Our understanding is that Spike TV's "Bar Rescue" has budget of $10.000 per venue/show to complete whatever renovations Jon Taffer and his team of experts deem necessary to make a place financial viable.
In the case of Gypsy, which apparently was the first full-fledged gay bar in Las Vegas, the owners and staff felt that the stage and sound system were key among elements needing an update, but claim that instead all they got was a cursory lick of paint and some cheap cosmetic improvements for the camera, not the substantial investment in new equipment that they claim was promised. On the bar's Facebook page, which is under the new name of "SBLV Ultra Lounge," as bestowed by "Bar Rescue" (the "SB" stands for South Beach), the owners posted earlier this week that they're actually preparing a lawsuit against the producers.
We didn't catch the episode, but we're confident that Spike, which dabbles in some controversial programming, has pretty watertight contracts absolving a show like "Bar Rescue" from any consequences, should the owners not like what the "rescue" affects at their bar. As Anthony Curtis, who was one of the official experts hired to help with the Sand Dollar/Bar 702 Las Vegas episode can vouch, there really isn't such a thing as "reality TV," not least because barely anyone acts "naturally" when they're aware that they're being recorded on a multitude of cameras and hidden mics. In the episode he was in, an altercation between host Jon Taffer and the bar owner escalated out of control and dissolved into a genuine bar-room brawl. Rather than show this, the incident was re-shot after the even, minus elements like Taffer almost getting choked out.
Anyone who watches the show with any regularity is probably aware of the landmark episode in a previous series where Jon Taffer endeavored to save a misplaced and ailing pirate-themed bar in Boston from extinction. The set-up here was crazy, with the owner's ex-husband working as the chef, evidently with few skills and little knowledge, and the landlady herself implacable in her commitment to serving foul-tasting "grog" in cheesy goblets served by a rag-tag staff of Johnny Depp-looking wannabes.
Taffer pointed out, quite reasonably, that their cocktail program and food both sucked, but more fundamentally that a landlocked pub in the middle of a corporate business district has no business trying to drum up a regular local clientele in a bar with an irrelevant and kitsch pirate theme and where tired and frazzled workers in shirts and suits and ties are not looking for cheap beer, not a "shiver me timbers" experience at the end of the day. Hence, Taffer attempted to transform Pirate's Cove -- the place and its staff -- into a hip after-work hangout.
The team ostensibly did a good job, chucking out the eyepatches, artificial limbs, and gross-tasting home-made grog, in lieu of a cool cocktail menu and swanky "urban' makeover. Needless to say, however, the owner was nothing short of obsessed with her pirate theme and, despite being tens of thousands in the hole and living in her parents basement, she opted to reject the makeover, rip out everything Taffer and his team had implemented, and revert to the original pirate name and theme. We're guessing she's still arguing with her ex-husband in the kitchen and living in her parents' basement -- if they're still putting up with her.
As far as Gypsy was concerned, the owner was also unhappy, as he was apparently also when told he had to fire a member of staff on camera. Again, we haven't seen this one, but it sounds like things escalated a little and that it featured an overload of campy bartender bitchiness. Having hyped the upcoming show, the venue was so disappointed by the coverage and the delivered "upgrade" that the club closed almost immediately so that upgrades could be installed to meet the owner's expectations. Interestingly, looks like they're keeping the slightly obscure SBLV moniker, and presumably the green neon sign that was made to promote it. According to the official website, theyre hoping the full-on upgrades will be ready to launch later this year, but then we've all heard that one before, right?
As far as Bar 702 is concerned, not all has been plain sailing here, either. In addition to tempers boiling over and fists flying, the venue had lousy video poker schedules, which A.C. found himself trying to explain succinctly on camera in a "natural" conversational style. The bar, previously known off-and-on as the Sand Dollar, has always been of the dark-and-divey variety, with a bustling live-blues program back in the day. Various owners over time have experimented with taking out the bar-top gaming (bad idea), or relaunching later as the Bikini Bar (bring spare bra and toilet paper to hurl over the rafters), but it now seems to have settled into its groove as 702.
The main problem that reared its head in this instance was the fact that one of the named partners in the enterprise did not have a valid business license. Gaming Control shut the joint down not long afer it had opened. Gaming had to be removed for awhile, but it's back now, with the same pay scedules Anthony cited in last month's issue of LVa/. As part of the flux the bar switched slot-route operator from Golden Gaming (PT's group) to the new JETT Gaming (which, from experience in other venues, offers generous sign-up bonuses and promos). While Anthony Curtis can't guarantee that nothing will change, the bar is looking to capitalize on its newly-acquired reputation for being a good video poker bar and to date has kept all the good pay schedules, plus there's an hour-long happy hour that runs three times during the day.
There will likely be some minor hardware and software changes taking place when the operators switch, but we're hoping any changes will primarily be cosmetic. Anthony's become a regular since he persuaded them to install playable versions of all his favorite video poker games, so you may well run into him there after work.
