Over-amped and trawling for kicks

Given that most fishing shows are as dull as last summer’s gutting knife, ESPN’s latest counter-programming solution to Monday Night Football is to do everything it can to pump up an essentially low-key endeavor. The show employs shrieking guitars, a busty babe and guys getting “so stoked” and “amped up” over things like bait fishing that they’re forced to “mellow out.”

The small cast of big-game fishermen and divers do get to gorgeous places -- a recent episode featured Panama’s Las Perlas Islands, where the current “Survivor” was filmed. But there’s more than a whiff of egotism to a show revolving around a wealthy host, Chris Fischer, who exudes the charm of a B-list motivational speaker and his narcissistic quest for the dissolute life. If you had a frat buddy with a great boat, personal chef and pro-quality video equipment, this is what his home movies would look like.

-- Chuck Thompson