Last night, Fuel TV aired the opening episode of the immensely popular “Drive Thru” surf adventure series, “Drive Thru: New Zealand”. The debut episode kicked off the sixth installment of the series that is based around a two-week trip to a specific surf region with a small group of pro surfers. With the combination of characters and personalities as well as the likelihood of world-class surf at one of the truly beautiful countries in the world, the heads at Fuel have very high hopes for Drive Thru: New Zealand and think this one will top the previous five. If last nights opener was any indication of things to come, they may be right.

To be honest, the actual surf footage in the opening episode was less than spectacular. The weather and swell simply weren’t cooperating at Raglan and the boys were stuck with surfing cold, two-foot mush. But what makes this show fun to watch and my personal favorite on Fuel is the cast of characters they put together and the fact that they spend a lot of time crammed together in accommodations that in no way can be considered “rock-star”.

Continuity is kept from the previous shows with the return of Pat O’Connell, Donavon Frankenreiter, and Benji Weatherly. The chemistry that these three have is very evident and will make it fun to watch the integration of Alex Gray, Mark Occhilupo and Oscar “Ozzie” Wright as they search for perfect waves across the pristine coastline of New Zealand.

Watching Benji and Donavon be rolled down a hill in a Zorb(giant bubble) was one of the highlights of last nights show and almost had me in tears. These two feed off of each other and keep things fresh throughout. Adding Occy into the mix is only going to be a recipe for more pure comedy.

For Fuel’s and the rest of the 14 Day Productions crew, thank god you have Pat O’ there to keep things in line. Drive Thru: New Zealand looks like it’s going to be one helluva ride.

Tags: Fuel TV

Posted by Shaun on Monday, May 19th, 2008 in Surfing.

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