Just make someone else do the work for you setting the budget. The federal government already did, in fact.
Proposal
The boys get 50% of what an E-1 (Private) in the Army (no dependents) gets for monthly allowance.
The government already built a handy dandy calculator for every zip code in America. BAH Calculator (dod.mil)
Examples
Charleston: $727
El Paso: $507
Peoria: $434
Brooklyn: $1260
The current Strapped theme is, let’s send the boys off to somewhere, give them meager funds, and watch the drama unfurl.
The best Strapped moments are when things go off the rails (i.e. spinning the roulette wheel, the IHOP rebellion). Give them enough budget that they don’t have to stress about sleeping in a storage container, but also enough money they are tempted to spend it on stupid shit. You can still add whatever kicker shit to the mix.
Now they can go to nicer places, but they still have to worry about being spread thin. $1260 can disappear very quickly on a New York visit. The pay scale changes annually, no need to ever negotiate again. It’s not like we get to see the negotiation anyway, there is little entertainment value in Randy and the c-suite playing tug of war on bucks behind closed doors.
@Cody this might be the best idea I’ve heard yet. Some of us have lived on this type of budget for quite a while now and have become intimately familiar with how to stretch per diem. This could be a lot of fun for the boys and it’s an easy/dynamic way to address budget in any given area.
It is very, extremely clear that alcohol improves this product. Thus, Strapped needs to evolve into an unlimited food and drink budget.
Just play cheap courses, meet cool people and eat good local food. The series doesn’t need the budget angle.
A bogey chain, loser hat, or some failure shirt purchased at a local store by the winner could be added if it’s felt some stakes are needed, but having fun at lower end public courses is theme enough.
Can I just say, I’ll trust the people that brought this very fun series to us to get it right. Not saying all the suggestions are bad but also it’s just a lot to scroll .
My hot take : 10 seasons is a lot of seasons. Instead of trying to make changes to keep it alive, maybe it’s time for this show to end and a new one to begin?
Not every show can be like NCIS (shoutout Brian Deitzen) and run for 19 seasons.
Would you want Tourist Sauce to end soon? They’re at like seven seasons so far, I think?
The ethos of Strapped to me is Neil and Randy, showing that fun golf can be had on affordable courses, fight through obstacles (including themselves) and have a great time hanging out with each other and DJ. Lots of ways it can continue and still be Strapped, in my opinion.
NCIS should have probably stopped after 2 seasons but they get all those ratings boosts from people who never change the channel after watching their weekly NFL on CBS game.
As someone who owns the entire box set of DVD’s I will not accept this NCIS slander. Special Agent Anthony Dinozzo is one of the best crime drama characters ever.
100% should continue but I think the arc of the last episode can shift away from it being more about the $500 limit and instead to focus on finding amazing golf experiences off the beaten track. Go to Alaska for a week, spend a weekend at a dodgy all inclusive resort somewhere with golf attached to it etc. a better version of AIG
The final episode is the best thing I’ve seen on YouTube since Charlie Bit My Finger, and contained my favorite golf adjacent scenes since “Little gust there Romes.”
Beyond golf, Strapped is some of my favorite content… period, full stop (and whatever other annoying lexicon is being used on LinkedIn these days). I am by nature a very impatient person, so I normally wait for the whole season to fully drop and then binge it all over an evening. I did that last night.
But even by the lofty standards of previous Strapped seasons and episodes, the final South Carolina episode was sublime.
The Waffle House sequence of @Randy breaking the fifth wall to @MerchCzar’s are you fucking kidding me moment with the paper towels to their realization they were going to burn the budget to the ground was stunningly good. It hit all emotions and I have rewatched it many times.
Selfishly, I hope this isn’t the end of Strapped.
But if it is, a huge Thank You to all involved in its creation and production and Bravo.
Semi-honest question. Is there some kind of award/governing body for web based content editing? This episode (music, camera work, even “acting”) deserves consideration.
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