The American Repossessor

LIZARD LICK – Having the Honorary Mayor of an unicorporated community hit the stage of the David Letterman late show is a rarity to say the least, but having the Mayor Pro Tem of the same community star on a pair of reality TV shows is like bumping into a unicorn.

Truly enough, those at Lizard Lick Towing and Recovery are the headliners of a truTV show called “All Worked Up”, set to air on Oct. 19 at 9 p.m., and have already filmed a show pertaining solely to the company called “Fired Up”.

Lizard Lick Towing and Recovery owners Ronnie and Amy Shirley explained they were originally contacted to be on the ABC series “Wife Swap”, but due to the nature of the recovery profession, background requirements didn’t mesh. TruTV, on the other hand, was searching for someone who was into fitness, and since the pair has a history in the power lifting world they were but a phone call away from stardom.

Those at the network were merely scouting out prospects at the time, but after realizing Amy Shirley was not only a power lifter, but a mortician and co-owner of the recovery business they realized there was more color to the picture than orginally anticipated.

“Plus the fact we’re in a place called Lizard Lick,” Ronnie Shirley said.

At the end of August, 2008, the station sent a cameraman down for one day of shooting and that was all it took for a contract to be written.

Shirley said “All Worked Up” isn’t like the other reality shows. He noted on “Cops”, “The Repossessors”, “DEA” and “SWAT” cameramen say it takes two weeks to get one story. He says in Lizard Lick the cameramen were able to shoot two or three stories in a matter of days.

Also unlike other similar shows, Shirley noted there is no arsenal of fire power backing his end of the business, and cameramen have been warned that if he moves, it’s time to get out of Dodge.

“The first day the cameraman was here he got shot at,” Shirley said. “The only thing between us and them is air. I think that reality is what hooked them – that’s what truTV is all about.”

Cameramen just finished shooting the final shots for “Fired Up” four weeks ago after a year of covering the job for the two shows, and there were plenty of times filming the show was much more business than pleasure with a camera as a shadow.

“It was a huge adjustment to get used to the camera,” Amy Shirley said. “It took a couple of weeks to get used to it. It was tough at times, like when filming lasted 18 hours straight.”

Her husband, the people person he is, viewed the cameras from the glass-half-full angle. He said someone having to ride around with him in the truck all night long beat having to do so alone.

Viewers will get a taste of the fun and good humor found at Lizard Lick Towing and the fun that resulted in shooting the shows. Much of that stems from the New York-based station filming individuals with significantly different dialects.

“The producers had to call during screenings to figure out exactly what some of my sayings meant,” Shirley said. “They actually have a pool up there at truTV to bet on my sayings and as to what they mean.”

He said his most popular paradox, perhaps, is, “You’d rather be hog-tied to a grizzly bear when he wakes up from hibernation than mess with me.”

Not only is it amusing, it’s contagious. Shirley says he’s got all the folks at truTV calling each other “bo”, a friendly term Shirley uses ceaselessly.

To that end, Shirley says the truTV staffers have “been Licked” — his way of saying Lizard Lick rubs off on everyone in one way or another.

Shirley went on to say he hasn’t always had the best reputation in the area working a secular job like repossession, but as a recently ordained minister he’s trying to rework his image and position in the community, and says local law enforcement have seen this change. He thinks the shows are great stepping stones for the opportunity for him to share his beliefs with others.