Discovery Channel’s “One Way Out” Co-Stars My Friend and Makes Headlines in NY Times

I have know Terry Stroud since he was a high school student. His father, Dan, and I shared a photo studio in Dallas. Terry was smart, if not a little smart alec at times. At 14 he learned to fly gliders. But one thing I never pictured was that long-haired boy as a TV star.

Boy was I wrong.

Terry is now the co-star of his third TV series, One Way Out, on Discovery Channel on Mondays at 9 pm ET/PT. The science of escape and the art of ingenuity is put to the test by escapologist Jonathan Goodwin, as he attempts to break out of bizarre and dangerous homemade contraptions designed by Terry. 

His dad and him were discovered when they first appeared on the documentary Rocket Challenge which aired on Discovery.   The production company liked Dan and Terry so much  that they created the Master Blasters series around them.  The two starred on the Sci-Fi channel series, later picked up by Science Discovery. This show featured his dad and him doing over the top rocket things, like launching a BMW Mini-Cooper a quarter-mile by using boost sections of Tomahawk cruise missiles.

What is really interesting about the new show for those of us in communications, is how Discovery Channel managed to pull off a great public relations feet.   For $250,000, Discovery bought a unique February cover ad in Esquire Magazine that features newly elected president Barrack Obama.   The cover  has a window, or flap, in the middle, next to an invitation to “Open Here.” Opening the window reveals quotations from articles inside the issue, adjacent to an advertisement for “One Way Out,” a new series on the Discovery Channel cable network.   This uniqueness was then picked up by the New York York times on Jan.15th (http://tinyurl.com/8fq39b). This cover is sure to attract attention from other publications and media.  

Creativity is the lifeline of this business.   My hats  off to how Discovery pulled this off.  Also, I have watched the pilot and seen clips of some of the upcoming episodes and I think you will have a fun time watching this show.  For a promo of the show go to the website at http://tinyurl.com/99rcm.  To view Terry’s page on Jonathan’s site go to http://tinyurl.com/8xbeo.

Dan and Terry Stroud and crew from the TV show Master Blasters.