On Monday we were lucky enough to have TWO new episodes of Rob Dyrdek's Fantasy Factory on MTV. An HOUR of Fantasy Factory, every fans dream! I decided to split the blog and make two, one for each episode, for two reasons. 1 - The blog would be super long and I don't want you guys to lose interest (not that it's really possible to lose interest about anything Fantasy Factory) and 2 - I am working a lot of extra hours to save up for my Streetleague trip next week and I don't think I could finish a blog twice as long right now. Hopefully I will have the other episode re-cap up later this week.
Anyways, this episode was titled "I'm an awkward enabler!" and just as you would guess, it is centered around Big Cat. I have a feeling I am going to be typing some form of the word "awkward" many times in this entry and I apologize in advance. There aren't many awkward acronyms and I feel like I can get away with it since the episode is all about Big Cat's awkwardness. See, there were five awkward's in this paragraph alone!
I kinda felt sympathetic towards Big Cat in this one because I am definitely not what one would call a "social butterfly." Socially, high school wasn't a cake walk for me, though at this point in my life I really don't have any sort of social anxiety. I don't LOVE talking in front of a group of people, but I have no problem with it.
This episode opened with Rob singing a song about Big Cat. Rob's songs are so funny, they always bring a smile to your face. As he was singing, he was following Big Cat to his office and Big Cat kept looking back at Rob with a strange expression - kind of a mixture of "do I laugh? why is he putting me on the spot?" After the song, the opening credits start rolling. If you are an avid Fantasy Factory viewer, you know that right towards the end of the credits when it says "Rob Dyrdek's Fantasy Factory," at the top of the screen, Rob usually appears doing something that hints towards what the episode is about. This one had Big Cat standing awkwardly with his hands in his pockets and Rob standing next to him putting his hands in his pockets to mimic what Big Cat looked like. It was funny.
After the credits, Rob and Drama are in Rob's office staring at Big Cat from the window. They are just observing his movements, and Rob notes that Big Cat has something about him that makes him not want to do anything. He says he hasn't heard a word from Big Cat in 6 days. Drama said he was used to it because Big Cat has pretty much been that way as long as he can remember. Rob had a idea about awkwardness and what if it was a disease of some sort and they could figure out a way to cure it. They call Big Cat into the office and Rob asks him if he is motivated. He responds with "not really," and Big Cat explains he still doesn't really know what he wants to do. Rob asked what motivates him and he responded with skating. Rob said he was going to find something within skateboarding for Big Cat to work on so he can get motivated and then he told him to give Drama a hug.
Rob - "Give him a hug like it's 1987 and you guys just got back from the t-ball game!"
After they hugged Rob had a pretty funny line - "Woah, oh man, if I wasn't mistaking, lips touched. Why don't you guys just get to your respective offices and let's just forget I forced you into that. That was disgusting! Two Pfaff brothers! Pfaff on Pfaff action!" haha. It was kind of the way he said it, it made it way more hilarious.
In the next scene Rob decides he wants to have a skate session and Rob, Big Cat and Drama skate for a little bit. Drama had a little bit of an accident with the board flying up and hitting him in his balls.
Drama - "I just slap chopped my nuts."
Rob - "Hey, when you're a hobby skater, your nuts are wide open."
After that, Jeremy calls Rob up to his office and Rob takes the opportunity to make fun of him a little bit.
Jeremy - "Rob, come on up here!"
Rob - "What size shirt you got on?"
Jeremy - "Fuck you."
Rob - "The price you pay when you rock a shmedium in this place"
Haha, it was pretty funny. It's always funny when Rob messes with Jeremy. Actually, it's always funny when Rob messes with anyone. Rob gets up to his office and Jeremy tells him that he has been in touch with 7-11 and 7-11 is interested in building a new Safe Spot Skate Spot. Not only that, they have a 7-11 right across the street from the park they have in mind and they want Rob to take over the 7-11 with any sort of design he wants! Rob had the awesome idea to make the 7-11 a Wild Grinders 7-11. Rob was so pumped about the idea and he told Jeremy he wants a smile for a week straight. Jeremy said he will smile right beside him. Then Rob asked Jeremy if he would consider standing on the corner of his desk and jumping into the ceiling. Jeremy said he would.
