Hogan Knows Best


Hogan Knows Best is an American reality documentary television series on VH1. The series debuted on July 10, 2005 and centered on the family life of professional wrestler Hulk Hogan. 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 title of the show is a spoof of the 1950s television series, Father Knows Best.
After the cancellation of Hogan Knows Best in 2007, a spin-off entitled Brooke Knows Best debuted in 2008, and ran for two seasons.

Cast

The series premiered on July 10, 2005 with a 1.9, representing the largest audience for a VH1 premiere ever at that time. It began airing on CMT in early 2006 and also aired on Viva, MTV and Bio. in the UK and Ireland, TVtropolis in Canada, MusiquePlus in Quebec, Both VH1 and MTV in Australia, MTV Italia in Italy, MTV Central in Germany and Austria, VH1, MTV Portugal in Portugal, in The Netherlands on MTV Netherlands with Dutch subtitles and in India on VH1, in France on Game one, C4 and The Box in New Zealand. in Norway both on MTV Norway and VH1 with Norwegian subtitles, in Latin America with Spanish subtitles on VH1 and in Brazil with Portuguese subtitles on VH1. In Finland with Finnish subtitles on Sub and MTV Finland.
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 chronicled Hogan's return to the World Wrestling Entertainment after the demise of the World Championship Wrestling and 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 as lawyer and music studio bills in excess of $200,000 had come in recently.

Filming

Hogan explains in his 2009 autobiography My Life Outside the Ring, that paying unionized camera crews to film subjects continuously until something telegenic or dramatic occurs would prohibitively expensive, and that as a result, shows such as Hogan Knows Best are "soft-scripted", and follow a tightly regimented shooting schedule that allows for typical work-related considerations such as lunch breaks. When filming soft-scripted shows, the subjects are given a scenario by the producers to act out, perhaps an exaggerated version of something likely to be encountered in their real lives, are informed of the outcome, and possible "beats" in between, and instructed to improvise, which Hogan says is a version of what he did as a professional wrestler. According to Hogan, this would result in behavior that members of his family would never exhibit in real life, as when his son, Nick tossed water balloons at neighbors from a window, or when his wife would wake up early to apply makeup and do her hair before camera crews arrived to film shots of the couple sleeping.

Cancellation

It was reported that taping for an additional season of Hogan Knows Best halted in the summer of 2007, before it was finally determined that the show was canceled in early 2008 due to problems involving Nick, Linda, and Terry Bollea.
On August 26, 2007, Nick was involved in a car crash while speeding in his Toyota Supra in Clearwater, Florida. Nick was sent to the hospital and released the following morning. However, his friend was seriously injured as a result of the car accident. Nick was charged with a felony for reckless driving and underage drinking. Also he was charged with violating limits on blood alcohol levels while driving. He was arrested on November 7, 2007, and sent to jail. However, his parents released him on a $10,000 bond shortly thereafter. Nick's friend, 22-year-old active-duty Marine John Graziano, is now on life support with serious brain injuries. It is now expected that he will require lifelong care, requiring him to spend the remainder of his life in a nursing home. The Hogan family issued a statement on how they were saddened that criminal charges had been filed against Nick, and how John was not wearing his seatbelt, but that Nick was. On May 9, 2008, Bollea entered a no contest plea and was sentenced to eight months in Pinellas County Jail.
In 2007 while the Hogan family was shooting Hogan Knows Best, Hulk Hogan allegedly cheated on Linda Claridge with a female friend of his daughter's, Christiane Plante. Plante, the one to confess to the affair with Hulk Hogan, worked with Brooke Hogan on her 2006 album. Plante, 21 years younger than Hulk Hogan, claimed: "My relationship with Terry began at a time when Terry and Linda privately knew their marriage was ending. She had left him already, although no official papers had been filed. Terry is a good man, good father and a good friend, and he and I grew close at a time when he was going through a very difficult period. It seemed right then, but I know it was wrong. Having felt the guilt and pain build up, I gave a note to Brooke apologizing for my actions. I will never be able to fully forgive myself for this. I have lost an amazing friend."
On November 24, 2007, it was announced that Linda filed for divorce from Hulk Hogan after 24 years of marriage. Hogan was uninformed of this until a reporter showed him the paperwork submitted by his wife. Linda had been away from him for three weeks in California when she submitted the paperwork. In court papers, Linda states the marriage is "irretrievably broken." In the court papers, she also addresses custody of their son, Nick, asking for primary physical custody of him, while Hulk would receive "liberal visitation and access to the child." Linda is reportedly seeking half of the couple's $9.5m in assets, including a stake in their Bellaire mansion in Florida. In addition, Linda also asks for alimony, child support, and Hulk to pay for Nick's health insurance and take out a life insurance policy to cover child support for Nick if necessary.
After filing for divorce in November 2007, Linda began dating Charlie Hill in December 2007. Hill was a student at Brooke and Nick's high school, one grade above Nick and one grade below Brooke. In November 2008, Linda revealed to the public that she made the decision to end her marriage after finding out about Hulk Hogan's alleged affair.
Due to the accident and legal issues that surrounded Nick and the divorce between Linda and Terry, the show was canceled. After the show's cancellation, a spin-off came out entitled Brooke Knows Best which focuses on Brooke Hogan independent from her parents, living with two roommates. The spin-off was cancelled the following year, after surviving only two seasons.

Episodes

Season 1 (2005)

Season 2 (2006)

Season 3 (2006-2007)

Season 4 (2007)

Reception

Jill Murphy from Common Sense Media gave the show 3 out of 5 stars.

DVD release

Hogan Knows Best Seasons 1, 2, & 3 were released on DVD on September 25, 2007 exclusively at Suncoast and FYE. Hogan Knows Best Season 1 was released on DVD regions 2 and 4 in early 2008. Known release countries are Germany, Norway and Australia. Hogan Knows Best Season 2 was released on region 4 DVD by Magna Pacific in May 2010.