Win back your car on 'Repo Games'

Josh Lewis, left, and Tom DeTone are real-life repo men on Spike TV's Josh Lewis, left, and Tom DeTone are real-life repo men on Spike TV's "Repo Games," which debuts April 26. By Aaron Smith, staff writer


NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- "Repo Games," a reality television show from Spike TV that allows debtors a chance to win back their repossessed cars, will hit the airwaves later this month.

"This is the only show that combines the game-show format with actual repos," said producer Sally Ann Salsano, "On the show, we give them a chance to win their car back, clean and simple. No car payments ever again."

She explained that debtors on the show are "not thrilled" when they discover their repossessed cars hooked up to a tow truck, as a video crew captures their reaction. But they brighten a bit, she says, when they realize they've got a fighting chance to get their car back, with all debts paid off, if they successfully answer three out of five trivia questions.

"This could be a terrible situation, but this could also be your lucky day," she said.

The trivia questions, she said, range from food and drink to science, pop culture, movies, technology and other topics.

Salsano of 495 Productions will debut this show April 26, right on the heels of "Jersey Shore," a reality show that recently wrapped up its third season on MTV, which owns Spike TV.

As one of the producers of "Jersey Shore," Salsano lived in the show's beach house where the crew filmed her ne'er-do-well roommates -- the stars of the show -- as they lounged around all day, got drunk in clubs, argued about trivialities and attempted to score with like-minded members of the opposite sex.

The stars of "Repo Games" are, as might be expected, actual repo men. Josh Lewis and Tom DeTone are real-life professionals who repossess cars for a living. They're not actors, which sets them apart from Emilio Estevez and Harry Dean Stanton, who starred in the 1980s cult flick "Repo Man."

Spike TV filmed Lewis and DeTone as they repossessed 80 cars in Los Angeles and Dallas.

"Tom is the big muscle guy, but he's a total softie on the inside," said Salsano. "Josh razzes with the people a little bit. They both have a heart of gold and they've both been repoing cars for years."

In their off-camera repos, the debtors are out of luck. But in their on-camera repos, Lewis and DeTone are the ones who pose trivia questions to the winners and losers.

"They feel like they're giving people a chance," said Salsano. To top of page

Just the hot list include
Frontline troops push for solar energy
The U.S. Marines are testing renewable energy technologies like solar to reduce costs and casualties associated with fossil fuels. Play
25 Best Places to find rich singles
Looking for Mr. or Ms. Moneybags? Hunt down the perfect mate in these wealthy cities, which are brimming with unattached professionals. More
Fun festivals: Twins to mustard to pirates!
You'll see double in Twinsburg, Ohio, and Ketchup lovers should beware in Middleton, WI. Here's some of the best and strangest town festivals. Play
Index Last Change % Change
Dow 32,627.97 -234.33 -0.71%
Nasdaq 13,215.24 99.07 0.76%
S&P 500 3,913.10 -2.36 -0.06%
Treasuries 1.73 0.00 0.12%
Data as of 6:29am ET
Company Price Change % Change
Ford Motor Co 8.29 0.05 0.61%
Advanced Micro Devic... 54.59 0.70 1.30%
Cisco Systems Inc 47.49 -2.44 -4.89%
General Electric Co 13.00 -0.16 -1.22%
Kraft Heinz Co 27.84 -2.20 -7.32%
Data as of 2:44pm ET
Sponsors

Sections

Bankrupt toy retailer tells bankruptcy court it is looking at possibly reviving the Toys 'R' Us and Babies 'R' Us brands. More

Land O'Lakes CEO Beth Ford charts her career path, from her first job to becoming the first openly gay CEO at a Fortune 500 company in an interview with CNN's Boss Files. More

Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.