truTV Gets Sturgis Fever at World's Largest Biker Bar In New Series FULL THROTTLE SALOON
One-Hour Series Premiering Tuesday, Nov. 10, at 10 p.m. (ET)
Goes Behind the Scenes at Michael Ballard's Biker Haven
Engines, leather, tattoos and beer. They're all on tap as truTV heads to the legendary Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in Sturgis, S.D., in the wild new series FULL THROTTLE SALOON. The show, which takes viewers behind-the-scenes at Michael Ballard's legendary biker watering hole, is set to premiere Tuesday, Nov. 10, at 10 p.m. (ET).
The Throttle is the "World's Largest Biker Bar," a 30-acre enormous indoor/outdoor bar with several large stages, a burn-out pit, a tattoo parlor, zip lines, a wrestling ring, restaurants, dozens of stores, hundreds of cabins for rent and parking for thousands of bikes. Because it is only open two weeks a year during the infamous rally, owner Michael Ballard and his team have to pull in a year's worth of receipts in these two wild weeks. He gambles that the country's most beautiful bartenders and biggest music acts will bring in the thousands of patrons he needs to make his number.
This year, Michael can add the recession to his list of unpredictable factors, which also include weather, biker gangs, the egos of some of the country's biggest musical acts, and local law enforcement. All these gambles pile the stress on the team, but they must hold it all together for two weeks, or the Full Throttle Saloon could go bust.
FULL THROTTLE SALOON is executive-produced by Arthur Smith, Kent Weed and Frank Sinton of A. Smith & Co.; Jesse James Dupree of Mighty Loud Entertainment; and Arnold Rifkin of Cheyenne Enterprises. The project emerged from a newly formed partnership between Dupree and Rifkin. Dupree is the chainsaw-wielding leader of the Southern rock group Jackyl who built Mighty Loud into a multimedia empire and counts among his credits MTV's hit series Two-A-Days: Hoover High. After selling Triad Artists to the William Morris Agency in 1995, Rifkin became President of WMA. In 2000, Rifkin left WMA and formed Cheyenne Enterprises with Bruce Willis. He has since produced such feature films as Hart's War, Tears of the Sun, The Whole Ten Yards, 16 Blocks, Live Free or Die Hard and the mixed martial arts film Blood & Bone.
Founded by Arthur Smith and Kent Weed in 2000, A. Smith & Co. Productions generates some of the most innovative, highly-rated and high quality unscripted programming for the domestic and international television marketplace. Since its launch the company has created over 600 hours of programming and developed and produced the number one show in America an astonishing 12 times and a top 5 show over 50 times. The company's current production slate includes the Emmy nominated hit show Hell's Kitchen as well as Kitchen Nightmares with Chef Gordon Ramsay; I Survived a Japanese Game Show; Crash Course; the critically acclaimed documentary series American Gangster; UFC Countdown; and Pros vs. Joes 4: All-Stars. A Smith & Co.'s highly rated programming and executive team have been nominated for several awards including a DGA Award, a NAACP Image Award and a Rose d'Or of which they won two in 2009 for I Survived a Japanese Game Show.
truTV is television's destination for real-life stories told from an exciting and dramatic first-person perspective. Currently seen in 91 million U.S. households, the 17-year-old network is enjoying its best deliveries ever in key demographics. truTV features high-stakes, action-packed originals that give viewers access to places and situations they can't normally experience. truTV's primetime fan favorites include the original series Black Gold, Operation Repo, The Smoking Gun Presents: World's Dumbest and Forensic Files. During the daytime, the channel features expert trial coverage under the name IN SESSION.
Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a Time Warner company, creates and programs branded news, entertainment, animation and young adult media environments on television and other platforms for consumers around the world.
