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Pimp My Ride
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Pimp My Ride is a TV show produced by MTV. Each episode consists of taking one car in poor condition and restoring it, as well as customizing it. The original American version was hosted by rapper Xzibit (one episode featured guest host Chamillionaire). Recently, MTV2 has begun airing episodes from Pimp My Ride UK hosted by DJ Tim Westwood, which features cars being customised in the UK, and Pimp My Ride International, featuring cars in central Europe, hosted by hip hop artists Fat Joe and Lil' Jon, as well as the related CMT series Trick My Truck.
show picks young car owners living in Los Angeles or elsewhere in Southern California and pimps their ride for absolutely no cost.
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Encyclopedia
Pimp My Ride is a TV show produced by MTV. Each episode consists of taking one car in poor condition and restoring it, as well as customizing it. The original American version was hosted by rapper Xzibit (one episode featured guest host Chamillionaire). Recently, MTV2 has begun airing episodes from Pimp My Ride UK hosted by DJ Tim Westwood, which features cars being customised in the UK, and Pimp My Ride International, featuring cars in central Europe, hosted by hip hop artists Fat Joe and Lil' Jon, as well as the related CMT series Trick My Truck.
Format
This show picks young car owners living in Los Angeles or elsewhere in Southern California and pimps their ride for absolutely no cost. An episode of Pimp My Ride generally begins with the participant showing his or her car off, and convincing MTV why it needs to be "pimped". After this segment, the host (normally rapper Xzibit, but there are occasionally guest hosts such as Chamillionaire) shows up at the participant's house, takes a look at the car himself, makes wisecracks about the particular things that are wrong with it, and promises the owner a complete makeover of the vehicle.
After examining the car, Xzibit takes it to a custom body shop (West Coast Customs (WCC) in Seasons 1–4; replaced by Galpin Auto Sports (GAS) starting Season 5), where the shop team generally replaces most of the components and rebuilds the interior and exterior from scratch, and in special cases the engine too.
Each car is a custom "pimp", tailored to the personalities and interests of the owners. For example, a Need for Speed: Underground fan had his car painted to look like one specially customized in the Need for Speed: Underground 2 game, while a bowler had a ball spinner installed in his trunk, and a surfer got a clothes dryer in the back of his Volkswagen Bus. Work usually includes new paint, accessories, chrome, tires and rims, and internal electronics (DVD players, video games, large TFT screens, and other cutting-edge accessories). Most changes are only cosmetic, and mechanical work is generally only done to enable the car to run; the show has replaced entire engines with new engines. Both WCC and GAS are well-known for putting their own whimsical touches in their work, such as the aforementioned dryer, or an electric fireplace in the trunk of another vehicle.
At the end of the show, the car is revealed to its owner, as well as all the details of the renovation and the custom features; in addition, the participant is usually given a gift somehow related to the car or the owner's hobby.
Because of the edgy tone, there is a lot of humor involved from the body shop team and Xzibit himself, mostly using self-deprecating humor.
Seasons 1–4
Much of the appeal of the show comes from the personalities involved. The WCC employees are an eclectic mix of outgoing personalities, such as:
- Owner Ryan (who was preceded by the good-natured manager Q)
- The heavily pierced tire-specialist Alex
- Tough-looking interior and fabric maven Ish
- Electronics (and outrageous engineering) expert Mad Mike
- The appropriately named Big Dane
- Paint Guys Aren, Buck, 2Shae, and Luis. The latter carried on into the following seasons.
After the third season, WCC manager "Q" announced that he would not be willing to take a role in the show anymore. Q cited a desire to expand the company's business with a customs shop in St. Louis, Missouri called Coast 2 Coast Customs. Ryan Friedlinghaus, the owner of WCC, was featured in Season 4 as the "lead" for discussions on what customizing will be done on the incoming cars.
Seasons 5–6
Beginning with the fifth season, the show moved to another garage, Galpin Auto Sports (GAS), as Ryan, the WCC Owner, moved his shop to Corona, California and said that he yanked the shop's participation because he thought Pimp was too gimmicky with its ugly duckling-to-swan format. He has signed a deal with another television production company for cable channel TLC, were they made Street Customs, which is now out of production; it is said to have a more realistic portrayal of how a custom car shop really operates.. However, the show retains Mad Mike (who has quit at WCC and signed at GAS), now dubbed a "car customization specialist", but he retains himself as an electrician. The new cast includes the employees of GAS:
- "Owner" Beau Boeckmann (In reality, Vice President of Galpin Auto; the owner of Galpin Auto is his father, Bert Boeckmann, who is not present in the series )
- Electronics Expert And "The Wizard of Wiring" Mad Mike,
- The Wheels & Tires Specialist Gyasi,
- Paint & Body Luis,
- Accessories specialist Diggity Dave,
- Interiors Rick.
- Fabricator Cabe.
