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(24 of 113)
Re: The host has GOT to GO!
Jan 9, 2009 6:13 PM
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A lot of us produce our own videos. So we know exactly what it's like.
You obviously don't know how easy it is to get cab rides. I've been on tons over the years (I'm not that old either).
Most of the time easy research can reveal what something is. It is easy to find out answers for yourself. If you can't find it, there's an entire railfan community to lean on, everyone has the areas of expertise or knowledge.
There's a couple more programs of trains on other networks it's not too hard to find if you look.
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Posts:
42
From:
Orlando
Registered:
12/3/08
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(25 of 113)
Re: The host has GOT to GO!
Jan 11, 2009 9:05 PM
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> Very few jobs require the constant level of focus and
> concentration that railroading does. People who act
> like Matt does on the show aren't appreciated by the
> railroad community. Please lighten him up and get
> your facts straight. The term "foamer" is a very
> powerful slur. We don't need to reinforce that
> stereotype. PROFESSIONALISM is what railroading is
> REALLY about.
MSURLO, I agree with you. I know a few railfans that fit that slur, but they are usually NEW to the railfan community and will learn to tone it down in time.
However, in Matt's case, him, the producers or whomever is puppeteering him to act like such a buffoon or a bad "foamer" really is setting a bad precedent for those of us that do railfan and every engineer (CSX, Amtrak, FEC, Florida Central) and others I've met on vacation from time to time that also railfan off-duty DO NOT ACT LIKE MATT and many I've had the pleasure to chat with that have seen the show, everyone of them have said, this guy is a train conductor?!? If he acted like that on my train or was part of my crew and was that overly excited about being in the cab or doing his job, HE IS GONNA GET SOMEONE KILLED WITH THOSE ANTICS! You absolutely do not act like that on or around trains PERIOD! And if he were part of my crew, chances are he'd be tossed off the train and I'd be demanding another conductor that had more sense than this guy portrays on the show.
Just know if I was an engineer or a conductor and he was a co-worker on a train I was responsible for, I'd toss him off for acting the buffoon too.
Sorry, it's not that I don't like Matt, I just don't like the fact that he or someone is pulling the strings to make him act so foolishly, Matt could be an excellent host if they would stop the idiotic antics, move him OFF-CAMERA and only allow him to do off-screen narration in a limited fashion and when on-camera to actually interview the train crew (engineer, conductor, etc.) and allow them (the crew) to be the focal point of the show, NOT the host. And someone needs to make darn sure the info that Matt is giving folks is 100% accurate, he has been caught too many times in almost every show giving out incorrect or completely false information. This, too is something that SHOULD NOT BE PERMITTED. Whatever happened to the folks that VERIFY and PROOF READ and CHECK THE FACTS PRIOR to a shows airing?
So if someone wants to call what I've said whining, so be it, but I'm not whining, I just want the REAL TRUE FACTS and at least 50% of the show to contain some historical facts as well as move the host off screen for the most part, we don't need to see him every few seconds acting like a crazed foamer. Sorry for the slur, but that is EXACTLY how I see Matt by the actions he portrays on the show. A Florida Railfan who would love to see this show continue, but with some improvements to make it much better.
--
~CSX5861~
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Posts:
3
Registered:
1/13/09
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(26 of 113)
Re: The host has GOT to GO!
Jan 13, 2009 5:42 PM
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you know i like the host and i share his excitement and his love for trains im on the norfolk southern railroad and it lets us know that somebody out there who wants to give us credit
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Posts:
2
Registered:
12/3/08
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(27 of 113)
Re: The host has GOT to GO!
Jan 14, 2009 10:37 AM
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Matt Brown annoys me for many of the obvious reasons already mentioned. Each has their view of his antics. I see them as clowning. The editing and jerky camera work is indeed right out of MTV. Apparently 1 second shots and stutter effects excite some of the viewers. They give me a headache.
So you add up a goofy (reserved description) host, teenage editing, sloppy camera work and you have a show I still watch. I do so, like some others, gritting their teeth as I DO see things I that are revelation about railroads.
As the say in the film industry, Matt is in the can, so we are stuck with him. Just make this his last employment on the History Channel.
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Posts:
2
From:
Central New York
Registered:
1/15/09
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(28 of 113)
Re: The host has GOT to GO!
Jan 15, 2009 8:00 PM
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Okay. Matt is kind of ADHD, but he does educate. And the show can't survive on railfans alone - other shows have tried and failed and now the reruns are aired on PBS on Saturday afternoons. This one has to appeal to "others" to make it. I get annoyed with some of the things he says and does, and the distractions from what we should be seeing - but for the most part, can deal with Matt.
BUT - the camera stuff is annoying as heck!!! The shaky-cam crap, quick cuts and fast pans make me nauseous! And when they show Matt's face instead of some detail on the equipment, it gets my blood pressure up.
Let's face it, gang...with a title using the word "Extreme", you kind of knew what was coming...
Having said that, overall, I like the show. Like was already said, there isn't much on television for train fans, so I look forward to each episode. And I learn some stuff, too, even though most of it I know already. Others don't, and if this show can add some new blood to our ranks, that's a great thing!
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Posts:
42
From:
Orlando
Registered:
12/3/08
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(29 of 113)
Re: The host has GOT to GO!
Jan 16, 2009 12:22 PM
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> BUT - the camera stuff is annoying as heck!!! The
> shaky-cam crap, quick cuts and fast pans make me
> nauseous! And when they show Matt's face instead of
> some detail on the equipment, it gets my blood
> pressure up.
I agree with you on the camera criteria. It's more like someone is making the movie using a cheap hand held digital camera and then using some computer software to create the final cut. I know I do some of my own videos and more often than not, especially if I try to hand hold the camera, the final video is nauseating because of the jerky camera, fast cuts, etc. Now if I use a tripod and maximize the time for the cut aways, I will usually get a very good video cut, but if I do things in a hurry, it looks like EXTREME TRAINS, just without an over-zealous host popping on camera every few seconds or so. LOL
--
~CSX5861~
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Posts:
1
From:
Columbia MO
Registered:
1/16/09
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(30 of 113)
Re: The host has GOT to GO!
Jan 16, 2009 2:13 PM
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May i put in my two cents (plus inflation)?
well if not to bad,
we have our rights, 1st amendment Freedom of speech
but i must say bashing our host is blasphemy and maybe even slander, both of which the History Channel and Matt for scaring his reputation could SUE the people who lets say derailed, it.
now i do like the guy have nothing against him, but you would be very exited to even get your paws or lenses on such train! kinda like Matt, sure its script but the guy works on crappy GP38's and what not's, and being able to be in the cab of an Acela or the infamous 8444 (now 844 not to be confused with a modern-ish diesel unit) well i'm surprised he didn't pee himself, most of you all would have (or came near) if you had the chance ( i know i would have come near it) just to be riding or touching them...
is he annoying sometimes yes but hes a good guy so don't kill this opportunity of a lifetime for him, let him do it!
do you all understand what I'm saying?
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