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For the book written by Charles Stross, see The Family Trade.

Family Trade
GenreReality television
Starring
  • Gardner Stone
  • Todd Stone
  • Darcy Stone
  • Travis Romano
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes8
Production
Executive producerEli Frankel
Producers
Production locationMiddlebury, Vermont
Running time20–21 minutes
Original release
NetworkGSN
ReleaseMarch 12 (2013-03-12) –
April 16, 2013 (2013-04-16)

Family Trade is an American reality television series broadcast by Game Show Network. The show premiered on March 12, 2013, and continued to air new episodes until April 16, 2013. Filmed in Middlebury, Vermont, the series chronicles the daily activities of G. Stone Motors, a GMC and Ford car dealership that employs the barter system in selling its automobiles. The dealership is operated by its founder, Gardner Stone, his son and daughter, Todd and Darcy, and General Manager Travis Romano. The series features the shop's daily interaction with its customers, who bring in a variety of items that can be resold in order to receive a down payment on the vehicle they are leasing or purchasing. Commentary and narration are also often provided by the Stones during the episodes.

Format

The series features customers, usually two to three per episode,[1] bringing in anything they believe is resalable within reason to the dealership to help cover the cost of a new or used vehicle (including pigs, maple syrup, and collectable dolls),[2] rather than paying for it with cash. The customers then negotiate the value of their items, usually with Gardner, but occasionally also with other members of the shop's staff. The trade usually is not enough to cover the full value of the car or truck;[1] because of this, the value of the trade provides the customers with a down payment on the vehicle. Once the trade is completed, Todd, Darcy, and Travis take the items the dealership has acquired, and attempt to resell them for a profit.[2]

Production

Production for Family Trade began with the dealership receiving a phone call from Eli Frankel and Lionsgate proposing the idea of filming a reality show. The Stones eventually agreed to have Lionsgate film a fifteen-minute clip of various trades performed at the dealership. Lionsgate pitched the idea to a few networks, such as History, but GSN eventually picked the series up after ordering a pilot show.[3]

In the network's 2012 upfronts, GSN announced plans to launch a new category of programming entitled "Real-Life Games", stating that series under that category, "take place in real-world settings and feature real-life risk and reward, winners and losers, joy and disappointment".[4] Family Trade first appeared in the network's upfronts on March 21, 2012 under that same section.[4] Despite this, the Stones insisted that there were little to no "game" aspects to the series, rather that everything seen in the show was related to business.[1] GSN then proceeded to order eight episodes of the series on August 9, 2012.[2][5] The series was originally expected to premiere on March 5, 2013;[6] however, GSN later pushed the premiere date back a week to March 12.[7] Although the network never made an official cancelation announcement, the show has not aired on GSN since the end of the first season. Combined with the show's absence in the network's most recent annual upfront presentation, it is presumed to be canceled.[8]

Cast

  • Gardner Stone – President and founder of G. Stone Motors. Born and raised in Middlebury, Stone started the company in 1974 before moving it to its current location in 1983.[9] Stone is an avid fan and supporter of American cars and has stated this on the dealership's website and on Family Trade.[9][10]
  • Todd Stone – Gardner's son and the dealership's Vice President. Stone began working at G. Stone Motors in 1985 by washing cars while he was still in school.[9] Stone often has the task of reselling the items the shop takes in trade.[2] He and Gardner often disagree on what makes a good trade, which can lead to minor conflicts between the two and the shop's other employees.[2]
  • Darcy Stone – Gardner's daughter and the General Manager of G. Stone Commercial Group,[3] who also works as a service coordinator.[11][12] Stone occasionally is involved in helping Gardner take in items customers have to trade; however, she is usually seen helping reselling those items.[2][13]
  • Travis Romano – The dealership's General Manager who began working at the shop in 2002 as a sales consultant.[9] Romano oversees many daily operations by working with both the sales and finance departments of the shop,[9] and also sometimes works with Todd by reselling many of the shop's acquired items.[13]

