Parking Wars | |
---|---|
Genre | Reality |
Directed by | Daniel Elias Po Kutchins |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
No. of seasons | 7 |
No. of episodes | 103 (list of episodes) |
Production | |
Executive producers | Daniel Elias David Houts |
Producers | Dan Flaherty Po Kutchins Andrew Dunn Laurissa James Evian Patterson Kendall E Canner Laura Fleury Rob Sharenow Jordana Hochman Laurie Sharpe |
Cinematography |
|
Editors |
|
Original release | |
Network | A&E |
Release | January 8, 2008 – December 22, 2012 |
Parking Wars is an American reality television series that aired on the A&E television network from 2008 to 2012. [1] The program followed parking enforcement officers as they engaged in ticketing, "booting", towing and releasing vehicles back to their owners, as part of their parking violation enforcement duties.
The show began airing on January 8, 2008. The 7th and final season premiered on October 6, 2012. The final episode was aired on December 22, 2012.
Season | Episodes | Originally aired | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
First aired | Last aired | |||
1 | 16 | January 8, 2008 | February 26, 2008 | |
2 | 17 | October 15, 2008 | December 17, 2008 | |
3 | 13 | October 6, 2009 | November 17, 2009 | |
4 | 13 | October 12, 2010 | November 23, 2010 | |
5 | 12 | April 16, 2011 | June 18, 2011 | |
6 | 13 | February 11, 2012 | May 12, 2012 | |
7 | 19 | October 6, 2012 | December 22, 2012 |
The series' original focus was on the employees of the Philadelphia Parking Authority (PPA) and their daily work – ticketing, "booting" (via wheel clamp) and towing vehicles, as well as dealing with issues that arise with vehicle owners when they try to retrieve their vehicles from the impound lots. The show also includes footage of vehicle owners interacting with parking enforcement officers on the street when their vehicles are ticketed, booted or towed.
Each episode consists of three segments, shown either in chronological order of a car entering the PPA violation system (ticket, boot/tow, impound) or reverse chronological order. Booting a car usually requires the PPA employee to snap on a device, locking the mechanism of the front wheel so that it will not be able to move. Sometimes, attaching a boot to a car is difficult because of the size of the wheels. The procedure can often be unnerving because it is a race against time before the owner of the vehicle returns.
Many of the booting segments feature the favorite team of Steve (better known by his last name, Garfield), a longtime PPA employee and self-professed "gadget geek", and his partner Sherry (who has "the fastest fingers on the Eastern Seaboard", according to her partner) as they travel on their assigned beats to track down vehicles with three tickets or more, all at least six months old, and "boot" them so that their owners cannot drive away until they pay the outstanding fines.
One of the PPA tow truck drivers featured in the series, Martin, died shortly before the show's debut due to heart complications. The show's official page at aetv.com has a section dedicated to his memory. [2]
The first five seasons of Parking Wars were filmed on location in Philadelphia. Beginning in the third season, Detroit's MPD (Municipal Parking Department) was added as a location as well, in addition to the PPA. [3] Beginning in season 6, the parking enforcement unit of Providence, Rhode Island, is featured. In season 6, the show added Staten Island and North Hempstead, New York, and Trenton, New Jersey, to its list of filming locations.
The series was based on a 2001 documentary of the same name about the PPA, produced for A&E and Britain's Channel 5, about a day in the life of the PPA, from morning to late night, taped in April 2001. The documentary featured off-screen narration by Daniel Jenkins, as well as all elements of the PPA's operation – ticketing, booting, impounding, towing, adjudication and auctioning.
When the series debuted seven years later in 2008, the narrator was dropped in favor of the employees telling the stories themselves, each episode had three separate segments, and the adjudication and auctioning aspects were no longer featured (with towing only featured very occasionally). Some of the staffers that appeared in the documentary, such as boot crew member Steve Garfield, would later be seen in the series. When this documentary was rebroadcast after the start of the series, it was listed in television listings as "The Lost Pilot". [4]
A parking lot or car park, also known as a car lot, is a cleared area intended for parking vehicles. The term usually refers to an area dedicated only for parking, with a durable or semi-durable surface. In most jurisdictions where cars are the dominant mode of transportation, parking lots are a major feature of cities and suburban areas. Shopping malls, sports stadiums, and other similar venues often have immense parking lots.
Garfield and Friends is an American animated television series based on the comic strip Garfield by Jim Davis. The show aired on CBS as part of its Saturday morning children's lineup from September 17, 1988 to December 10, 1994.
A wheel clamp, also known as wheel boot, parking boot, or Denver boot, is a device that is designed to prevent motor vehicles from being moved. In its most common form, it consists of a clamp that surrounds a vehicle wheel, designed to prevent removal of both itself and the wheel.
A parking enforcement officer (PEO), traffic warden, parking inspector/parking officer, or civil enforcement officer is a member of a traffic control agency, local government, or police force who issues tickets for parking violations. The term parking attendant is sometimes considered a synonym but sometimes used to refer to the different profession of parking lot attendant.
Rescue 911 is an informational docudrama television series that premiered on CBS on April 18, 1989, and ended on August 27, 1996. The series was hosted by William Shatner and featured reenactments of emergencies that often involved calls to 911.
