Previous Post
Next Post

I’d watch The Gunfather – if my Time Warner sub included The Outdoor Channel and I wasn’t binge-watching The Black List on Netflix (where bad guys die silently from one shot). As the show enters into its second season, three questions. First, have you seen it? Second, are you getting tired of TV shows about people who sell guns? And lastly, what would you like to see gun-wise on TV? On a side note, TTAG has pitched a series on guns to follow the Top Gear format, but no dice. Help a guy out, willya? Press release on The Gunfather Season 2 after the jump . . .

Denver, CO -(AmmoLand.com)- New Yorker Louie Tuminaro and his close-knit Italian family are back for another exciting season of The Gunfather presented by Brownells.

Join Louie and his wife, Theresa (aka T-bone), their three children Allie, Nicole, and Louie Jr., and his father Joe (aka Pops), as they continue to adapt to their life out West. Produced by Magnum Global Media, in association with Outdoor Channel, The Gunfather premiered in September 2014 to much fanfare and quickly became one of the outdoor network’s most popular television series.

Louie’s knowledge of and passion for guns led him across the country to Hamilton, Montana to open The Custom Shop, his family-run firearms sales and restoration business. The reality show follows life with the Tuminaros, their spirited household dynamics, their New York resolve that drives them to succeed and their customer interaction on every negotiation, purchase and sale. Louie may have a direct personality and tough exterior, but it’s evident that he’s first and foremost a loving family man.

In the Season Two premiere, “Like Father Like Son,” Louie Tuminaro has a new load of guns to prepare and ship to clients. But he’s facing some very tight deadlines to meet if he’s going to get them out on time. So it’s all hands on deck as Pops, Theresa and Derek try to meet Louie’s expectations and get the job done. Meanwhile, little Louie gets a job and finds out he’s a lot like his dad.

During the course of this 10-episode season, more than ever Louie has to balance family with the growing popularity of his shop. He travels far and wide, tirelessly hunting down unique and collectible firearms, client-ordered treasures and restorable project guns. Fortunately for him, the rest of the family and Custom Shop manager Derek Poff are willing to deal with Louie’s continued pursuit for absolute perfection, even if it occasionally makes them crazy. In the end, all of Louie’s hard work and dedication pays off when he is presented with a big business opportunity for customshopinc.com.

In Season One of The Gunfather, viewers watched as Louie Tuminaro and his family adjusted from the hustle and bustle of New York to small town life in rural Montana. Having had time to settle down and deal with the initial culture shock, Tuminaro can now focus on his dream: owning the greatest gun shop in the West. The second season is expected to feature special guest stars and more vintage firearms than the first, drawing in gun enthusiasts and casual audiences alike.

  • WHEN: Season Two of The Gunfather premieres on Monday, December 28 at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT.
  • WHERE: The Gunfather airs exclusively on Outdoor Channel. #TheGunfather

Check local listings or visit www.OutdoorChannel.com for show schedules. To find out how to get the network in your area, go to www.OutdoorChannel.com/ChannelFinder or call (855) 44-OUTDOOR.

About Outdoor Channel:

Outdoor Channel has been taking viewers across America and around the world on unparalleled adventures since 1993. Dedicated to the outdoor lifestyle and conservation, the independent cable network is a division of Outdoor Sportsman Group and provides a complete spectrum of riveting hunting, fishing, shooting and adventure entertainment. Outdoor Channel is received by more than 40 million U.S. households – the largest outdoor TV footprint in the country – and is available in more than 50 countries internationally. Outdoor Channel can be viewed in HD and is accessible by broadband and mobile platforms. Follow us on Twitter,Instagram,Facebook and YouTube, and download our iPhone and iPad app#WhatGetsYouOutdoors

For program times and other information, visit www.OutdoorChannel.com.

Previous Post
Next Post

85 COMMENTS

      • I agree. Though you still have to cull through much of the b.s. “tacticool” experts, American kids with Russian accents, rednecks laughing at new shooters as they hurt themselves shooting large caliber handguns and 00 buckshot, and pseudo military warriors……but still better than that dogshit they show on TV.

  1. I regrettably watched the gunfather twice. The second time because I wanted to give it a chance. Ugh.
    How about a show based on reality?