- Shop Crew Z
Replacement vehicles
On only three occasions — all season finales — did the show not "pimp" the original automobile. In the first instance, the car to be pimped was actually two halves of Ford Escorts welded together to make one car, a "cut and shut" job, and was considered unsafe. In the second instance the participant was studying to be an auto mechanic, and WCC decided to let him "pimp" his car as a study project. In the most recent such incident, Xzibit felt the owner's car, a Nissan Pulsar, was not worth fixing, as heat from the car's engine was leaking into the cab. In all these instances, the vehicles of the participants were replaced with brand new cars, with extensive modifications made to customize each new car for the owner.
Worldwide popularity
Pimp My Ride is one of MTV's most popular shows with nearly all of its worldwide viewers, and also in the U.S., where it is second place to The Real World (which is generally much less known outside of the United States). Country Music Television, also owned by MTV parent Viacom, has a show called Trick My Truck that operates on the same principle, but only customizes semi-trailer trucks.
Canada
Canada's music network, MuchMusic, also aired the show until MTV Networks signed a deal with CTV, which resulted in MuchMusic losing their rights to MTV programs. MuchMusic's French-language sister station, MusiquePlus, airs the show subtitled in French under the title Pimp mon char ("char" is Quebec French slang for "car"). However in August 2008 MuchMusic regained their rights to re-air Pimp My Ride, but airing Season 5 and 6.
Europe
A UK version of the show launched on 26 June 2005, presented by the DJ Tim Westwood (famously known only by his last name). Carisma Automotive are the customisers for the UK version. The employees in Carisma Automotive are:
- A legendary boss Jamie Shaw
- Old man bald head paint expert Ronnie
- Bodywork king Martin
- Designer chick Pinky
- Accessories brawn Richie
- Audio and Multimedia punk Bluey
- Wiring and installation guru Matty
- Wheels and tyres prince Junior (Actually, Junior's first name is Stuart) - who left in 2008
On 1 October, 2008 also the Baltic version of the show was first launched.
The German-language MTV Central has two adaptations of the show called Pimp My Fahrrad (English: "Pimp My Bicycle") and Pimp My Whatever. On Pimp My Fahrrad , the bike shop Elbcoast Psycles redoes almost the entire bicycle, usually leaving only the frame intact. While the show could be seen as a parody of the American original, it is also a loving tribute, using all the elements of the American show with a bicycle twist (Germany's safety guidelines are among the strictest in the world, and getting a road permit for thoroughly customized vehicles borders on the impossible. Similar rules apply in most of continental Europe). It is hosted by German actor Oliver Korittke. In Pimp My Whatever ElbCoast Psychos return once more to pimp anything from a bathroom and a doghouse to a birthday party or even someone's brother. Pimp My Whatever is hosted by MTV presenter Patrice Bouédibéla. Both shows are located in Hamburg.
The original United States Pimp My Ride is shown in English language with German subtitles.
MTV Italy also features a different version of Pimp My Ride, called Pimp My Wheels. Hosted by the Italian hip hop group Gemelli Diversi, Pimp My Wheels turns old rusty motorscooters or motorcycles into brand-new shiny vehicles.
Pimp My Ride is currently broadcasting in almost all European countries with Pimp My Ride International, a European version of the show where cars are pimped from all over Europe in the Netherlands at All Stoff. The show is hosted by Lil' Jon and Fat Joe.
Middle East
Pimp My Ride broadcasts on weekdays in the Middle East in the channel MBC Action
Pimp My Ride is also broadcasting on MTV Arabia, the new MTV channel for the Arab world, although MTV Arabia didn't start the show from the beginning. Instead they started broadcasting the show from Season 5. While MBC Action is still airing old episodes of the show.
An Arabic version has started broadcasting on MBC 1 called Dale' Sayaratak .
A popular malt beverage manufacturing company "Barbican" sponsored this show " Dale Sayaratak " and they also "pimped" the cars and showed them in their commercials.
Oceania
A Maori language version airs in New Zealand.
South America
MTV Brazil have started the Brazilian Pimp My Ride version, hosted by rock singer Jimmy London, from the group Matanza.
DVD releases
U.S. version
| Title | Region 1 | Region 2 | DVD Extras |
|---|
| The Complete First Season | March 22, 2005 | February 6, 2006 | TBA | | The Complete Second Season | TBA | May 21, 2007 | TBA |
Episodes
Pop culture references
Since the show's debut, Pimp My Ride has been referred to numerous times by other television shows and comedic acts; several similar shows have aired on other networks. Other companies, including MTV itself, have spoofed the series on their own shows, acts, or television commercials.
As part of a 2006 advertising campaign, Volkswagen created a series of television commercials called Un-Pimp My Ride, starring Swedish actor Peter Stormare as an effete German engineer named Wolfgang. The ads were created as a parody of the Pimp My Ride TV Show. The three 30-second spots became something of an Internet phenomenon when popular automotive news website Leftlane News uploaded the ads to the video distribution service, YouTube.
