Locals Involved In Animal Planet Series

OCEAN CITY - Ocean City locals will be featured tonight in an Animal Planet series premiere.

'Hillbilly Hand Fishin'' will feature Ocean City native Josh Hardt taking part in 'noodling', a sport of extreme cat fishing.

Mike Stavrinos will join Hardt, a friend he had met while attending Towson University.

Kevin Meehan, son of Ocean City Mayor Rick Meehan, edits the show. He is employed by Half Yard Productions, which produces 'Hillbilly Hand Fishin'' for the Animal Planet.

'The company for which I work, Half Yard Productions, was looking for teams of two to cast for the show,' Kevin said. 'Right away I thought about Josh and Mike. Two likable, adventurous •€˜dudes' who would be good on TV and who would also love to go noodling. I recommended them to our casting department and they ended up being picked up to be on the show.'

Kevin Meehan said he was excited at the opportunity of giving Ocean City some television exposure.

'I was stoked to be able to get my hometown and my buddies involved in a show on which I was working,' Kevin said. 'It makes it more fun to work on for me. The audience will see Ocean City's beach, ocean, and bay. There is also footage of Josh being interviewed in Ocean Pines.'

At Monday's Mayor and Council meeting, Meehan added a 'plug' for the show.

'You don't want to miss this now,' he said. 'If you want to see something really unique, watch this show.'

The new series will air Friday, Sept. 24 at 9 p.m. on Animal Planet.