Cross-posted from the Entertainment board.

This is a three Episode series on the succession of ownership of the Texas Renaissance Fair, produced by Josh and Benny Safdie's Elara Pictures. Episode 1 dropped last night. The current owner/king, George Coulam, is looking to sell the fair because he is getting up there in age, his health is declining, and he is looking to focus on finding a companion.

IMO, this is GOLD. Episode 1 was hilarious. The characters are insane. And it's just shot and presented really well. As a kid our family would go to the Ren Fair and now I'm taking my kids every so often, so it also has that local appeal.

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When the ailing king of America's largest renaissance festival declares his retirement, an epic power struggle ensues between an actor, a former elephant trainer, and a kettle-corn kingpin to claim his throne.

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Kettle corn kingpin is not a word grouping i ever anticipated reading.

https://www.georgeccoulam.com/

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George Coulam is a healthy 6'2",173 lbs., 86-year-old sexually active Caucasian male entrepreneur. His home and 200 acre estate gardens are located 7 miles north of Magnolia in the small town of Todd Mission, TX where he serves as Mayor. George earned his master's degree in art from the University of California at North Ridge.

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Just a boss with big appetites

CW Griswold said:

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https://www.georgeccoulam.com/

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George Coulam is a healthy 6'2",173 lbs., 86-year-old sexually active Caucasian male entrepreneur. His home and 200 acre estate gardens are located 7 miles north of Magnolia in the small town of Todd Mission, TX where he serves as Mayor. George earned his master's degree in art from the University of California at North Ridge.

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Just a boss with big appetites

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With an assistant hired to exclusively run his online dating profiles across 15 platforms.

This is my first time hearing about this and holy ****, I'm pumped. Can't wait to watch.

CW Griswold said:

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https://www.georgeccoulam.com/

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George Coulam is a healthy 6'2",173 lbs., 86-year-old sexually active Caucasian male entrepreneur. His home and 200 acre estate gardens are located 7 miles north of Magnolia in the small town of Todd Mission, TX where he serves as Mayor. George earned his master's degree in art from the University of California at North Ridge.

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Just a boss with big appetites

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Straight villainous.

https://www.houstonpress.com/news/coulam-looking-for-an-assistant-to-navigate-his-dating-profile-13770867

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In one of the creepier jobs postings on Indeed, Texas Renaissance Festival founder "King George" Coulam, 85, is looking to hire a data entry assistant. The data an applicant would be entering would include looking for dates for him.

"Seeking individual to assist retired gentleman manage his online dating profiles," it reads. "Position is located near Magnolia TX."

The job pays $16/hour, and would require a presence at Coulam's mansion, Stargate. Remote work is not allowed.

That last stipulation should give anyone applying for the job pause. Coulam has a very long history of creepy behavior centered around the Texas Renaissance Festival. Two years ago, the Houston Press spoke to a former employee who says Coulam ordered her to place ads in local papers looking for women to marry. The ads promised a $10,000 wedding gift and an allowance of $35,000 annually to live with Coulam.

"I don't know why this fell to me," she said at the time. "Maybe because I was the new guy. I had to contact a doctor and a village elder [in Thailand] to translate for her family. The financial arrangement had already been made; it was around $35,000. He traveled to Thailand a lot and knew about kathoey (Thai trans women). I had to express to the doctor that it was important that this was not a surgically created vagina."

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Louie is A&M c/o '97.

Brings great delight to my Corps buddies and I to see our former pisshead starring in this absolute poop show.

He's our version of L Ron Hubbard

King George is basically a fusion of Mattress Mack and Doc Antle.

I never really liked it, it was expensive, too hot or too muddy, had too many too old women wearing too little, and usually kept me from seeing a decent football game...but the thing that really turned me off was when somebody in a grim reaper costume offered my little girls candy.

You don't have to worry about this being unverified gossip - they spent about 5-10 minutes showing exactly this. Only his personal assistant is a man who helps with his dating profiles, not a woman.

