tickle-premiere-discovery-moonshiners.jpg
Yes, Tickle from 'Moonshiners' has his own show.
(Discovery)
The Discovery series "Moonshiners" gave us a look at what was supposed to be an illegal Virginia liquor operation. Emphasis on "supposed to be."
It also gave us Tickle, one of the moonshiners in the series. He evidently proved enough of a character to get his own series, and so here we have it — "Tickle."
In your TV, eating up the 10 to 10:30 p.m. Tuesday time slot on Discovery.
The premiere starts with Tickle peeking in on his own "funeral" — it's obviously a staged scene — then flashes back to "six months earlier." (We get a lot of these black-and-white interludes.) We're told he was recently arrested on a public intoxication charge.
At the center of Tickle's story is the explanation for why many gallons of moonshine — resembling unmarked gallons of water from the supermarket — have taken up residence in his home. More flashbacks. Is this one of those reenactment shows, except the real events are also fabricated?
Anyway, Tickle recounts a tale of stealing moonshine he found in the woods to his ex-moonshine partner Tim, and friends Howard and Moe.
The found alcohol is worth "80 grand or better," they "reckon." But that's not the best part, Tickle tells them. "There's more."
Howard and Moe make the trek to the spot in the woods where Tickle found the booze. In semi-comical fashion, the group realizes the unfortunate truth: "It's not here no more."
The strongest character out of this contrived Appalachian bunch is Grandpa Bill, who offers Tickle a way to sell off his stolen moonshine, in exchange for a favor.
He'll offer a storefront for the illicit business, an arrangement Tickle likens to a mullet — business in the front, party in the back. Grandpa Bill may also have a mullet. But the favor he owes Bill is no joke. Tickle must stand still as the man shoots part of a cigarette from his mouth. The feat of marksmanship (or film editing) goes off without a hitch. He still has lips.
"I just got a cigarette shot out of my mouth," says Tickle. "That just goes to prove, if you really put your mind to it, you can do anything."
Tickle: Lover of the 'shine.
Well, you can apparently also make anything a reality show. Though this is less reality than quaint screenplay. It's hard to believe that a lick of it wasn't scripted, re-shot, and re-shot again.
As Tickle, Moe and Howard drive with the stolen hootch, Tickle thinks a pickup truck is following them, and may possibly belong to the owner of the liquor. It's hard not to hear the ominous strings that would surely accompany this Mayberryesque scene, had it lived in the 1960s.
So consider this not a docu-series, reality show or any of that ilk.
With his "what will he get into next" approach to life, Tickle is some kind of "Moonshiners" Lucille Ball, a guy cast in a part that Discovery wants him to play. The lady of his house, Dana, is like his Ricky, scowling and yelling at Tickle and what she finds in her living room. Hootch, hootch and more hootch.
Anyone 21 years of age and older may want to watch "Tickle" a bit intoxicated, because it may well enhance the possibility of enjoying some part of the endeavor.
Like Tickle says, "if you really put your mind to it, you can do anything."
"Tickle" airs 10 p.m. Tuesdays on Discovery.