  2. Gun stories: A show that visits with people who have interesting stories behind their gun. For example, a guy who brought down a charging moose with a Glock (not that video of the snowmobiler), grandpas Luger, guy hunting with a blowgun, guy making uber long game kill with [insert rifle], that watchmaker who killed gangbangers who tried to rob him 3 times, etc. Gun stories.

    • I like this idea.

      I came to the comments to post “I don’t own a tv and don’t really care that much about ‘gun shows.’ I’d rather go shooting than watch a show about guns.”

      But, this idea I like…as much or more about the people than the gun. Stories, not hype. That would do nicely.

  3. I think Top Shot was really fun until they started focusing on the made up personal drama in the house. But that’s what “reality shows” are all about.

    • Thanks, I was also going to comment on “Top Shot”.

      A show that includes shooting competition with various firearms should be a winner but Top Shot managed to bring in the BS of the Big Brother type house and all the crap they stole from Survivor and somehow managed to make a shooting competition show boring. What a waste.

      Stop with the tomahawks and crossbows and slingshots already. We want to see people shoot guns. Stop with the weekly drama of being voted off the show and the supposed rivalries and drama in the house. Stop with tha artificial teams. Let everybody compete in every competition and choose the winner by the best score at the end of the season.

      I’d also suggest a similar show/format with average or newbie shooters, possibly taking instruction from acknowledged trainers along the way, just to see what average folks can do with the same weapons. Here’s another idea if you want to go with teams – a team of non-professionals against the pros. The pros may win most of the time, but the contrast (or lack of it) might be interesting.

      • I agree. I’m tired of watching people being murdered on what is supposed to be entertainment TV. Imagine – there was a gun centric show with lots of shooting and no one got killed. If it were to come back they could kill the nonsense. It didn’t add anything.

        • “Imagine – there was a gun centric show with lots of shooting and no one got killed.” That would be “The A-Team”. Thousands of rounds on full auto and no one was ever hit or killed. No blood even. 😉 “I love it when a plan comes comes together.”

    • I think this could be an interesting model for mainstream tv (let’s face it, no show is getting made without some mainstream appeal). Do a big brother type show with newbie shooters. The show would follow a whole week where they would receive training in a single chosen discipline (ie ‘long range’, cqb, 3 gun, cowboy action etc) and then at the end of each week they would all compete against each other in a course based on their training that week. It would of course have the “living together” drama for a mainstream touch to make it sellable.

      (Also, but this would be more for actual gunnies; similar format with amateur level shooters competing in a 2 gun match each week with a different theme and matching weapons ie WW1, WW2, Revolutionary war, Vietnam war, even have companies sponsor a completion like only Kel Tec guns in this 3 gun challenge or something etc. )

  4. Please spare us an further exposure to the likes of Jim West, Rich Wyatt or Will Hayden and their “realities”. Those shows are staged and just plain horrible. A series about Jerry Miculek featuring his knowledge, experience and sense of humor, would be worth watching. If Jerry tears apart a weapon, shots it, or talks about its history, I listen.

    • Jerry had a reality show and it was ok. (maybe it’s still on?) It was on Outdoor channel on my cable provider. They have a lot of shows about hunting but it’s pretty much all the same.

      Honestly, Noir’s show this last season rocked. If that was marketed better, it would take off. His first few seasons were ok but he nailed it on this one. I think the best show would be Noir and two other cool hosts doing a top gear style gun show. That would be awesome. And do some guest appearances like UK top gear and have Clarkson on, that would be great because Clarkson would have fun with it.

  5. The Blacklist is very much a riff on the Hannibal Lecter–Clarise Starling dynamic from the books. The show would be a big snooze without James Spader. He completely owns the part of Raymond Reddington.

    As far as gun shows are concerned, they all take boredom to new levels of suckage. It couldn’t be any other way. Shooting guns is not a spectator sport.

    • Exactly. Not a lot of bleacher seating at 3 gun matches.

      To your point, Blacklist only works because of Spader, just as Top Gear only worked because of Jeremy Clarkson. When he left the show originally it was canceled, then he came back and turned into what it was.

      Now that they punted him, Top Gear will be canceled again.

