Tubegazing: King of Cars

April 14, 2006

King of Cars (A&E, Tuesdays, 10 p.m. ET/PT)

Most of us have marched into car dealerships determined to hold our own and left feeling razzle-dazzled. This new workplace reality show introduces viewers to the Harlem Globetrotters of the trade. Their boss is "Chop," a rap-star persona who runs what A&E calls the nation's biggest car dealer. Customers are "ups," the sale is "the shut," and a day at the office might mean jogging around the lot looking for that perfect Dodge Charger in a race to seal a deal. Negotiations become studies in sociology. And while Chop might employ out-there antics - a dunk tank, for example, into which buyers drop salesmen, he knows what's at stake for customers. "This is how they express themselves," he says. "This is how they keep their families safe." Grade B+