Pimp My Ride US

You know it by heart: Xzibit goes to view one of the worst wreck of a car ever, and makes jokes about it. Xzibit drives the disaster to the West Coast Customs, to have even more jokes bout it. A brainstorming session with suggestions to make a bling bling of a ride out of that wreck. Then the car transforms from rags to riches, the car's owner goes bananas, and takes his "ride" to his, or her, friends to go bananas too!

It never changes; being like The A-Team of the 2000s, whereas "formulaic" is the only fate. Some points assure that it isn't a coincidence; like how the cars' owners are always a 20 something girl or boy. But why would I complain?

Actually, the formulism of the show is compensated by some elements. Firstly, the forever golden one: the idea of changing to better, or advancement, which we all desire to see. Not for our cars alone, but for selves and lives. Doing this, every episode, for free, in no time, diligently and richly, has to affect you directly and yet deeply, to feel good, about something ruined gone fixed, or feel that every finished thing can get another, very lucky, chance; which is the ultimate feel good of all!

Secondly, the clever hosting. Xzibit is the perfect host for such a show. Despite his swearing, which I hate, he has lovely presence and forever fresh jokes. Let alone Mad Mike; who sometimes "performs" himself as a character, which works highly.

Thirdly, the "pimping" of the car. The creative ideas of the show's team do impress. Maybe so excessive at times, but all along different. It's just the matter of many screens in the car's truck which I have never loved or understood!

So, "formulaic" isn't wholly bad, if only filled with the right elements. This show will live long, as much as it doesn't apply to "seen one episode, you've seen them all"!

"Pimp my Ride" shows the best of the worst of today's awful cars. Rapper Xzibit will take someone's terrible rundown car to the incredible "West Coast Customs" shop and 'pimp' the car up with the most up-to-date electronics, interiors, rims, and paint jobs.

The transformation of these cars is jaw-dropping. At the beginning, the car are literally held together with duct tape and bungie cords. In the end, the car looks brand new with sound systems so loud they make dogs howl in a 5 mile radius.

Normally, I don't for MTV shows but this is an awesome surprise. This show is highly recommended.

10/10

Pimp My Ride comes from the now overused concept of reality TV that started with The Real World and Big Brother. However, there are 3 things that make it a great family show: the host Xzibit, the West Coast Customs crew, and the extremes they go to when fixing up cars (the "pimpification" process).

Xzibit plays a very important part as the host, thanks to his spontaneous, natural style and his peculiar, unique sense of humor; he made me laugh in the floor more than once. The other greatest player is the West Coast Customs crew. Unlike the crew from their counterparts in Overhaulin', who give a much more professional and serious image, in Pimp My Ride you can see they have a lot of fun while doing the job, giving a lot more informal, energetic, juvenile image to the show. The pimpification process is the third part that makes this show a great one. Even though some modifications are even unpractical like having three PSP's, a DVD monitor next to the dogs' dishes or a washing machine in the car, exaggeration is what counts: not everyone has one of these things on their cars, and that's what makes them so special.

I've seen many detractors wielding the argument that says these cars would get stolen immediately. Well, think about that: these pimped cars are usually worth $30-40'000 dollars of accessories, audio and rimz 'n tirez; a Mercedes-Benz, a BMW or a Lincoln car are worth the same value or more, and some are even more prone to stealing than fixed cars because of their retail value, so the likelihood that a pimped car gets stolen, at least in theory, is about the same as the one a luxury car has. Sure, they look very impressive, but think this too: a Navigator or a Cadillac also look almost this impressive.

This is what makes Pimp My Ride a wonderful TV show.

Hands down the dullest show MTV has ever pimped up out of its pimpy sleeves. Take a shoddy car, stuff a few superfluous accessories in it - such as advanced DVDs whose features you won't use at home let alone in a damn car - and then watch the vehicle's owner (always a moron) throw a hysterical fit of jubilation once he sees how over-the-top silly his car has become. You are now the proud owner of a car that is good enough for any gay-pride parade! Throw in a dumb rapper with an appropriately idiotic name, and a bunch of criminal-looking (hence "cool") pseudo-mechanics, and you've got yourself the ultimate television sleeping pill. I sometimes think the only way for me to wake up during an episode of PMR is if the car in question actually left the screen and smashed right into my face.

The only thing Xzibit exhibits is his profound talent for memorizing several lines at a time, a feat for which they probably had to cast dozens of braindead, barely successful rappers. His pitiful jokes do MTV justice, i.e. are on par with the expectations of the gooey substances that make up the brains of most MTV viewers. Maybe they should pimp Xzibit's teeth next time: there simply isn't enough gold and silver glittering in that damn mouth of his.

The cars that are picked for dem-da-pimpin' are supposedly all owned by poor students and the like. So how is it a favour to those people to give them a car that will need ultra-security to prevent it from being stolen within the first two days? My advice to future PMC customers: sell the car IMMEDIATELY to some desperate nerdy fan of the show, and then buy a REAL car.

As for using the word "pimp" as a verb and all that, well what's to say that is new? MTV loves to contribute its lion's share in the dumbing-down of the 21st-century populace. If that means glorifying rent-a-whore "businessmen" or raping the English language, even better.

German MTV has managed to go one "better", however. "Pimp Mein Fahrrad" is about doing dull things to bicycles. What's next? Pimp My Girlfriend? (Actually, that would be interesting!) Pimp My Toilet Paper?

The show "Pimp My Ride" is another line of those shows where a crew and some host try to fix up someone's car/house/life/etc.

Unfortunately, Pimp My Ride is so extravagant and excessive that it takes away any sort of meaning that the audience could pull away from it.

It always begins with the rapper, Xzibit, who mentions someone who needs their car fixed up and they are a too poor to do so themselves. The person always gravely needs a car that functions because they're devoted to some sort of job/education but haven't the resources/time to get a new car. We're shown the car, which is usually in awful shape, the owner of the car shows the various parts falling off, the duct-taped fender and the non-functioning radio, so on and so forth.

Xzibit drives away to the garage, where they proceed to pimp the ride. Now, this could be interesting, but we see almost no pimping. We see all the mechanics/"pimpers" meet up and discuss what they'll do to the car, then we see them strip down the car, then the car painted (in fast forward – of course) and tid bits of accessories being installed.

It'd be nice if they made the car better, made it nicer with some cool detail, but it goes overboard. TVs on the outside of the car near the wheels, a TV system for a habitat for snakes in the trunk, a working computer system in the back seat. It all seems like too much.

All you're left wondering is how this person could pay for any sort of repair if the car got into an accident, how often is it going to get broken into, and how much will this really help their financial situation?