      There isn’t a single “gun personality” that exists today that has anywhere near that kind of talent or personality, and that’s what made Top Gear what it was. Not the format…

      • To be fair, the dynamic between Clarkson, Hammond, and May made Top Gear what it was. If you want an example of what Top Gear could have been without that dynamic, check out the horribly unwatchable first series, which was before May was onboard.
        That is why Top Gear has struggled to expand with their other shows (Top Gear Australia, Top Ger America)! because the hosts don’t have that dynamic.
        The success of a Top Gear except with guns (which I have thought of before too) would depend on having three hosts with that dynamic, which seems to boil down to three best friends who hate each other.

        • This triple personality aspect seems to be a winner, assuming the right interpersonal dynamics and decent production values. There is a current program on the Weather channel (of all places) called “Three Scientist Walk Into a Bar) that is surprisingly entertaining with three diverse personalities that are just having a lot of fun explaining how things work and doing simple but interesting experiments to demonstrate.

          As far as gun-related shows go, go to YouTube and look at all the Mythbusters episodes where Grant Imahara, Kari Byron and Tory Belleci had great and entertaining fun busting gun myths and note that the show lasted one season after they let these cast members go.

          One guy, one gun is boring (unless it’s Miculek), but the correct casting of three semi-compatible hosts, usually two guys and one girl, for reasons unknown, having fun with the guns while explaining what they really can and cannot do seems like a winner.

    • I couldn’t agree more. TV shows about guns are dreadfully boring, which is why they always devolve into phony “reality” show “drama”. The producers watch the first couple of days of footage and realize that a retail store is a really dull place to be, much less watch. Even a show like “Top Shot” has to create a bunch of fake tension and drama, because watching guys put holes in paper or ring steel is only fun for like five minutes. This will always be a problem for television, because they need to get the audience numbers higher than any show that’s just guys shooting guns is going to pull.

      I’ll occasionally watch a Jerry Miculek (because he’s a superhuman machine) or Hickok45 (because I’m interested in the gun he’s shooting) video on YouTube, but I wouldn’t watch an hour a week of even those guys, who I like very much.

  6. I like Forgotten Weapons on youtube. The stories behind some guns, their design and development are fascinating. No drama, no BS. I’d love if he threw in not-so-forgotten modern guns too (ie Gen 1 Glock, etc).

    • They had a show called Triggers that went through the history of a type of forearms. It had Wil Willis who is on that shows about edged weapons with Doug Marcaido which I like when I can find it.

    • Growing up I used to record episodes of Tales of the Gun on the History Channel on my VCR. (I’m only 25, but we were a poor family…..)

      I’d totally be up for bringing that back.

  7. I would like to see a show about a gun shop where the owners are actually also private operators who go back to the Middle East to train and help out.

  8. I’d much rather see Ian given his own Forgotten Weapons show. I can only imagine the doors that would open to some really rare, obscure and cool guns, if he had sponsorship from a major network.

    • Second the Forgotten Weapons idea. Although I don’t see it carrying the same format as its current iteration on you tube. I.E. it would not be so much first person, but would work in two person interaction and would look more like mythbusters (show presentation, not content).

    • I agree. And what’s more, Ian is a very good presenter with excellent speaking skills, so there’s no need for some “personality” to do this show.

      What’s an additional benefit about this idea is that it would show the anti-gun dogmatists that the sorts of firearms they’re complaining about are absolutely nothing new. Once the paper cartridge was invented, carnage really started on the battlefields. The brass cartridge merely refined it a bit.

  9. Joe Mantegna, from “Criminal Minds” fame had a Gun Stories series that was pretty good,
    as was Top Shots, as previously mentioned.

    I also liked the store angle from the folks in Colorado, “American Guns.” They also started
    to get more into the reality show dynamic, which messed it up a bit, but I liked it early on.

    Some series involving gunsmithing about a 3rd of the time, and 2/3rds with a related story
    line might entice the less enthusiastic folks…

    • This is the big problem with the so-called “Reality shows” – they ain’t real.

      You have to keep in mind that the producers of these shows are trying to sell soap, or cars, or whatever sponsor they can get, not the guns (or the motorcycles, or the hot rods, etc.) They have it in their heads that people will not watch their show just because they are interested in the concept, they think people want the drama of interpersonal conflict (Senior vs Junior) or ridiculous and unnecessary tight deadlines. Because of this the producers always start scripting the reality to make the show “more interesting”.

