What's In A Name? Travel Channel Crew Visits Hooker, Beaver To Find Out More

March 7, 2013

The film crew from Eyeboogie Inc. works to get the lighting just right for an interview with Hooker Police Chief Buddy Holbert. Hired by the Travel Channel, the crew was in the Panhandle to put together a show about towns with “interesting” names. Hooker and Beaver were on the crews’ list to visit. Herald Staff Photo/Nancy Kletecka

The rural community of Hooker was in the spotlight last week when a film crew from Los Angeles, Calif., came to town.
Eyeboogie Inc., contracted by the Travel Channel, made the trek to the Oklahoma Panhandle with a single purpose in mind: to visit towns with “interesting” names.
Bundled up for a chill that had taken over the area, the sunny California crew were ready and willing to learn more about Hooker and how it got its name.
“We’ve been to the Hooker Chamber of Commerce and spoken with Linda(Martin),” said Chad Gajadhar, Co-Executive Producer for Eyeboogie Inc. “She told us a little bit of the history of the town and the people.”
Martin, who owns and runs the local flower shop, is also President of the Hooker Chamber of Commerce.
According to Gajadhar, they will be traveling all over the country looking for towns like Hooker and Beaver to incorporate into the show, the idea of which came from executives at the Travel Channel.
“The Travel Channel came to us with the idea and said they thought we would be a good company to do it because we had dome some other projects for them,” Gahadhar said. “They wanted us to develop a show around the idea, so they basically put it in our lap and said develop it. We have been working with them for about a year.”
Gajadhar said they started the project last April and have been working on it off and on since that time. The first work they actually shot for it was around Thanksgiving.
Most networks hire TV production crews to do projects like this, he said, “to produce shows for them.”
Gajadhar was quick to point out that the show is more than just about a name.
“That’s the premise of getting us to these towns is the interesting names, but we really want to find the story behind the town and what it’s like,” he said. “We want to learn what it’s like living in a town with a funny name and what the people themselves are like.”
The crew was very busy in Hooker, making stops at the Hooker Inn, the police department, the Hooker Variety Store and more.
“We also spoke with a couple of cheerleaders from the high school and they did some cheers for us,” Gajadhar said. “We spoke with the manager of the Hooker Horny Toads and a cowboy at an arena outside of town.”
Gajadhar said they typically stay in an area for a day or two. And that held true for the Oklahoma Panhandle, where they spent a day and a half in Hooker and about a day in Beaver.
Gajadhar said everyone in the community was “great”.
“They were very friendly and very accommodating,” he said. “It was a nice, small town - everybody knows each other. Invariably I asked people what their favorite thing was about Hooker and their answer was ‘the people’. That is a real asset. Everyone really enjoys living there and the kind of people there so that was nice to see.”
Hooker Chief of Police Buddy Holbert was one of those to confirm why people like to live in Hooker.
“I love the people and the summer nights,” he said. “We’ve got some of the most beautiful sunsets in this part of the world. The people here are very good and very accommodating. We don’t have to worry about a lot of crime. It’s a very family oriented and care free lifestyle here.”
Holbert pointed out most of the residents have “fun” with the name and confirmed he himself has heard a lot of “one liners” about the town name.
“But we really don’t have any hookers right around here,” he said with a laugh.
Holbert said they are even looking into some T-shirts for the town’s police department, fire department and EMS.
The Eyeboogie Inc., crew was in Hooker Feb. 28 and March 1. They then traveled to Beaver March 2.
“We were there for a little bit on Saturday,” Gajadhar said. “We caught up with a woman who was a nine-time champion for the Beaver Cowchip throwing days and spoke with a local historian.”
“Interesting” to say the least, the crew has already been to towns in Pennsylvania in close proximity to each other bearing unforgettable names such as Intercourse, Virginville and Blue Ball.
Other towns are already getting a mention on the Travel Channel’s Web site include: Slaughterville, Okla.; Looneyville, Texas; Hell, Mich.; Sandwich, Mass.; Happyland, Ct.; Surprise, NY; Welcome, S.C.; Allgood, Ala.; and Little Heaven, DE.
As to when the show will air, Gajadhar isn’t sure yet.
“That’s not up to me,” he said. “ We will deliver the show to the Travel Channel in April and they will decide when it will air.”
He added that the likelihood Hooker and Beaver will make the cut for inclusion in the show are good.
Travel Channel airs on Channel 196 for Dish customers, Channel 59 for PTCI customers and Channel 277 for Direct TV customers.