Hi AR fans,
..this was in my local paper..thought you might enjoy reading about a past player...
'Amazing Race' star from Bayonne gets another crack at reality TV fame
Wednesday, July 07, 2004
By Ben Reed
Journal staff writer
A38-year-old Bayonne resident who's already had his 15 minutes of fame will get a shot at 15 minutes more, returning to America's living rooms tomorrow night in a three-part adventure series on the Discovery Channel.
Three years ago, lifelong Bayonne resident Kevin O'Connor and his best friend, Drew Feinberg, 39, of Brooklyn, participated in CBS's reality television show "The Amazing Race." Even though they didn't win, they emerged as the stars of the show. Armed with memorable one-liners and a stooge-like relationship, the two joked and bickered their way across the world, winning the praise of millions of Americans, if not the $1 million first prize.
Now, after starring in a recurring segment on the "Rosie O'Donnell Show," presenting the award for Best Reality Based Television Program at the People's Choice Awards and making numerous other talk show appearances, the dynamic duo is getting a full-fledged shot at stardom with their own television series, "Kevin and Drew Unleashed." The series makes its debut tomorrow night at 10 p.m.
On the show, the unlikely pair of bald, stocky, middle-aged adventurers travel around the country, performing a unique and diverse array of jobs. They attempt to wrestle alligators, herd cattle, brew beer, work on a shrimp boat, and maintain a professional baseball field, among other tasks.
According to O'Connor, the ease with which viewers can identify with the protagonists will generate a great deal of public appeal.
"The show is a classic fish out of water story," O'Connor said. "It proves that two regular knuckleheads can do something like handle an alligator or be a cowboy for a day. People can envision themselves as us doing the same thing. If we can do it, so can they."
The three hour-long episodes air on consecutive Thursdays through July 22, all at 10 p.m. But if ratings are high enough, "Kevin and Drew Unleashed" could become a regular weekly series on the Discovery Channel.
The original idea for the show was to have O'Connor and Feinberg driving around the country performing acts of goodwill. It was inspired by the "Rosie O'Donnell Show" segment called "Kevin and Drew to the Rescue," in which the duo bailed out people in need, even delivering a motorized wheelchair for a child in Maine suffering from cerebral palsy.
After that concept proved unsustainable, Discovery producers decided that a series that involved the reality stars performing unusual jobs would be more viewer-friendly.
On the program, the two are trained to handle the assigned tasks and then compete against each other to see who can get the job done first. The winner spends the next day doing an easy job, while the loser is forced to complete a more onerous assignment.
The loser of the alligator handling competition, for example, has to chop up 400 pounds of rancid horse meat in 95-degree weather.
If not for their appearance on "The Amazing Race," of course, "Kevin and Drew Unleashed" would never have been possible. The CBS reality series pitted 11 teams against each other in a race around the world for a prize of $1 million.
The teams traveled based on clues, overcoming significant transportation and budget limitations along the way. The last team to arrive at each checkpoint was eliminated. On the show, O'Connor and Feinberg were the last team to be eliminated.
O'Connor attributes the duo's overwhelming popularity - marked by a 94 percent approval rating from a poll on CBS.com - to their fair play and light-hearted personalities.
"A lot of the other teams were either devious or really boring," he said. "Drew and I had fun. We laughed all the time and joked around, but still played hard and played fair.
"We showed that you don't have to cheat, be mean, or be too serious. You can enjoy yourself and still do well."
The Bayonne man is also quick to recognize the importance of his roots to his television success.
"What made me and Drew the sentimental favorites on 'Amazing Race' was that we were working-class heroes, two overweight guys with shaved heads.
"Bayonne is a town of working-class people with strong values and close family ties who have lived there forever, and that's the way we portrayed ourselves."
O'Connor has lived in the Bergen Point section of Bayonne throughout his life, growing up on Lord Avenue near Second Street. For the past six years he has lived on West Sixth Street near Kennedy Boulevard.
After attending St. Andrew's Grammar School on Broadway in Bayonne and St. Peter's Preparatory School in Jersey City, O'Connor earned a degree in accounting from St. John's University in Long Island and a master's degree in business from Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind.
Despite his new television career, O'Connor continues to work as a senior manager for Deloitte & Touche LLP's Dispute Consulting and Forensic Investigations practice in New York City. Feinberg is currently a senior court officer at the Brooklyn Supreme Court.
Should the Discovery series come to a quick end and no other television producers come calling, O'Connor said the two won't have a problem living out the rest of their lives off camera.
"A lot of people from reality TV pack their bags and move to Los Angeles trying to be the next action hero star," O'Connor said. "That's not the case with us.
"The Discovery show is the culmination of our 15 minutes of fame. If it doesn't work out, we'll pack it in, be grateful for the excitement and good times, and concentrate on our regular careers."
And if it does work out?
"Then we'll see where it takes us."
I probably should have looked at the teams before I answered the questions though, oh well
Oh well, there's always next week.