      Guns are already interesting. Where they came from, what they can do, what they CAN’T do, how people use them, when and why. “Gun Stories” was mildly interesting but oh so boring with Joe talking about the gun and someone else shooting it in slow motion, the same exact scene repeated ad nauseum with the voice-over. “Top Shots” was boring because they just couldn’t get past trying to be “Survivor With Guns” and all the baggage that came with that format.

      Do “Gun Stories” with a live audience and let THEM shoot the guns while you give the history and specifics. Do “Top Shots” with a real firearms competition with real people, not just acknowledged champions, and leave out the interpersonal phony drama. What we want to do is sell the idea that guns are cool. With the number of guns and gun owners in America THAT should be enough to sell the soap and cars and other sponsors brave enough to come on board. And as far as that goes, Brownels, Gun Broker, S&W, Ruger…is there some law that says they cannot sponsor a TV show?

  10. I would rather see a show like all of the car how to shows. I’ve learned a lot from watching them and have even used some skills from classic car projects on guns. It’s hung of metal so the theory is the same. Make sure there is no lame drama or “ain’t never been dun befoe!” Just good projects, showing different guns from modification to restoration to making new parts for old guns that have no replacement parts.

  11. I would watch a news show about competitive shooting, but only the halway practical (USPSA, IDPA, 3gun, steel challenge) and Olympic disciplines. And not all of them. As much as I respect it, I don’t care about watching anyone shooting a shotgun at anything. And I wouldn’t watch it all the time. And I’d probably mute it when the announcers were talking. And I’d skip the commercials.

    So, basically…no.

    And no reality TV. I don’t care what the subject is, it’s dumb.

  12. How about a show that teaches a little about firearms, about how they are inanimate objects until a person picks them up and operates them, a show that dispells the worst anti-gun rhetoric by having a new shooter learn from any of the various gun luminaries out there, teaching them the truth about guns, and dispelling the Hollywood gun myths that permiate the minds of so many anti-gun loons.

    Essentially actvely working to break down the BS from the other side, once you shoot a gun for the first time you realize the power in your hands and the absolute responsibility you have to use it safely. A show that highlights DGU stories from the survivors perspectve, segments about more advanced firearm topics like 3 gun, choosing the right firearm for a given role, etc…

    A show called, Operating Operators that is a silly take on the abundance of tacticool gear and the proliferation of devices added to MSR’s, hosted by a guy covered in way too much gear, discussing the plethora of new kit available, going to trade shows,etc.

  13. “I Saw the Light”

    A show where a Progressive-Anti dirtbag describes the process where they *finally* realize that the Second Amendment actually means exactly what the hell it says.

    In my dreams.

    *sob*

  14. Tales of the gun was hands down the best gun show ever. Back before the history channel was all aliens and illuminati. It had not only the history but diagrams of how each presented gun worked. I learned a lot from that show. Bring that back.

  15. I’d like to see a political drama, like house of cards, with the focus on american disarmament. The main character needs to be a hard core left winger that you love to hate. Every episode exposing every dirty trick in the book to disarm the american people. Have scenarios that mimic recent events and tell the truth, sort of like The Newsroom, only without all the damned lies.

    If done correctly you’ll open the eyes of low information voters on the importance of the right to keep and bear arms and maybe a few other conservative issues.

    To date the only real right wing TV Show is Last Man Standing, sad but true. We need an intelligent, non-humor suspense thriller series that sucks everyone in and gets them second guessing Left Wing propaganda.

    • Along those lines, a Mythbusters type show where they take apart the inaccurate depictions of firearms in the movies and TV shows, assuming Mythbusters doesn’t hold a copyright on that format, and also refute the inaccurate plot lines and dialogue regarding personal self-defense use of firearms as commonly portrayed in Hollywood productions.

      I would be interesting to see them re-stage Hollywood scenes where the gun was used successfully in self-defense and the story line ended abruptly at that point because the LEOs and other government heroes did not have to come in, bag the body, and spend an hour or two bringing the Bad Guy to justice.

  16. Outdoor channel needs to stick with the hunting/shooting and fishing shows. They should forget “reality” TV shows.

    Wednesday night is the shooting focused shows on Outdoor Channel. Gun Stories, Shooting USA, Shooting Gallery, and American Rifleman are probably the best shows IMO.