Then Rob replied "I think you might go through the glass to be honest with you."
Jeremy - "What is that a fat joke?!"
Rob - "This would not hold your weight."
Then they proceed to go back and forth until Jeremy gets up onto the desk and proves that it wouldn't break, except he was too afraid to walk into the center of the table, haha. SUCH a funny scene!
They break to a commercial and when they come back Rob has Drama and Big Cat in his office and he is showing them the layout plans for the new Safe Spot Skate Spot and the 7-11. The first thing I noticed in this scene was the fact that the plans were being held up by Lil Rob and Bobby Light. I don't know why I thought this was so funny, but I was cracking up! Rob explained that he is cross marketing the Safe Spot Skate Spot 7-11 with the Wild Grinders toy line and he is designing the skate plaza to spell out the word Wild, in the exact same font the Wild Grinders toys use. It looked pretty damn cool. Also, the 7-11 looked awesome, it was fully decorated with the Wild Grinders logo and it had a huge Lil Rob on top with the words "Wild In The Streets." It looked amazing.
Rob told Big Cat that since this has to do with skateboarding, and that is something Big Cat is passionate about, he wants Big Cat to run point on this project. Big Cat had no idea what Rob was talking about. Rob told him he wanted him to work on the project and Big Cat seemed cool with the idea. Rob asked him to explain a little bit about what he knows about the gap to ledge in the skate spot plan. Big Cat said it looks fun..but he didn't really know about it until he saw it. Rob asked him if he was sure he wanted to do this and he said he was, so they were off to 7-11. It was time to go show them how serious they were about this project.
Rob, Big Cat, Drama, Tracy, Joe C. and Paul (someone else who works in the factory that we really haven't seen much of) all head over to 7-11. Rob introduces Big Cat to everyone as the Project Manager and Big Cat really didn't know what to say. Luckily the guy at 7-11 took things into his own hands and introduced himself to Big Cat. Big Cat started talking about the layout and what they wanted to have done and you could see Tracy and Drama cracking up in the background. Rob was standing next to Big Cat trying not to laugh while Big Cat showed plans for the exterior of the 7-11. Rob decided to step in and take the load off of Big Cat. He apologized for Big Cat not taking off his sun glasses while talking and continued to explain how excited he was to be working with 7-11.
After that they go over to the Safe Spot Skate Spot location and Joe C. explains a little bit about what he wants to do with the designs. He says there are tons of different ways they could do it and Rob tells Big Cat to take it from here. Big Cat stares at the paper for a second and shares his idea about how the "I" looked like a good spot to do a gap in gap out ledge. Rob has a look of awkwardness on his face and Joe C. praises Big Cat's idea. Then while Rob is staring at Big Cat implying he should still be talking, Big Cat takes a loud sip from his beverage, haha. It was a truly awkward moment. Rob tells Big Cat to use one sentence to describe everything they are trying to do with this project and this is how Big Cat responds -
"7-11 Safe Spot Skate Spot Rob Dyrdek Foundation Skate Plaza....Wild Grinders."
It was a really funny scene. I felt horrible for Big Cat because it sucks being put on the spot and we all know he is super smart at everything he does, it is just really easy to stumble on your words when everyone is staring at you. Regardless, it made for a great scene. Like I said in one of the first blogs, Big Cat's awkwardness mixed with Rob's outgoing personality always brings the laughs.
In the next scene Rob goes into Drama's office and tells him he thinks he has a solution for Big Cat's problem. He explains that he had set up an awkward intervention and has someone coming in right now to talk to the group and try to free Big Cat from his awkward ways. Drama tells Rob that by making Big Cat's new office look like a cage, it actually probably set Big Cat back in shedding his fear of being the center of attention. Rob agreed and couldn't think of the word to describe his next thought.
Rob - "I feel so incredibly guilty man, what do you call it when you give drug addicts money? What do you call that?"
Drama - "You call it enabling."
Rob - "I'm a ****** AWKWARD ENABLER! OH MY GOD!"
