Slashdot Mirror
Ask 'Junkyard Wars Diva' Cathy Rogers
Junkyard Wars (and the British Scrapheap Challenge) have long been popular with Slashdot readers. Now Cathy is co-host of a new show, Full Metal Challenge, that also involves teams building strange machines out of this and that. Take a look at this 'Cathy' fan site (and possibly her less interesting official biography), then ask away. (Usual Slashdot interview rules.)
On Junkyard wars it always seemed that the teams had something in running condition before the end of the time limit. Was there ever a time when a team had ABSOLUTELY nothing worth sending into competition? (Wouldn't make for much of a show though...)
What was your reason for leaving JYW? Was there a specific reason, or was it just time to move on?
Or is this more an acting job rather than a presenting job. And if it is presenting then what made you interested in heavy engineering ? If not, good acting job :-)
An Eye for an Eye will make the whole world blind - Gandhi
Out of all the teams that competed over the years, did you have a particular favorite team in terms of either technical innovation, work ethic or oddball team members? Which team do you feel was the "best (cough, Long Brothers, cough) overall Junkyard Wars team?
Every year during my review, I just pray the words "slashdot.org" aren't mentioned.
Side questions: what did you play in the band and what sort of music did the band play?
JYW is truly a bizarre idea... How did you come up with it?
Before the 'Heap, you were in a British indie-crash-twee-pop band called Marine Research, and before that, Heavenly. Do you keep in touch with Amelia and Rob these days?
-/-
Mikey-San
Mikey-San
Karma: +Eleventy billion (mostly affected by watching Celebrity Jeopardy)
Cathy, Junkwar Wars has three things that always makes me want to watch more...
.P.O.W.E.R. .T.O.O.L.S.
1. Smart people building things
2.
3. That blonde chick.
What I wanna know is, how' you doin'?
Seriously now - how are the tapings made? Do they really have only 10 hours (+1 the next day) to make those wonderful contraptions?
Ash nazg durbatuluk, ash nazg gimbatul Ash nazg thrakatuluk agh burzum-ishi krimpatul
Was there a "vision" for these shows - an overriding philosophical reason to make them - like getting kids interested in science, pushing the boundaries of tech, enhancing popular understanding of engineering principles? Or did the game show part of the show come first and a realization of their value later?
On Junkyard Wars, which host did you enjoy working with most?
:(
The british male host, the 1st USA male host, or the 2nd US male host (Tyler?).
Sorry, I'm not good with names
Does the name Pavlov ring a bell?
I've always suspected that some parts critical for a given episode must be "planted" in the junkyard. Several episodes call for the teams to build some sort of motorized vehicle (for example a truck or boat of some kind). Obviously the show won't be quite as entertaining if the teams cannot salvage a working engine (or one that can be made to work with reasonable effort).
Are engines or other critical parts placed in the junkyard beforehand?
I take drugs seriously.
What's the coolest thing you've ever built yourself? Or, what's the coolest thing you've ever tried to build yourself?
My wife and I were both avid fans of Junkyard Wars. There were days when we would miss the first taping and stay up till after midnight to watch it.
When you got off of the show we both lost interest. Yes, it was fun watching people build big machines, but much of the dynamic that we enjoyed was gone. It was then we realized just how important you were to the show and that dynamic that we enjoyed so much.
Are you getting any feed back about going back to JYW? Would you if they asked?
Mid-Eastern Pennsylvania Gaming Convention
Watching on TV, it often seems that the expert provides some good initial insight into a problem, but then often becomes superflous. Sitting through many hours of actually watching the challenges unfold. How valuable were the experts in comparison to teams with general inventiveness?
Why did TLC insist on renaming "Scrapheap Challenge" to "Junkyard Wars"?
Was there much difference between UK and US teams on Junkyard Wars? Did they have notably different attitudes or approaches?
rOD.
Rod Begbie done this, and he's not
Which of the various co-hosts you've worked with over the years are your favorites? Least favorites? Did you ever just want to smack the crap out of the "punkins, punkins, punkins" guy?
Some men spend their entire lives trying to kill themselves for having been born. --Ross MacDonald
Will we ever hear from Marine Research again? Please? (Or have I just not been paying enough attention?)