Reception

Family Trade was considered by many to be a risk for GSN due to the network's history of exclusively airing game shows. Greg Braxton of the Los Angeles Times called the show a "game-changer", and a "key part in [GSN's] strategy to broaden its programming and brand".[14] The day after the series premiere, Michael Tyminski of Manhattan Digest gave a negative review of the show, calling it "incredibly bland", and stating that it appeared to lack much of the family drama that had previously been advertised.[15]

Ratings

Family Trade started off with decent ratings by GSN's standards, averaging 403,000 viewers for the two episodes shown on the night of the show's premiere, slightly above the network's primetime viewership average.[16] However, the show quickly fell in the ratings, with all new episodes airing in March (including the premiere night's episodes) averaging 296,000 viewers, and only 40,000 viewers (with a 0.0 rating) among adults 18–49.[17] In April, the series dropped even lower in terms of total viewers, with an average of 274,000, and only improved by a negligible amount among adults 18–49, with 46,000 viewers (again with a 0.0 rating).[18]

References

  1. ^ a b c "Exclusive: Gardner and Todd Stone Talk Family Trade Series Premiere". TV Web. March 12, 2013. Retrieved June 10, 2014.
  2. ^ a b c d e f "GSN Greenlights New Original Series Family Trade" (Press release). GSN Corporate. August 9, 2012. Archived from the original on December 3, 2013. Retrieved November 16, 2013.
  3. ^ a b Flowers, John (August 30, 2012). "A Penchant for Bartering Lands Car Dealership on TV". Addison County Independent. Retrieved June 12, 2014.
  4. ^ a b "GSN Unveils Its New Programming and Development Slate During Network Upfront Event in New York City" (Press release). GSN Corporate. March 21, 2012. Archived from the original on August 17, 2012. Retrieved May 27, 2014.
  5. ^ Goldberg, Lesley (August 9, 2012). "GSN Orders Barter System Series Family Trade". The Hollywood Reporter. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved October 23, 2013.
  6. ^ "GSN Announces Premiere Dates for Original Series" (Press release). GSN Corporate. January 9, 2013. Archived from the original on February 1, 2013. Retrieved November 16, 2013.
  7. ^ GSN Corporate (February 1, 2013). "GSN Announces New Premiere Date for Family Trade". The Futon Critic (Press release). Futon Media. Retrieved November 16, 2013.
  8. ^ "Showatch: Family Trade". The Futon Critic. Futon Media. Retrieved June 8, 2014.
  9. ^ a b c d e "Our Employees". G. Stone Motors Inc. Retrieved June 7, 2014.
  10. ^ Family Trade. Season 1. Episode 8. April 16, 2013. Game Show Network.
  11. ^ Vaughan-Hughes, Pip (November 3, 1999). "Hot Wheels". Business People Vermont. Mill Publishing Inc. Retrieved June 8, 2014.
  12. ^ Green, Susan (March 31, 2013). "Middlebury's Cigar-Smoking Wheeler-Dealer in a Stetson". Burlington Free Press. Gannett Company. Archived from the original on February 4, 2015. Retrieved June 8, 2014.
  13. ^ a b Family Trade. Season 1. Episode 7. April 9, 2013. Game Show Network.
  14. ^ Braxton, Greg (March 12, 2013). "Family Trade a game-changer for GSN, former Game Show Network". Los Angeles Times. Tribune Company. Retrieved May 27, 2013.
  15. ^ Tyminski, Michael (March 13, 2013). "Family Trade is a Bad Bargain". Manhattan Digest. Retrieved May 27, 2014.
  16. ^ Berman, Marc (March 13, 2013). "Decent Start for Family Trade on GSN". TV Media Insights. Cross MediaWorks. Archived from the original on January 3, 2015. Retrieved May 27, 2014.
  17. ^ "Q1 in Review: How 280 Original Primetime Cable Series Fared in the Ratings". The Futon Critic. Futon Media. April 2, 2013. Retrieved May 27, 2014.
  18. ^ "Q2 in Review: How 436 Original Primetime Cable Series Fared in the Ratings". The Futon Critic. Futon Media. July 8, 2013. Retrieved May 31, 2014.

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