By Richard Read

Richard Read

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Richard Read is a car writer, covering marketing, technology, social media, and other auto industry topics for High Gear Media. With a background in... More

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Tom Stuker

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Tom Stuker may be the most famous person you've never heard of -- unless, of course, you're in auto sales. Stuker is to car dealerships as Tabatha Coffey is to hair salons: a highly sought-after consultant with the plainspoken, proven power to get stalled businesses moving again.

Now, Stuker may be giving Coffey a run for her money in her adopted milieu of reality television: Spike TV has commissioned six episodes of Car Boss, a reality show centered around Stuker, who is billed as "the greatest car salesman of our time". Though Stuker's website offers online training, we assume that the bulk of the action on Car Boss will involve Stuker's nearly nonstop travel to right wrongs at dealerships around the globe.

(NB: In the course of doing his job, Stuker has logged a staggering 10,000,000 frequent flier miles. The George Clooney film Up in the Air wasn't technically Stuker's story, but it bore a lot of similarities.)

Though Stuker's record of accomplishment is impressive, we're curious to see how he'll translate to a reality show. Somehow he manages to keep a fairly low profile, and given the tone of this interview on 20/20, he seems pretty softspoken, too. As much as we love that rare combination of modesty and success, we hope he can up his game for the cameras. After all, no one ventures into the shark-filled waters of reality TV to make friends.

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Network Orders Six Episodes Of "InkMasters" From Charlie Corwin's Original Media And Eight Episodes Of "Car Boss" From Electus, Ben Silverman's Multimedia Studio

NEW YORK, March 16, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Spike TV has ordered two new, unscripted series, "InkMasters" and "Car Boss," that further the network's mission to broaden its audience, it was announced today by Sharon Levy, Spike TV's executive vice president, original series and animation. The network will pick up six one-hour episodes of "InkMasters" and eight one-hour episodes of "Car Boss."  "InkMasters" goes into production in May and will air this summer while "Car Boss" will begin shooting this summer and will premiere in 2012. 

"InkMasters" will be divided into five one-hour semifinal rounds and a one-hour championship finale.  Each episode will focus on a specific tattoo genre such as portraits, tribal or cover-up.  Throughout the competition, the artists will battle it out in various tattoo challenges such as duplication of a landscape painting or creation of a tribal tattoo using individual initials.  These unique challenges will test the artists' technical skills and on-the-spot creativity where they must create and execute an original tattoo on command. 

A huge factor in the show will be the client's emotional response to the tattoo.  The artist will have a wide variety of clients to deal with, ranging from someone getting his or her first tattoo, to a connoisseur with a full sleeve of body art.  Satisfying the individual whose skin now bears the artists' handiwork will be a major element in determining the victor.