Overhaulin' is an American automotive reality television series. The show originally ran for five seasons between 2004 and 2008 on TLC. After a four-year hiatus, sixth season premiered on October 2, 2012 on Velocity and Discovery (Cablevision). In June 2019, it was announced that the show would be returning for a new season on November 16, 2019 on Motor Trend.
How It's Made is a Canadian documentary television series that premiered on January 6, 2001, on the Discovery Channel in Canada and the Science Channel in the United States. The program is produced in Quebec by Productions MAJ, Inc. and Productions MAJ 2. The series was cancelled after 32 seasons, and the last episode was aired on March 24, 2019.
PowerNation is a programming block of automotive how-to enthusiast television programs that began originally as the PowerBlock. It is currently produced by Gray Television, which purchased the assets of PowerNation's former owner Raycom Media in 2019. PowerNation consists of a block of automotive enthusiast shows including Engine Power, XOR , Truck Tech, and Detroit Muscle. PowerNation airs on the History Channel, and also features content on its own through a digital media player app available on the Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV and Roku platforms.
Mr. Bean: The Animated Series is a British animated sitcom produced by Tiger Aspect Productions in association with Richard Purdum Productions and Varga Holdings. Based on the live-action television sitcom of the same title created by Rowan Atkinson and Richard Curtis, the sitcom centers on Mr. Bean, Teddy, Irma Gobb, the Reliant Regal's mysterious driver, Mrs. Wicket and her evil cat Scrapper. In February 2001, the series was officially announced, with it premiering shortly afterwards.
A parking violation is the act of parking a motor vehicle in a restricted place or in an unauthorized manner. It is against the law virtually everywhere to park a vehicle in the middle of a highway or road; parking on one or both sides of a road, however, is commonly permitted. However, restrictions apply to such parking, and may result in an offense being committed. Such offenses are usually cited by a police officer or other government official in the form of a traffic ticket.
Dream Car Garage was a weekly television show produced by Westward Wind Productions for 11 seasons between 2002 and 2012. The series was produced in Halton Hills, Ontario. Its host was Peter Klutt, a car enthusiast and the owner of Legendary Motorcar Ltd., where many of the vehicles featured in the show came from.
Wheeler Dealers is a British TV series originally produced by Attaboy TV for the Discovery Channel in the UK and for Motor Trend in the U.S. The programme is fronted by car enthusiast and former dealer Mike Brewer with mechanics Edd China, Ant Anstead, and Marc Priestley, The premise of the show has the presenters on a mission to save old and repairable enthusiast vehicles, by repairing or otherwise improving an example of a particular make and model to a budget then selling it to a new owner.
"Stanley's Cup" is the fourteenth and final episode in the tenth season of the American animated television series South Park. The 153rd episode of the series overall, it originally aired on Comedy Central in the United States on November 15, 2006. In the episode, Stan is forced to become the coach of a pee-wee hockey team. Written and directed by series co-creator Trey Parker, the episode parodies the 1992 film The Mighty Ducks and BASEketball.
Towing is coupling two or more objects together so that they may be pulled by a designated power source or sources. The towing source may be a motorized land vehicle, vessel, animal, or human, and the load being anything that can be pulled. These may be joined by a chain, rope, bar, hitch, three-point, fifth wheel, coupling, drawbar, integrated platform, or other means of keeping the objects together while in motion.
Vehicle impoundment is the legal process of placing a vehicle into an impoundment lot or tow yard, which is a holding place for cars until they are placed back in the control of the owner, recycled for their metal, stripped of their parts at a wrecking yard or auctioned off for the benefit of the impounding agency.
Lincoln Towing Service is the DBA name of Protective Parking Corporation, one of the largest towing services in Chicago, in the U.S. state of Illinois. The primary business location is at 4882 N. Clark Street, in the Uptown community area of Chicago in Cook County, with a second location at 4601 W. Armitage Avenue. The company was founded by Ross Cascio, who sold the company on January 20, 1981. The firm became controversial in the late 1960s and 1970s, with Chicago Daily News columnist Mike Royko publishing several articles on Cascio's alleged strong-arm tactics, Aldermanic candidate Dick Simpson making the firm a campaign issue, and folk singer Steve Goodman writing a song about the firm, calling them the "Lincoln Park Pirates."
The Allentown Parking Authority is responsible for both off and on-street parking within the City of Allentown, Pennsylvania.
The Philadelphia Parking Authority (PPA) is an agency of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania that manages many parking operations for Philadelphia. The PPA was created by the Philadelphia City Council on January 11, 1950, for the purpose of conducting research for management of off-street parking and establishing a permanent, coordinated system of parking facilities in the city. Since then, the PPA's scope has expanded to include parking operations at the Philadelphia International Airport, most street-parking policy enforcement, and regulation and enforcement of taxicabs and limousines.
Hardcore Pawn is an American reality television series produced by RDF USA and Richard Dominick Productions for truTV about the day-to-day operations of American Jewelry and Loan, a family-owned and -operated pawn shop and broker in Detroit, Michigan's 8 Mile Road corridor.
Ottawa By-law and Regulatory Services is a branch of the municipal government of Ottawa, Ontario. It enforces local by-laws including parking, noise, property standards, animal control, and other areas regulated by the City of Ottawa.