The episode was fascinating. I thought the production was fantastic and the people involved utterly bizarre. Not as scandalous/salacious as something like Tiger King or Telemarketers, but does a good job of highlighting a weird slice of life in our backyard.

combat wombat said:

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**PURE SALACIOUS GOSSIP, COMPLETELY UNVERIFIED**

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Thought it was an unspoken understanding that this was/is/always will be the official Tine Board tagline.

94chem said:

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I never really liked it, it was expensive, too hot or too muddy, had too many too old women wearing too little, and usually kept me from seeing a decent football game...but the thing that really turned me off was when somebody in a grim reaper costume offered my little girls candy.

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I thought it was mostly wholesome fun as a kid in the mid to late 80s. I went back sometime around 2008 and it had turned into a gross cross between people of Walmart and game of thrones. Pass.

P.H. Dexippus said:

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94chem said:

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I never really liked it, it was expensive, too hot or too muddy, had too many too old women wearing too little, and usually kept me from seeing a decent football game...but the thing that really turned me off was when somebody in a grim reaper costume offered my little girls candy.

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I thought it was mostly wholesome fun as a kid in the mid to late 80s. I went back sometime around 2008 and it had turned into a gross cross between people of Walmart and game of thrones. Pass.

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My limited childhood memories are of the giant turkey legs, the flame-eaters, and the jousting.

Went back as an adult probably in that same 2008 era and thought it pretty sad. I know that everybody has different things they're into but grown-ass people playing fantasy dress-up is bizarre to me. I get more historical re-enactment stuff like folks that do Civil War re-enactments and so forth because they're trying to be historically accurate but some 5'7" 350# dude wearing a chain-mail bikini with face-paint and a toy dragon on his shoulder claiming to be some sort of hybrid Conan the Barbarian/wizard is beyond my ability to comprehend.

94chem said:

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P.H. Dexippus said:

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94chem said:

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I never really liked it, it was expensive, too hot or too muddy, had too many too old women wearing too little, and usually kept me from seeing a decent football game...but the thing that really turned me off was when somebody in a grim reaper costume offered my little girls candy.

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I thought it was mostly wholesome fun as a kid in the mid to late 80s. I went back sometime around 2008 and it had turned into a gross cross between people of Walmart and game of thrones. Pass.

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That's basically what I was saying.

I just got the sense that a lot of people there were hiding behind the costumes because RenFest gave them a way to normalize their pedo urges or whatever else needed to stay in the darkness.

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Maybe I'm naive but I don't think it goes that dark but I do think that if you're a grown-ass person who is so invested in playing dress-up then there's something wrong in between your ears. This goes for Ren Fest, cosplay/comicon-types, obviously furries, and even the more usually harmless Harry Potter/Star Wars/Trekkie types. I can understand the appeal of escapism but to be so immersed in it is just sad and likely an indication of something lacking elsewhere in your life.

94chem said:

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P.H. Dexippus said:

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94chem said:

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I never really liked it, it was expensive, too hot or too muddy, had too many too old women wearing too little, and usually kept me from seeing a decent football game...but the thing that really turned me off was when somebody in a grim reaper costume offered my little girls candy.

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I thought it was mostly wholesome fun as a kid in the mid to late 80s. I went back sometime around 2008 and it had turned into a gross cross between people of Walmart and game of thrones. Pass.

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That's basically what I was saying.

I just got the sense that a lot of people there were hiding behind the costumes because RenFest gave them a way to normalize their pedo urges or whatever else needed to stay in the darkness.

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Yeah, it used to be just a bunch of harmless dorks doing their medieval LARP and D&D stuff. Now it is another outlet for the freaks, goths and fetishists who don't get enough of their jollies out during pride parades.

It's epic people-watching and my kids love the jousting, face-painting, the birds of prey show, the public executions, the turkey legs, the random sword duels, and carny games. It's still a good time, despite the random dressed up weirdos.