Spike TV adds pirate hunting reality show to their line up

The recent dramatic increase in piracy off the coast of Africa has made news headlines around the world and now Spike TV has partnered with the Emmy Award-winning reality production house 44 Blue Productions (”The True Story of Black Hawk Down,” “Lockup”) and Adam Friedman (”Vertical Ascent”) for production on the pilot “Pirate Hunters: USN” (working title), an up-close and behind-the-scenes look at the US Navy operation to end this deadly threat of piracy in the Gulf of Aden.

“We are thrilled to be front and center with the Navy on such an important mission,” says Sharon Levy, senior vice president, original series for Spike. “The access we have will really give our viewers the kind of heart-stopping action they have come to expect from Spike programming.”

These often-violent hijackings off the coast of eastern Africa not only pose a grave threat to the lives of sailors taking cargo through the region, but are also starting to add an exorbitant amount to the cost of worldwide trade. Now, television viewers will be able to see this dramatic, tension-filled and high-stakes military mission first-hand.

“Piracy off the coast of Africa is a real and deadly threat,” said Rasha Drachkovitch, president and founder of 44 Blue Productions. “With ‘Pirate Hunters: USN,’ our goal is to capture that drama for the TV audience in order to highlight the heroic work undertaken by the US Navy every day in this fight against terrorism.”

The US Navy is allowing Spike and 44 Blue Productions in-depth access as they embark on their mission from the military base in the seaside nation of Djibouti (bordering Somalia and Ethiopia) and on the open water. Cameras will capture every element of life aboard two US warships, the USS San Antonio and USS Boxer, as they patrol 1.1 million square miles of ocean for the pirates who call this region home.

-courtesy of Spike TV

Super Bowl winner Michael Strahan and Jay Glazer to host Pros vs Joes

from Spike TV:

Michael Strahan, a future NFL hall-of-famer and current television personality, joins well-respected veteran NFL journalist Jay Glazer as hosts of Spike TV’s fourth season of its hit series, “Pros vs. Joes.” The new season, entitled “Pros vs. Joes 4: All Stars,” goes into production in sports venues around Los Angeles in February 2009 and launches in the spring.

The new twist this season is there will only be one sport showcased in each episode instead of the variety of sports in previous seasons. Each episode features three skills competitions and a three-on-three scrimmage pitting the Pros against the Joes. The sports featured this season will be football (4 episodes) and basketball (4 episodes).

DEA takes on Newark, New Jersey in season two

Spike TV travels to the streets of New Jersey on the second season of DEA, February 10th at 10 pm:

After 9/11, many illegal drug dealers left New York City and set up shop across the river in New Jersey. With an influx of deadly criminals now using cutting edge weaponry, “DEA” underscores the danger DEA Special Agents experience on a daily basis in order to do their jobs. The series follows DEA Special Agents as they work cases ranging from street level dealers up to cracking international drug syndicates.

Viewers will witness first-hand what it is like for DEA Special Agents to go out on undercover missions. Spike is there when DEA Special Agents bust down doors and execute drug raids that put their lives directly in the line of fire. “DEA” also takes a look at the complex relationship that agents have with informants, revealing the strange kinship they share with these criminals who see themselves not as arch enemies, but rather as opponents in the “game” of the illegal drug trade.

“If you liked the first season of ‘DEA,’ you’ll love the second,” said special agent in charge, Mary Irene Cooper, DEA’s Chief of Congressional and Public Affairs. “Season II delivers more episodes, more action, more dope and more money than viewers have ever seen before. You’ll have a front row seat to DEA’s hard-charging, relentless special agents risking their lives for the mission. They’ll captivate you with their gritty determination and leave you wanting more.”

Spike.com will offer users a preview of the premiere episode of “DEA” in early February and throughout the season, full episodes will be available at DEA.Spike.com directly after their on-air debut, along with a sneak peek of the action in next week’s episode. The site will also feature a video glossary of DEA terminology and procedures that will be illustrated by show clips featuring the DEA Special Agents themselves, creating a one-stop shop for insight into the DEA. Users will also be able to send embeddable clips to their friends and check out video clips of DEA on their mobile phones.

DEA Tonight on Spike TV

Just a reminder that DEA premieres on Spike TV tonight at 11:00 PM.

For more clips and information go to the DEA web site.