    They have a Miculek based show called Shootout Ln which isn’t quite as good as Jerry’s Youtube channel.

    There are several outstanding hunting and shooting based Youtube channels out their producing some rather high quality stuff.

  17. Tales Of The Gun was a great series. The original airing was a bit before my time (back when the “History” channel was not a misnomer), but the bulk of the series is available on YouTube. Each episode would focus on a type of gun/gun-related item or process (Ammunition, the Guns of The West, Making a Gun, Automatic Fire), and give a pretty detailed historical overview of it during the course of an episode, using a combination of photographs, archival footage, reenactments and interviews. Up succinctly, I would take a conventional historical documentary-style series over anything making use of the “reality” format.

  18. I have both Sportsman Channel and Outdoor. FYI Jerry Michulek DOES have show. Not a fan of Gunfather-another “is this crap real”? thing. I do like GunStories and American Rifleman is pretty good. Honestly I watch these channels so I don’t have to see the BS on regular TV…and I know I could see this online. I do miss Paul Markels Student of the Gun but was no fan of Top Shot(too much “reality” and way too much NON-gun shooting). No tomahawks,spear throwing,bows & arrows,knives or sling-shots…

  19. A lot of good suggestions in the comments here. I am a sucker for any program that covers the history of a firearm with a lot of time spent firing it.

    I would most likely watch a how to show even with the great resources already available online.

    I especially like the idea suggested about gun stories. Especially if they include a wide variety of DGU vs. human and beast. Show plenty of success stories but don’t leave out the failures. One or more of the positive aspects of owning and carrying will obvious to anyone that can think. Positive things like staying alive or at least giving one a chance.

    I had some mostly minor issues with Top Shot but I watched every episode and was sad when it went away. I am kind of surprised it was ever made or had as many seasons as it did. For me it was more entertaining than most of what TV has to offer. There were also some examples reinforcing what many of us already know. In particular was a pistol challenge between a SWAT trainer and a self taught shooter. That challenge should be shown to every person that claims only trained LEO should have firearms or are guaranteed to be more proficient than citizens.

  20. I’d watch a show about real practical gunsmithing, not making some ridiculous monstrosity like that Red Jacket crap. And I don’t need to watch some guy pimping his daughter like that awful American Guns show. I’ve got the internet if I want porn. I actually watch those MidwayUSA commercials where Larry Potterfield does something to improve a gun.

  21. I get both Sportsman Channel and Outdoor. I watch the shooting shows and they vary in quality(or interest). Not a fan of Gunfather-I believe very little of what I see. Yeah Triggers is(was) great and so is GunStories and even American Rifleman. Guns and Ammo is OK too. The self-defense shows are interesting but sometimes focus on too much hand to hand combat. I liked the Paul Markel show Student of the Gun too. Top Shot lost me with the BS drama and all the non-gun tests. Honestly I know I can see most of this stuff online but like the tube experience. Yeah Wyatt sucked and pervert Hayden was awful…

  22. Colion Noir is already doing Top Gear but for guns.

    That’s pretty much exactly the formula I would try to use for a show.

  23. I like the above idea of a gun show similar to some of the car restoration shows- owner picks up a relic or forgotten gun at a gun show, we get the history of it, watch them tear it down and then more history, rebuild and restore it, then the test fire and sale at auction. like a cross between Graveyard carz, Gas Monkey Garage ( aka Fast N’ Loud ) and American Pickers.

  24. A competition show ala “Top Shot” without the drama or obscure weapons, hosted by Jerry Miculek and Hickock45. Amateurs vs Pros. Weighted point system. Training sessions, My favorite was the game of “Horse”. Call your shot, pick your target, pick your weapon. That could almost be done on a weekly basis.

  25. A show about shooting is getting old. A show about gun smithing like Sons of Guns makes firearms very different and interesting. Also Sons of Guns was about “arms” not just about guns. Tanks, flame throwers, cannons etc.

    A gun show set in a church with a gun range in the basement and monthly gun raffles would be very popular if done well, except with the godless.
    Bible references about self defense and history like the the deacons for defense and justice would be very provocative.

  26. I must say the “The Gun Father” is one of the strangest off beat gun shows I have ever saw. I do watch it as there are not that many gun shows on anymore. I miss “Gun Nuts” it was a more down to earth show. I have not seen it on my cable tv for about a year.

