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CHICAGO – When in the presence of a powerful acting force like Michael Shannon, the depth of performance is emotional and passionately essential. He co-leads with Travis A. Knight in Red Orchid Theatre’s World Premiere of Levi Holloway’s “Turret,” just extended to June 22nd at the Chopin Theatre.
TV Review: Showtime’s ‘Lock ‘N Load’ Wastes Opportunity
Submitted by BrianTT on October 21, 2009 - 12:21pm
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Josh T. Ryan in Lock ‘N Load.
Photo credit: Mark LaFleur/SHOWTIME
‘Lock ‘N Load,’ which airs on Showtime, stars Josh Ryan. It airs on October 21st, 2009 at 7PM CST.
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CHICAGO – The new reality series “Lock ‘N Load,” debuting tonight, October 21st, 2009, on Showtime, is a completely wasted opportunity to add something unique and interesting to the debate over gun control. Completely leaving political or personal viewpoints on controversial weapons issues out of my opinion, the show simply isn’t interesting or entertaining.
 Television Rating: 1.0/5.0 |
“Lock ‘N Load” stars Josh T. Ryan, an actor who has been paying the rent by working at a Denver area gun store called “The Shootist”. He’s billing himself as a “gunslinger,” a man who sells guns to average Americans, but he’s really just an out-of-work actor trying to make TV gold out of his customers, who are being taped on hidden cameras set up around the store. In today’s reality TV world, everyone gets their fifteen minutes of fame, whether they ask for it or not.
Josh T. Ryan in Lock ‘N Load.
Photo credit: Mark LaFleur/SHOWTIME
Closer to something like “Taxicab Confessions” than “Bowling For Columbine,” “Lock ‘N Load” tries so hard to turn average gun-toting citizens of Colorado into interesting television subjects but it’s too unrefined, unfocused, and surface level to be memorable. It has about as much to say about the state of gun control and weapons usage in this country as “Taxicab” does about sex. Not much.
The opening episode features a woman who carries around gigantic knives for safety and happens to be on her third husband (she’s dubbed “The Widowmaker”), a pastor who spends his free time shooting and sees a correlation between religion and guns, and a family who brings in both grandma and a small child and then takes a family photo with gigantic rifles. Good times. The pastor is the most interesting subject, but “Lock ‘N Load” focuses on no one for more than a few minutes and even the most interesting interview in the premiere is too brief.
 Josh T. Ryan in Lock ‘N Load. Photo credit: Mark LaFleur/SHOWTIME |
I know that Ryan and the producers of “Lock ‘N Load” are trying to keep politics and opinions about gun control out of the show but just ignoring the elephant in the room doesn’t make it go away. The introduction to the show announces that a gun is made every ten seconds and I’m more curious about why that is than I am in seeing who exactly is supporting the weapons industry.
And, I’m sorry, you can call me all the liberal slang you want, but I’m turned off by a montage of elementary school-age children and even younger kids shopping for guns. And I’m disturbed by the men who talk so happily about how they get a new gun from their wives every birthday and Christmas and make jokes about buying their wives bulletproof vests so they can play. And nothing turns my stomach more than the family with what looks like an 18-month-old taking a family phone photo with assault rifles after their grandma was really nothing more than ding-dong-ditched.
It’s not that I don’t think that Mr. Ryan is having serious conversations with these people or even that they’re necessarily making the wrong decision. Who am I to tell a woman who doesn’t feel safe coming home from her job in a bad part of town that she can’t take legal routes to do so? That’s not my point. But those issues aren’t just left out of “Lock ‘N Load,” they’re completely washed over. Background checks are mentioned once as a joke and Ryan seems much more concerned if his clients would have the guts to pull a gun in a dangerous situation or not than he is over whether or not they should have one in the first place.