Oh, and congrats on being one of TV's foxiest ladies.
mstyne: real name, no gimmicks
I have always found Henry Rollins to be one of the more interesting people in music and acting. What is your opinion after working with him as the co-host? Had you heard of him before he was brought up to be part of the show?
"I would rather have your time than your money" --Henry Rollins Jan 14 2003 on the topic on internet file trading
You have said in the past that it would be good to have an all female team, but as yet, we haven't seen this.
Why do you think so few women are interested in technology?
I see that your interests include both music and science. Do you find that those interests complement eachother, or are they often conflicting? Who are your musical role models?
How much testing goes on off screen?
For example, the episode where participants had to build a diving bell, descend to the bottom of a small pond, and retrieve a chest of gold.
I don't believe that this was not tested off camera, if for no other reason solely to insure you didn't inadvertantly end up making a snuff episode.
Same thing goes for pretty much any device where explosives were used, or even the airplanes.
A message from our sponsor
I do love watching Junkyard wars, but something always bugged me - Why is there the turnover in hosts for the show? It seems that each season has a brand new host for a show that I'd think most hosts would like to stay on in order to achieve name branding.Is there something going on behind the scenes? Power plays? Or is it just cursed to have a new host for each season?
_ _ _ Go for the eyes Boo! GO FOR THE EYES!
Cathy,
What are some of the challenges that were rejected for the show, and why (too dangerous, too easy, too hard to do in 10 hours, etc)?
BTW, love the show, and glad to see you back on US TV with FMC....
Extra credit: Do you prefer mousse or gel?
Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government.
Cathy, One of the best parts of Junkyard Wars was all the humour, I found many things to laugh at in each episode, especially when the hosts were talking to the teams about their plans going awry. My question is, what was your favourite funny moment in the whole series? And as a side question, because he's just too funny, what was your favourite moment involving Robert Llewellyn?
Thanks,
-stu.
We always watched the show while i was still an undergrad. Was there ever any thought to having a special series devoted to engineering school vs engineering school?
nor have I ever watched your show, but...
doesn't the the guy who made that fan site scare you? What about the people on this site? Do you really think Henry Rollins can protected you from a horde of obsessive, sex-starved American nerds?
Cathy,
Junkyard Wars is the only show I watch on TV - my girlfriend tapes it each week, and we watch it together later. Over the years, we've noticed some unfortunate trends in the format of the show.
In the earlier Scrapheap Challenge episodes, two teams competed against each other for the entire season, and we got to know and love them. Each episode dealt with a basic scientific or mechanical process (hydraulics, bridge building, etc), and a good bit of the airtime actually focused on the science involved.
In later seasons, and especially this season, the teams almost always have a gimmick - usually a flamboyant leader who dyes his hair or gets in fights with the other team. The challenges are almost always car-oriented, and most of the airtime deals with cutting down the cars to make them lighter. There's very little explanation of the science behind the challenge, and the difference between the two vehicles is usually just "light and fast vs. big and heavy". Several of the shows this year have devolved into "bumper cars" matches as both teams realize their design works better as a battering ram than as their original plan intended.
We find ourselves getting less excited about the shows, and suspect others have lost interest as well. So, my question for you is: How do you feel about the way Scrapheap Challenge and Junkyard Wars have evolved over the years? If you had complete control over the way the show is run today, what would you change?
Thanks for entertaining and educating us over the years, and best of luck with Full Metal Challenge!
I've really wanted to know... What's up with the dog in the title sequrence? I know, I know, it probably means nothing, but that dog has puzzled me from the get go. Name? Owned by someone? Just decided to throw it in?
Cathy,
A lot of people don't realize that not only do you work on all of these shows, you help conceive the initial ideas behind them. How do you do it? Did you just one day have an idea and present it to a network, or did you work from the inside to have your concepts realized? What in your past got you interested in the whole build things from junkyard parts concept?
It is my belief that there isn't much left to be invented that comes from standard tools (ie: wood, steel, some screws and a little intuition). It seems that, in order to invent something revolutionary in these days, you need an advanced degree in materials science.
If you were to travel back in time, which invention would you like to have your name associated with? In other words, if you had invented something in the past, which invention would you be most proud of?
IWARS.
People, in general, disappoint me. Politicians even more so.
Why did you cut your hair??
I caught Full Metal Challenge last night on TLC. I sensed alot of chemistry between you and Henry Rollins -- a real friendship (with some playful shoving around of one another). How have your relationships with all of your co-hosts been off-camera?