In Episode 26 of the Movies.com Muppet show Statler and Waldorf: From the Balcony, Statler and Waldorf's balcony box gets decorated. Waldorf states in his amusement, "What is this? 'Pimp my Balcony?'".
Xzibit appeared as a guest on Jimmy Kimmel Live, and a sketch was shown called "Pimp My Bride". The sketch shows a typical bride forming into a lingerie-bearing bride, with an LCD screen attached to her back (which is very common in the MTV program itself). The sketch was filmed in the same style as the show, most notably the camera angles.
Robot Chicken did a segment in one episode, with a show called "Pimp My Sister".
In episode 8 of Season 1 in The Boondocks (TV series) entitled "The Real", Riley was able to convince two reality makeover shows to work on his Granddad's belongings. One of the shows is "Pimp My Ride", to 'pimp out' his Granddad's car. Xzibit also did the voiceover of his animated self in this episode.
In series 3 of Bo' Selecta, there is a short sketch entitled "Pimp My Bride" in which a comedic imitation of Michael Jackson helps people by giving their wives a makeover.
On the Drake and Josh episode I Love Sushi, the boys enter a contest for a television show called "Pump My Room". They win & the people tell Drake & Josh to leave their home so they can remodel their home. It turns out they rob the two of everything and that it is really a phony TV show. To compensate, they get temporary jobs packaging sushi at The Ball & Vance Fish Corp.
In an episode of We're Experiencing Technical Difficulties, there is a short segment called "Pimp My Grandma" which took aspects and effects straight from Pimp My Ride.
In a scene of the 2007 movie War, Inc. there's a large poster that says "Pimp Your Office" which is an obvious reference to the show.
Additionally, due to his association with the show Xzibit has attained popularity as an Internet meme, whereby his picture is juxtaposed with redundant statements beginning with "Yo dawg"--for example, "Yo dawg, I heard you like cars so we put a car inside your car so you can drive while you drive." Xzibit does not like this.
Legal action
Viacom, the owner of the Pimp My Ride franchise, has made legal threats against a number of small business owners over the use of the words Pimp My... in business names. Businesses using the names Pimp My Pet and Pimp My Snack have been threatened with legal action for an alleged breach of a trademark owned by Viacom. The website Pimp My Snack is now known as Pimp That Snack.
Similar programs
- Thematic variations:
- Monster Garage: Also features outrageous custom engineering of vehicles, albeit within an entirely different program format.
- NASCAR Angels: Rebuilds cars (cosmetic, and mechanical) for needy, or deserving fans.
- Overhaulin': Like Pimp My Ride, Overhaulin' features automobiles in poor condition being restored to show-quality. However, Overhaulin places emphasis on performance enhancements, works with a set time limit (usually a week), tricks vehicle owners into parting with their cars, and is aimed for a more mature audience. Although ostensibly a competitor of Pimp My Ride, one episode featured a WCC paint job.
- Ride with Funkmaster Flex: Produced by MTV, reviews interesting cars.
- Trick My Truck: CMT's equivalent to Pimp My Ride features the Chrome Shop Mafia customizing semi-trailer trucks for lucky fans.
- Unique Whips: The East Coast equivalent of West Coast Customs
- Foreign versions:
- Pimp My Car (MTV Indonesia) a version of Pimp My Ride.
- Pimp My Room (MTV, The Netherlands) features some friendly competition between three students to see who will win the university student bedroom or apartment overhaul. Subsequently the room is "pimped".
- Pimp My Wheels (MTV, Italy) in which mopeds and motorcycles are customized.
- (New Zealand) A similar program shown on Maori Television.
- All the Gear No Idea! (British) for Men & Motors, but mainly deal with motorcycles which the bike get shipped to US customiser LA County Choprods for a customisation, unlike other motor-makeover shows, its owner receive a makeover.
- Parodies:
- (MTV Australia) a series of short mini-documentaries about pimping kitchen kettles (also hosted on the website). The website also includes pictures of real kettles pimped by artists and professional car customizers.
- Chav My Motor (UK) satire, based on the boy racer culture of car modification amongst Chavs.
- Pimp My Fahrrad (German) where bicycles are pimped by ElbCoast Psycles.
- Pimp My Whatever (German) where anything can be pimped.
- Skanger me Banger(Irish) bebo.com/skangermebanger. hosted by 'Colin Farrell', who skangers 'Damos' Honda Civic. This is an obvious parody with Irish trance tunes and set in inner city Dublin.
- Pimp My Sleigh (Russia)
External links
Official links
- at MTV.com
- - Official Site
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- - Sony Music Website
- at the vMTV site
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- (Pimp My Bicycle) at MTV.de
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Fansites and resources
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