Hogan Knows Best (Courtesy Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

Hogan Knows Best is a partly-scripted, American reality television show, centered around the family life of professional wrestling legend Hulk Hogan (Terry Bollea), and often focusing on the Hogans' raising of their children, and on Hulk Hogan's attempts to manage and assist in his children's burgeoning careers. The series premiered on July 10, 2005 with a 1.9 (cable Nielsen rating), representing the largest audience for a VH1 premiere ever. It began airing on CMT in early 2006 and also airs on TMF, MTV and The Biography Channel in the UK and Ireland, TVtropolis in Canada, MusiquePlus in French Canadian (in French, the show is Hogan a raison, "Hogan is right"), VH1 in Australia, MTV Italia in Italy (in English with Italian subtitles), MTV Central in Germany and Austria (in English with German subtitles), VH1, MTV Portugal in Portugal (in English with Portuguese subtitles) and in The Netherlands on MTV Netherlands with Dutch subtitles.

The show was originally pitched and offered to Hulk Hogan prior to his famous WrestleMania X8 "Icon vs. Icon" match with The Rock in 2002. It would chronicle Hogan's return to the WWE after the demise of the WCW and after surgery on both of his knees. Hogan declined. However, after later noticing the success of pop stars such as Hilary Duff and Britney Spears, Hogan accepted a deal to do the show as a way to help promote daughter Brooke's singing career. In the episode "Hulkamania Forever", Hulk also mentions that the family has no source of income, suggesting that the reason behind doing the show was a money making ploy, as lawyer & music studio bills in excess of $200,000 have come in recently.

Cast

• Terry "Hulk" Hogan is represented on the show as a strict and protective father, in particular with regards of the opposite sex being anywhere near his daughter, Brooke. On more than one occasion, he has schemed ways to spy on her when hanging out with guys. However, because of a competition involving finding the right boyfriend for Brooke, Terry wanted to win so badly that he actually encouraged Brooke to be together with the boy he chose for her. His career as a wrestler has taken its toll on his body, including weak knees and an artificial hip replacement, though he still works out in order to maintain his physique. In an effort to conceal his baldness, he always wears a hat or bandanna.

• Linda Hogan is Hogan's wife. An ardent animal lover, she temporarily took a baby chimpanzee into the house in one episode, and seriously considered adopting it. Of she and Hulk, she is the more lenient parent. She has serious reservations about Hulk returning to the ring, and about her son contemplating a wrestling career.

• Brooke Hogan is Hulk and Linda's teen-age daughter who is often at odds with her parents over issues such as dating, living her life like a normal teen-aged girl, and privacy. An aspiring pop music singer, she recently produced a new song to kick off her career, and signed a $1.3 million contract when she turned eighteen. Hulk's nickname for her is "Brooke-tini."

• Nick Hogan is Hulk and Linda's son, who is two years younger than Brooke. Nick is always up to his antics. Although Nick and Brooke have an amicable relationship overall, there are moments when they take pleasure in tattling and getting one another in trouble. Nick aspires to be a professional wrestler, though his father has encouraged him to take acting lessons in order to improve his sense of showmanship. Nick is now primarily involved as a professional drift car driver for Dodge. He got his Formula-D license in 2006. On August 26, 2007, Nick was involved in a serious car crash while driving his Toyota Supra with a friend in Clearwater, Florida. Nick was released from the hospital the following morning.

Recurring themes

• The family keeps over thirty pets, including dogs, cats, birds, chinchillas, and their affinity for animals has been the source of conflict of more than one episode.

• A close-knit family, they often end episodes by assembling into a huddle as a way of signifying that they are a team.

• Promoting Brooke's attempts to become a singer.

• Hulk often objecting to Brooke's boyfriends and dates.

Production Information

Throughout the episodes of Hogan Knows Best there is a recurring theme to which his family wants Hogan to abstain from physical wrestling events due to his age, previous injuries, and the threat of a debilitating injury should he continue. This has led Hogan to allow endorsement opportunities to be presented to him on the show.

Hogan endorses Socko, an energy drink (newly-dubbed "Hulk Energy Powered by Socko", and was later changed to "Hogan Energy Powered by Socko"), which features his likeness. Hogan has joked on the show that he missed out on an endorsement that would have put the "Hulk" name on the George Foreman Grill and regretfully endorsed a shake mixer instead. On the show, Hogan records a voice-over for a radio commercial, and the entire Hogan family appears on an infomercial for a new indoor cooking device, "Hulk Hogan's Ultimate Grill."

Hogan commented on the The Bubba The Love Sponge Show that the series may come to an end after the third season. Fearing the family will not be together enough for a successful series, he cited the busy schedule of Brooke touring, and Nick being signed to drive for Dodge.

However, in early March 2007, Hogan confirmed on The Bubba The Love Sponge Show that Season Four had started filming and they had just wrapped up filming the new season's first episode. The 4th season premiered on July 22, 2007.

Hogan Knows Best Season 1 will be released on DVD on October 22 2007.

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