‘Fat N’ Furious’ run ends, but hope remains

July 2, 2016 at 12:05a.m.

By GUY D’ASTOLFO

After three seasons, “Fat N’ Furious: Rolling Thunder” has reached the end of its ride.

Or has it?

The Discovery Channel show that follows the crew at Christmas Automotive of Boardman as it acquires dilapidated muscle cars and gets them into racing trim will not be renewed for a fourth season.

While officials from Discovery did not return calls, there was little doubt that the show – which was shot at Christmas Automotive’s speed shop in the New Springfield area – would not be returning to the network.

Fans of the show on Facebook have been mobilizing to convince Discovery that it’s worth keeping on.

Reached Friday morning, Tommy Christmas, owner of the automotive shop, was resigned that the run on Discovery had ended, but was optimistic that the show will continue on another network.

“It was a heck of a ride,” said Christmas on Friday. “We touched a lot of people and made a lot of people smile and laugh. But I believe it’s not over yet. I believe another network will pick us up.”

So far this season, “Fat N’ Furious” has been averaging a respectable 1.6 million viewers per episode, said Christmas.

The series is currently on a short hiatus after the first six episodes of season three. The final two will air on July 11 and July 18 at 10 p.m.

“Fat N’ Furious” was launched in June of 2014 with a six-episode premiere season. It was renewed twice, airing an eight-episode season last year.

The comical car-building buddies who comprise the cast include Christmas, Chuck Kountz, Steve McGranahan and Andy Pivarnik . The four are real-life friends who live in the Mahoning and Shenango valleys, and they’ve become regular celebrities at the area’s many car shows.

“Fat N’ Furious” – so named because the quartet has a healthy appetite – mixes equal parts of humor, car knowledge and heart-tugging emotion into each episode. Car rebuilds are occasionally done at risk of a financial loss – at least on the series – because Christmas & Co. were so moved by the backstory of the vehicle, and how much it means to the owner. Real tears often accompanied the moment when the rebuilt car was revealed to its owner.

“Fat N’ Furious” fit in with Discovery’s block of fast-car programming, but the hour-long show stands out because it is family-friendly.

There has never been a need to bleep out the curse words, as is common on the other series in the genre.