There is another commercial break and when they get back the camera is on Chanel sitting at the front desk. A man named Mark Edgar Stephens comes in with the title of "Behavior Modification Specialist." Chanel calls Rob and tells him that Mark is here and Rob comes out to greet him. Rob explains to Mark how there is a situation at the factory with one of their good friends who is "awkwardly painful." While he is explaining this Chanel is cracking up in the background. Rob rounds everyone up in the conference room except for Big Cat. Once they are all seated Drama says "Man, this just became so real. It's like a real medical issue."
Rob calls Big Cat to come join them in the conference room and at this point Big Cat has no idea what is going on. Big Cat sits down and Mark begins the intervention. Big Cat's face turns to a look of shock as he realizes what is actually going on.
Big Cat - "Is this like an awkward intervention?! I feel like I have a crack problem!"
The begin to go around the table and we hear from Chanel, Drama and Rob. Their letters to Big Cat are hilarious. I won't type out what they said word for word, but trust me when I say it is so funny to watch. Towards the end of the intervention Rob asks Mark if it would be a good idea to kind of throw Big Cat into being the center of attention, maybe that would help him overcome his fear of speaking in public. Mark said that actually could be a successful treatment, it's called exposure therapy, and they should try it. Rob gets the idea to have Big Cat speak at the opening of the new Safe Spot Skate Spot. Before ending the meeting, they all huddle around and give Big Cat a group hug while Rob sings one of his songs -
Rob - "I don't want to be awkward anymore, I wanna not be awkward anymore!"
It was pretty funny because while they were in the huddle jumping, you couldn't even tell Chanel was in there. It wasn't until the huddle dispersed that Chanel actually became visible to the camera.
After the next break, it was time to head over to North Hollywood for the opening of the Wild Grinders 7-11 and the new Safe Spot Skate Spot! They piled in the car and then they pull up to the 7-11. Everyone was there, Tracy even brought Tux, his adorable french bulldog puppy! We get to see how awesome the 7-11 really looks and it did turn out incredible! After the 7-11 they go to the new plaza and there are tons of people there for the opening. Big Cat looks really nervous, which is understandable, I'm sure he was freaking out on the inside. One of the Los Angeles City Councilmembers was there and he gave Big Cat a little pep talk before taking the stage and introducing Rob. Rob gets on the mic and thanks everyone for everything and explains a little bit about Big Cat's situation.
Rob - "...but I need to talk about something serious guys. I got a cousin, and he's awkward. We're doing some therapy with him and part of that therapy is public speaking guys. So I need you to give a warm welcome to the man that we call 'The Giant Feline aka The Big Cat.'"
At this point Big Cat gets on stage and he does a GREAT job! He looked a little shaky, but overall he killed it! He did way better than I could have in that situation! After Big Cat speaks, the city councilman names that day "Rob Dyrdek Day" in Los Angeles and they cut the ribbon. They show a little bit of footage of everyone skating the plaza. Tons of people were going up to Big Cat asking for pictures and autographs and telling him he did a good job on the speech.
On the drive back to the factory, Rob tells Big Cat that he did a great job with the speech and Big Cat says he honestly doesn't even remember what he said, haha. Rob sang another song to Big Cat; something he did pretty often in this episode; and then he says "It might be Rob Dyrdek Day in Los Angeles, but in this car, it's Big Cat Day" That was the end of the show.
Another very well done episode by the entire Fantasy Factory cast and crew! There are a few bonus clips up at http://www.mtv.com/shows/fantasy_factory/season_3/series.jhtml and also I know I am a little late and they are probably almost gone, but there is a great limited edition Young and Reckless t-shirt featuring the "Young and Awkward" Big Cat available at http://www.youngandreckless.com. Get it before it's gone!
I will try and get the next blog up as soon as I can about the Best of, Bonus, and Behinds the Scenes episode. I'm not in a crazy hurry because I have a lot of stuff to get done before I leave for the Streetleague vacation and there is no new episode of Fantasy Factory for the next two weeks. I do promise to have it finished by the time I leave for California though. I know after the trip I will have a massive Streetleague blog to write, haha.
Oh! And if you want to see a few additional pictures of the Wild Grinders 7-11, I put a few of the pictures I took back in May into a video. You can watch it here -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xer4YmbCtA
I know I will be visiting the 7-11 again sometime next week, so I will have more pictures when I get back!
No comments:
Post a Comment