15Wait… People Are Actually Watching This?
January 25, 1992, the pilot episode of MTV Sports premiered, and apparently more than just me and the crew were watching. In less than a month after it launched, we were airing in 72 countries and were one of MTV's top-rated shows worldwide. I obviously knew a lot of this was happening, but having never worked on a show before, it took a while for me to really absorb the magnitude of it. Maybe it was because I was still living in Los Angeles and the show was produced out of New York, so I really wasn't too involved in the day-to-day aspect of it. That being said, I do recall the first time the popularity of the show became extremely real for me.
Hot on the heels of the show's initial success, Volvo contacted us with the hopes of appealing to “younger, hipper” car buyers. Their idea, which in my eyes was a pretty amazing one, was to fly me 90 miles deep into the Arctic Circle to Kiruna, Sweden. There, they wanted me to test drive some of their newer models on an ice track, which, in turn, would be filmed for an episode of our show. It was episodes like this one that made me feel like I was in a 90s Mastercard commercial.
- Salary per episode—$400
- 3 pack of bandannas—$14
- Macy's silver hoop earrings (because they don't turn your ears green like the “gold”)—$20
- Crash a brand new speeding Volvo off an ice track into snow drifts, pet reindeer, and drink vodka in an ice hotel (not necessarily in that order)—PRICELESS!
After leaving New York, ...
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