The History Channel’s new Top Shot television series is half-way through its summer season run. It has attracted millions of viewers already and has been renewed for a second season. The show has been fairly controversial among the “real gun guys” who have tuned in. Some folks say that any show which portrays the shooting sports in a positive light and helps broaden interest in shooting is a good thing. Others have complained that Top Shot has too little actual shooting and too much “Survivor”-style inter-personal drama. This Editor has watched all the episodes so far. I think the last two shows, which featured AR15s and Kentucky rifles, certainly showcased the competitors’ rifle skills.
In any event, Top Shot has garnered a large-enough TV audience that it will be renewed for next year. The show’s production company, Pilgrim Films & Television, has issued a “casting call” for new cast members for Top Shot’s second season. Below is the casting announcement, with links to application forms. Note the DEADLINE: Candidates must apply on or before August 12, 2010!
History Channel Now Casting for Season 2 of Top Shot!
If you are skilled with a pistol, rifle or any other firearm, you could win $100,000 in prizes on season 2 of History Channel’s hit competition show TOP SHOT. Producers are looking for anyone with mind-blowing shooting skills and a big personality to take on exciting physical challenges with multiple guns and mystery projectile weapons.
It doesn’t matter if you’re a professionally trained shooter or a self-taught, average Joe (or Jane!). As long as you’re in good physical shape, have mastered a firearm and can adapt to new weapons and demanding physical situations, you could be America’s next “Top Shot”. Applicants must be at least 21 years of age, a resident or citizen of the United States and reasonably proficient with shooting and marksmanship.
To apply, email TopShotCasting@gmail.com with your name, city/state, phone number, a recent photo of yourself and a brief explanation of why you should be on the show.
Deadline to apply is August 12, 2010. For more info, visit www.PilgrimFilms.tv and click on “CASTING” or call 818-478-4570. You can get a head start on the casting process by downloading a casting application and eligibility requirements form below:
If you missed the first episode of Top Shot on the History Channel, you can still watch it on Hulu.com. While the show’s “Survivor”-style battle of personalities disappointed some gun enthusiasts, Top SHOT is still engaging television that brings the shooting sports to a large audience. Over 2.1 million viewers watched the debut episode of Top Shot. Click below to watch in embedded flash player, and you can click an icon to zoom to full screen. (Advert may load first — be patient.)
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Top Shot is a new 10-episode TV series premiering this Sunday, June 6 at 10 pm (9 pm Central) on the History Channel. (Top Shot repeats Tuesday, June 8 at the same hour.) Sixteen experienced shooters were chosen to compete for a $100,000 cash prize. The 16 contestants are divided into two teams. Each week the teams compete against each other, then one contestant from the week’s losing team is eliminated from the show in a head to head elimination round. We’ve previewed Top Shot’s first two episodes and we can say that Top Shot makes for good television. The cinematography and editing are first-rate, even if hard-core precision marksmen might quibble about some of the equipment used. In addition to modern rifles and pistols, contestants must master antique black-powder arms as well as crossbows, throwing knives, and even tomahawks. Hey, it’s Hollywood remember?
Among the 16 competitors is Accurateshooter.com contributor Kelly Bachand, a talented young Palma shooter from Washington state. Kelly figures prominently in episode one. The History Channel has released an extended 11-minute Series Preview you can watch now on HULU.com.
Editor’s Note: The video Bios include footage from team challenges on upcoming episodes. Watching the contestant Bios gives you a “sneak peek” at much of the future action.
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‘Top Shot’, a new 10-episode TV series, debuts this Sunday, June 6th, on The History Channel. The show features 16 competitors (all experienced shooters), vying for a $100,000 prize. While competitors were selected on the basis of marksmanship skills, ‘Top Shot’ is NOT just a series of multi-gun matches or target shoots. Contestants are grouped into two teams which compete in a different type of challenge each week. This requires competitors to master a wide variety of weapons, both modern and antique. One of the 16 competitors is AccurateShooter.com contributor Kelly Bachand, a promising young Palma shooter. Kelly plays a prominent role in the premier episode.
After wrapping up his filming stint with ‘Top Shot’, Kelly visited us in Southern California to do some testing with an Eliseo .308 Win tube gun (photo above). Kelly explained that, for the TV show, he and his fellow competitors had to demonstrate skills with a wide variety of historic and modern weapons. In addition to modern rifles and semi-auto pistols, competitors used black-powder revolvers, crossbows, throwing knives, and even tomahawks. In some episodes the competitors were tasked with recreating a historically significant feat of marksmanship — such as cutting a “hanging rope” with a pistol shot. Each week, contenders will face both team and individual elimination challenges until one winner remains. In the series opener (Sunday, June 6), contestants are immediately divided into two teams and then compete in a “Rifle Relay,” an obstacle course using standard-issue rifles from four different wars. In the elimination round, two contestants go head-to-head in “The Long Shot,” a long-distance sniper challenge which will send the first person home. ‘Top Shot’ will air Sundays at 10 EDT, with ten episodes slated for the upcoming season.
Are you a crack shot and want to be a Hollywood Star? Pilgrim Films (producers of American Chopper, Dirty Jobs, Ghost Hunters, and The Ultimate Fighter) is casting a new television show about marksmanship for the History Channel. If you are skilled with a pistol, rifle or any other firearm, you could win $100,000 in prizes on Top Shot, a new marksmanship competition TV show. The History Channel is looking for anyone with “mind-blowing shooting skills and a big personality” for the new show. According to the producers, “As long as you’re in good physical shape, have mastered a firearm and can adapt to new weapons and demanding physical situations, you could be America’s first ‘Top Shot’.”
To apply, email TopShotCasting@gmail.com with your name, city/state, phone number, a recent photo of yourself and a brief explanation of why you are America’s “Top Shot”. For more info, call 818-728-3729. Deadline to apply is January 18, 2010.
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Gunny’s back — starting this Friday (7/31/09) on the History Channel. Marine Corps veteran R. Lee Ermey will host “Lock N’ Load”, a History Channel series which debuts July 31st at 9pm ET. Ermey, acclaimed for his role as a Marine Drill Instructor in the movie Full Metal Jacket, previously hosted the popular “Mail Call” show on the History Channel. The focus of Lock N’ Load will be firepower — and lots of it.
Lock N’ Load will be an hour-long weekly series featuring the engineering and development of military weapons. In the new show, R. Lee Ermey, the U.S. Marine Corps Gunnery Sergeant, former drill instructor, Vietnam veteran and actor, will get “hands-on with some of the world’s fiercest firearms, including machine guns, tanks, pistols and rockets”. For example, in the debut episode Ermey demos the 3000-round-per-minute Dillon Aero Minigun, and then traces the evolutionary steps that brought the gun to its present place in history. Check out the promo video below:
In each episode of Lock N’ Load, special high-speed photography reveals the inner workings of a particular weapon — how it performs and what really happens at the point of impact. Advanced 3D graphics help illustrate the technology and design principles behind each weapon. In addition, expert consultants explain the history and engineering of each weapon.
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‘Top Shot’, a new 10-episode TV series, debuts this Sunday, June 6th, on 