Failure is not an option. It comes automatically enabled in every Microsoft product.
Have you found any differences between the contestants in different iterations of the show? Speaking as an American who spent part of his youth in England, I find the British contestants much more entertaining, insightful and engaging. Was it easier to work with any particular group? Were there any contestants that made the show difficult?
1) Why do the competitors get to look over the wall in the current series? It really detracts from the sense of mystery. Same with the trash talking; I much prefer the refined British approach.
2) Why are the competition rules so wimpy? Witness the recent "vehicle that must fit through the hole in the fence" challenge. In general, it seems that the penalties for not following the rules are often so minor that you're more likely to win if you just try to break the rules and deal with the penalties.
3) What happened to the cool challenges, like trebuchets, wall crushers, etc. Something where teams have little expertise.
4) Are there challenges that didn't air because neither team made it, or only one team had something workable?
You save only 59 seconds over 8 miles by going 75 instead of 65. Do you really have to pass that guy? Do the Math!
As a musician, what do you think of the music industry these days, specifically about the slave-labor-like recording contracts, industry ownership of copyrights, Peer-to-peer song sharing (MP3s), and the current fruitless atempts to copy-protect CDs?
Is there anything that you can do in your current position to help change any of that to the betterment of recording artists and consumers everywhere?
Ok, it was two questions. So sue me! ;-)
LongTail SSH Brute Force analysis tool is here!
I like the show, I've probably seen 10 or 11 episodes, usually in the company of several friends. Every time, we ponder the oddity of your clothing selections; the shiny-skirt-over-pants thing looks completely bizarre to us, is this a common look in England (wasn't the last time I was there)? did you come up with this on your own? is that a toolbelt-skirt?
.sig :)
I'm really really surprised that noone has asked about this yet, and I really want to know; what's the motivation?
--theLime
(here comes the inappropriate
The original Scrapheap Challenge teams (British) seemed genuinely likeable and didn't resort to theatrics or pointless posturing, concentrating more on what they were doing and the end result.
Once the American episodes began to be produced, the teams really seemed terribly obnoxious and offputting. The "Young Guns" teams is of particular note in this regard. In fact, the team behaviors began to become so bad that my freinds and I simply stopped watching.
Was there any pressure from the American side to introduce more conflict into the show, or was the change simply the nature of the American teams?
* As is generally the case, my opinions do not reflect those of my employer.
In Junkyard Wars, an expert in the area of the challenge is assigned to each team. I can not think of a time when the two experts "came up" with the same approach to the challenge (i.e. if you have to build a sub, both experts decide to use pressurized air). More often, the experts come up with differing approaches (one uses pressurized air, the other uses paddles). Is this by design in the selection of the experts, a pre-taping decision of the director, a flip of the coin, or what? Once it would be fun to see if the two teams build on a similar design and the team itself (not the predeemed methodology) decides the winner.
Mordor...a magical, mythical land where women are more rare than dragons--but where every man would rather find a dragon
I heard that you contacted Henry Rollins yourself to co-host the show with you. What made you choose him specifically? Are you a fan of his music/spoken word, a friend, or what? (I think you made a good choice, btw, Rollins has the kind of brash yet intelligent personality that fits this kind of show.)
This message brought to you by the Council of People Who Are Sick of Seeing More People.
What is with that junkyard? How come there is so much stuff that is still actually working (motorcycle engines, for example). I mean, is it an actual junkyard and the contestants play the odds, or do you make sure that there's enough good stuff to build whatever it is they have to build?
On a related note, my girlfriend (yes, she love the show) is curious about one thing: It seems that on every show both teams attack the same problem with very different designs. Is it casual, or do you somehow make sure that they won't try to build exactly the same thing?
As an "old schooler" I like the Royal Navy's "airboat" and the cannon episode.
What are your fav. episodes? Scary moments?
Any ideas that were to dangerous? (manned flight?)
Keep up the good work..
TE
In "Junkyard Wars", after the contest ends with one team victorious and the other defeated, what happens to the stuff people built? Do the contestants take it home, does it go back to the scrapyard, or do you end up driving it to work the next day?
Ergonomica Auctorita Illico!
... that you never used? (thermonuclear reactor? dentistry equipment?)