I get that Ryan is just a salesman but the setting for “Lock ‘N Load” simply can’t be ignored for a show like this one to be effective. Imagine a show set at Planned Parenthood or with some workers on death row that doesn’t pay any attention to the controversial issues that surround the jobs these people do every day. Of course, Ryan and his customers aren’t talking politics all the time, but the comic slant of the show and the editors removal of serious questions that I’m sure get asked in gun stores - like background checks and gun safety conversations - leaves a product that feels incomplete and hollow.
Ultimately, Josh Ryan seems like a very nice guy and his customers clearly like him and I’m all for supporting small businesses in America, but there are a lot of amiable, small-business owners out there making a living right now. They don’t all need TV shows.
 | By BRIAN TALLERICO |
Lock 'N Load
I can appreciate your views on the show, but have you considered there’s another way of looking at it? This site is titled holllywoodCHICAGO.com The show is filmed at a gun store in Colorado, where the locals feel differently about gun control (as evidenced by the local laws) than you might being in Chicago. You mention background checks only being mentioned only once, but I can guarantee you than anyone who has filled out a 4473 more than once takes it for granted. It would be the same as complaining about watching a show about a barber shop and only hearing someone mention “It’s going to look different.” only once. You complain about the small children being filmed in the store with the adults shopping. Do you also complain about children being in the local grocery store when their parents are purchasing a bottle of wine or a six pack of beer? Check the statistics, more people die each year of alcohol related deaths than shootings, where is the outrage? Here’s a suggestion, take a step back from your personal views on gun ownership, and enjoy the show for what it is. A look at a spectrum of people from a different walk of life doing what they do best. Being good people.
Response
1. Comparing getting a haircut to buying a gun doesn’t hold up. No matter where you live, they are…or at least they SHOULD BE…very different transactions. I hope you’re not arming yourself as often as you cut your hair.
2. If a reality show featured small children in a local store pretending to do shots of liquor or slam beers - using alcohol in the way that they pretend to hold guns and shoot in a gun store - then of course I’d have a problem with it. With your outrage about alcohol, I assume you would be too.
3. As I point out, leaving all of those issues aside, the show simply isn’t entertaining. So enjoying the show “for what it is” is ultimately how I judged it. I think if it had addressed the issues we’re discussing right here it might have been more effective, but that’s far from the only reason it doesn’t work and I think I made that clear.
Refreshing.
I don’t own or plan to own a gun. We don’t need another political debate over gun ownership and it seems pretty clear to me that guns are so deeply ingrained in American culture debates or TV shows about it don’t help either the anti-gun lobbyists or gun lovers.
This show was great because it gave me a huge insight in to the people that buy and own guns. It was entertaining and Josh made it quite amusing. You normally only get to see the combat fatigue wearing psychos and their gun obsessions, watching ‘normal’ family units during a gun purchase who are looking to defend their family (as permitted under the constitution) was very interesting.
You sir are a bleeding heart leftie. Man up.
Puh-leezzz
Wow! I’m armed way more often than I cut my hair. I’m armed 24/7, and no I’m not in the mititary or a cop. But I believe in being secure in my person and possessions without depending on others to provide that security for me.
This show (although lots more hype than substance) does provide a view into the lives of mostly ordinary folks engaged in the pursuit of a legal activity.
I’m rather interested in seeing how the show plays out only from the perpective of it NOT being laced with anti-gun hyperbole.
Biased?
Your viewpoints seem a little too biased. I understand it’s your personal opinion, but when you hang it out on the internet for everyone to see, you have to take a little criticism.
Your entry comes off as far to negative, without mentioning many of the possible positives in this new series. The show doesn’t have to hover around gun control issues and preaching safety messages to the masses. Maybe they just want to portray regular folks, good or bad, that have firearms in their lives. Not much mentioned about the happy father and daughter relationship, or the peaceful little old ladies enjoying a fun sport.
I’m curious, what was so wrong about young people or children posing in pictures with their family and firearms?
Are you anti-gun? You sort of come off that way.