User Reviews

You say a 6? WTF? This was well edited and very authentic looking for a reality type show. Fast pace and the humor was on the mark. There was a lot of thought that went into this show, more than what appears on the surface. And a lot of subtle information into the lives of these good ole boys. Sounds like they had a some misguided youth issues.

As for the moonshine, I doubt it's real, but they did say Virginia, who knows.

This is the poor boy end of the Duck Dynasty folks.

Now I only saw one show and may never watch another one, but I liked it. I watched the 'Drunk Fish' episode.

The major discovery of "The Discovery Channel" has been that viewers will swallow just about anything. Its utter lack of intellectual honesty and journalistic integrity is appalling -- especially for a cable network that airs "Mythbusters". Ultimately, viewers are likely to start disbelieving just about everything on "Discovery".

"Moonshiners" has been an enjoyable show, because at least parts of it appear to be true. But like many viewers, I wondered why moonshiners who were /not/ known to the police (such as Tim Smith -- if that's his name -- or Josh & Bill) would willingly appear in front of cameras. That question has still not been answered.

The Discovery Channel is nothing if not alert to exploitation. It hit the mother lode with "American Chopper", with a wildly dysfunctional family whose head had no practical people-management skills.

Steven Ray Tickle, Tim Smith's nominal partner in moonshine crime, must have seemed a Godsend. Like Festus Haggen, he's intelligent but not (apparently) well-educated. * And he's cute. The spin off was inevitable.

It's hard to take the show seriously. Though I'm fairly comfortable in believing in the real-world existence of most of the characters, ** it's obvious that the producers are "guiding" the participants. (Tickle's discovery of a moonshine stash -- which started the series -- is almost certainly a fabrication.)

It's not "Frasier", but if you don't take "Tickle" too seriously, it's a pretty entertaining sitcom.

* One of the striking things about "Moonshiners" is that the lawbreakers seem to be rather brighter than the police chasing them.

** The Wikipedia article claims that Tickle is single. That doesn't surprise me, as I don't see him marrying such an unattractive woman.

Steven Tickle is crazy like a fox with this series about small-town moonshining. In the (soon to be) olden days community drama buffs put on monthly shows at the local theater and hoped to cover expenses. This guy has come up with a whole new money-making venue for the entire town and as the first one out of the gate, is reaping the rewards. The scripts aren't bad (Tickle is apparently rather well-read), the jokes are actually funny, and unlike scripted network TV, this show isn't crammed full of sexual innuendo. Although...you might count the cousins' 7th month revelation that Megan isn't fat - she's pregnant as a sexual joke, but as lame as it sounds the cast pulls it off for some comedy gold. Or comedy silver depending on your willingness to laugh. The bottom line is that unlike Duck Dynasty there is no marketing prowess involved and the best parts aren't kept in the family. I've seen probably 20 or more townsfolk get pulled into roles that I'm sure earned them some scratch. Possibly thanks to many takes and good editing they didn't suck. So that beats a community rehash of "The Importance of Being Earnest" any day of the week.