    The Massad Ayoob gun show I miss also as he gave a lot of tips on survival in the “Urban Jungle” which was fascinating to say the least. I have not seen it in at least two years.

    Having said all that. What I am wishing for I know will never come to pass but I would like to see a hard hitting no holds barred show that really critiques the design successes as well as the design flaws of all guns especially some of the so called “religious icons of gun design”.

    Lets face cold hard facts a gun is a machine and just as cars have often had recalls or been discontinued because no one wanted them or liked them even though there may not have been anything wrong with them like the “Ford Edsel”. I would like to see gun moderators tell the truth about the history and design of such guns rather than the same old bull crap “This gun was perfect in every way and you should own at least 2 of them”. They could pick out an “icon gun” and tell of both its design flaws and its design successes. And of course discussion could involve reliability, durability, accuracy, aesthetics, and quality of materials used in the construction as well as workmanship.

    I would also like to see a show that actually showed the lethality of bullets on wild game and if they did indeed work as described complete with pictures of bullets that mushroomed out properly and penetrated adequately. I think too once and for all they should take a big chance and show tests on captive animals like barn yard pigs which anatomically are much like humans and run tests on the lethality of commonly used defense handgun calibers. Pistolero magazine actually did such a thing back in the 1980’s but with the new bonded bullets I think an update is now required. Of course the animal rights activists would never stand for that gore on TV so maybe just another magazine article would suffice on ammunition lethality.

  27. How about a show about a new breed of gun owners, learning on their own. There’s this guy, see, he’s an ex-writer, cameraman, editor and hypnotist. He had an idea for a web site about cars, that he wanted to tell the truth about but he gave it up. He becomes enamored with firearms and starts another “truth” website…this time about guns. See, it’s all about the interaction of his association with his fellow writers and how they respond to everything Second Amendment. You can show how you guys get stuff to test, some of the crazy things that are submitted, how you respond to each and every big 2A-related story…

  28. Instead of the over dramatic BS and far fetched scenarios from hosts Kane, Janich, & Seeklander on Outdoor Channel’s The Best Defense, I’d like to see more episodes of Shootout Lane with half the show dazzling us with shooting feats and cool guns, and the other half with Jerry, Kay, & Lena sharing real world no BS tips and advice on basic fundamentals and practical training that might actually benefit the overwhelming majority of gun owners who are novice shooters with minimal skills. Team Miculek stressing the basics would be beneficial to beginners in developing good marksmanship habits, defensive shooting skills, and maybe just enough muscle memory to survive or prevail in a real world defensive firearm encounter. Even though Jerry Miculek is one of the greatest all time shooters in all firearm disciplines, he better than anyone can relate to the average shooter and teach them how to practice and train smart on a budget. Such a show would also benefit intermediate and advanced shooters in correcting bad habits or flawed technique, and maintaining perishable skills.

  29. How about a show that reenacts defensive gun uses, such as attempted burglaries, robberies, etc. Itll go into detail about make, design of gun used, show news footage, etc. It would also show liberals how important 2nd amendment rights are.

  30. Since Verizon s _ _ _ canned both The Sportsman Channel and the Outdoor Channel in successive months this past summer, the question is moot for me. I asked both channels if they had any plans to get back on Verizon, but only the Outdoor Channel responded with a “No”. However, OC said I they were adding online distribution capability in early 2016.

  31. A variety type environment
    1 – Three gun competitions – Youth and Adult
    2 – Gun of the week for advertisers
    3 – Youtube video of the week
    4 – Safety tips and training
    5 – Long range shooters around the nation – Youth and Adult
    Mix it up every week

  32. Why has there never been a show that takes a person, or group of people who have never shot before or been in any sort of training, and takes them, molds them, builds them into competitive or tactically sound shooters?

    It could just be a show where they give them lessons on things then every few episodes they have them put it together for competitive shooting.

    So basically lessons on shooting for the audience and the cast. I’d watch that show.

  33. Have a core cast of two or three hosts who travel across America (and sometimes the world) and do various gun-related things. The key is their relationships and banter. Have a variety of segments three gun like shoots, history of specific firearms, gun safety related messages, competition, etc. Make gun control absurd, like a segment when the characters help someone in DC get a pistol permit, complete with speed up footage and comic music.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here