DEA Takes a Gritty Look at Drug Enforcement from All Sides

Anyone thinking that DEA is just going to be Cops for drug enforcement officers will be in for a pleasant surprise, whether you are a fan of Cops or not. The new reality show, which debuts on Spike TV this Wednesday at 11PM, is much more than a mere a day-in-the-life of a cop montage, filled with shirtless perpetrators and mild car chases.

DEA takes the viewers on an in-depth journey into the operations of Detroit’s Drug Enforcement Administration, and manages to be both entertaining and informative without stooping to over dramatization and sensationalism.

In the premiere episode of the Al Roker produced reality show, we are introduced to a group in the Motor City’s DEA, and we learn that each person in the group plays a specific role that assists them in the dangerous task of getting drugs off the streets. The show begins with a 6am trip to a neat, tree lined, seemingly middle-class neighborhood, where the officers are planning to raid a crack house. As the group prepares to invade the house, they are told to be ready for anything; to expect guns, dogs, kids- essentially the worst case scenario. Indeed they should, because while one would normally expect firearms, and the occasional Rotweiller or two protect the dealer’s assets, the target of the raid is likely the dealer’s home, and there could be innocent children inside. In this case, there are no children; just dealers and smokers, and the bust goes off without a hitch.

Next we are taken through a “buy walk”, which is a situation where agents work undercover with an informant to bust a dealer. This is where we begin to learn about the actual process of taking drugs off the streets of a city.

The informant or C.I., is typically someone who was busted for dealing drugs themselves, and in order to save their hides, they agree to turn in their sources. These informants are an integral part of the workings of the DEA; without them the agents would have no clue as to what was going on in the streets. The agents and informants form a tenuous relationship, where each is forced to trust each other with their futures. While the informant is faced with prison time if things do not go well, if the information betrays the agents, it could cost the agents their lives.

In this scenario, the C.I.’s information leads the DEA to a much more dangerous part of Detroit, where there are abandoned houses among the tree lined streets, and residents appear to have a greater struggle for existence. The agents have some information about the dealer they are going to bust: he is a 60 year old man. They know that he is a career dealer, and at this point in his life he is probably getting others to deal for him because he is too old to run the streets. They raid the home, as always expecting the worst, and what they find is pathetic. They have caught the elderly man entirely off guard; he is lying on the sofa, high on the heroin that he is selling. There are no guns drawn by the dealer, no dogs, no children; just a solitary man nodding off in the midst of his squalor filled home.

As the agents search the debris strewn house for incriminating evidence, they come upon a realization: the vials of prescription medication among the needles and trash let them know that someone in the home has AIDS, most likely the dealer.

They attempt to get the dealer to “flip”; to turn in his supplier and in return go free. The average drug dealer could face 20 years if convicted, so turning in a source is an attractive option to consider. Although the man’s face has been blurred to protect his identity, there is clearly an oxygen tube running from his face to a tank somewhere amidst the drugs and garbage. The old man refuses to turn in his sources, and it seems that he has made the right choice considering his situation. This is one case where the dealer may be better off in jail than trying to spend his last days fending for himself.

The next bust goes better for the DEA. They raid the home of a woman, who is in fact armed. They break into her well kept home, and she gives up without a fight. In the early minutes of the bust, they cuff her, sit her down and explain to her that they don’t want her; they want her supplier, and offer a deal for her to flip. This offer is only on the table in the early stages of the bust, and in this case the woman takes the deal. The agents have her call her supplier to set up a buy, and the buy bust goes off smoothly. During the bust, the informant is arrested along with the dealer, so as not to raise suspicion of a set up. Afterward, the informant is let go. They offer the supplier a deal to flip. He won’t bite. He goes to jail.

At the end of the episode, it is revealed that in the three arrests made, the DEA have taken $10,000 in drugs and 2 firearms off the street. Not bad for a day’s work.

DEA could have taken the low road when dealing with a subject that in and of itself brings danger to mind at first thought. There could have been guns drawn all over the place, and it could have taken on the feel of watching a real life crime drama, where the viewers are subjected to 60 minutes of good guys versus bad guys. Instead, we are given an intelligent, informative view of the illegal drug trade. We are shown what is involved in getting drugs off the street, and that the ultimate goal of the DEA is to stop drugs at the top of the food chain. No major suppliers; no drugs in your neighborhood…at least not for a while. It also dares to takes a human look at both the dealers and the agents, and shows that, ultimately everyone is trying to live their lives the best way they know how; whether or not their way is the most productive way.