Guns / TV: Top Shot

History Channel has run dozens of awesome firearms-related shows in the past ("Extreme Marksmen," "Mail Call," etc.), so it makes sense that they're the first out of the gate with a "Survivor"-like shooting competition:



"Top Shot" features 16 seasoned marksmen (Caleb from Gun Nuts Media is one of the competitors) who are competing for a $100,000 grand prize. As in the original "Survivor," they're divided into two teams, and each show features a team competition and a head-to-head elimination round between two members of the losing team. Of course, this being 2010, all the participants are cooped up into one house and filmed before and after the competitions.

In terms of interpersonal antics, "Top Shot" isn't the most interesting reality TV show in the world. The people on the program are all good shooters, which requires a certain level of self-control and mannered restraint. Granted, that kind of civility might be boring to some people, but this is supposed to be reality TV, not fantasy TV...do people really expect ex-police officers and Army Reserve snipers to whine like spoiled teenagers for an hour?

The gun pr0n is good, with high speed photography and exploding targets to add visual interest to the shooting contests. You can watch full episodes of the show from the History Channel website, as well as additional material that was cut for TV. The show can be a little slow at times, but all in all, it's a decent program that portrays shooting in a positive light.

[SPOILER ALERT - the gun blogosphere is abuzz over what happened in the first episode, where a very skilled shooter had a mystifying series of misses. Some blamed the rifle sights, some blamed the spotter, some questioned the target. Me? I think if you're picking up a rifle that has not been zeroed for you, it's going to take a while to hit a small target 100 yards away, no matter how good your gun fu is.]