Smashy gave good quotes. Approached by reporters after Mayor Frank Rizzo canceled the contract, The Smash spoke kindly of the man he had campaigned for.
"Listen, I love him. If he had a dress on, I'd marry him. Put that in the paper." Which the papers did.
Producers of the the TLC network show, to be called Wreck Chasers, insist there's still much strong material to shoot even if there's no more Smashy.
"Philadelphia tow-truck drivers are extremely outspoken and colorful, and they don't mind telling you what they think," says Jim Kowats, the series' executive producer. His resume includes a writing credit on a Treasure Quest episode titled "Pirates," so he has experience in the genre.
How great is this going to be?
Two half-hour episodes have been taped already and are to be telecast Oct. 28. Four more shows are in the works. Though the production team has caught some fistfights on camera, it apparently missed the biggest splash of the summer.
That occurred July 19, when a J & Sons Auto Body employee made an emphatic sales pitch at a North Philadelphia accident location by shooting a competitor from Mystical Complete Auto Service in the thigh. A couple of nights later cars were torched and more shots fired.
And you thought the A&E series on the Philadelphia Parking Authority was good for business. Wreck Chasers promises to do for Philadelphia what Snooki has done for the Jersey Shore.
So how will Philadelphia appear to the viewer from Dubuque?
"Very real," Kowats replied. "What they're doing in trying to make a living is completely relevant to everyone in the country," he said. Tough times, indeed.
I'm still waiting to hear back from Mayor Nutter, but his spokeswoman, Maura Kennedy, shared my excitement at the prospect of Philadelphia's rough and tumble road warriors representing the city.
"Oh, awesome," she said.
