“Small Town Big Deal” TV crew shooting episodes along Route 66

A crew from the “Small Town Big Deal” television program has shot along Route 66 in Missouri, Kansas and Oklahoma for several upcoming episodes.

“Small Town Big Deal,” hosted by Rodney Miller and Jann Carl, originated on RFD-TV and became the cable channel’s highest-rated program. The show went into syndication and now airs on 160 stations.

The crew initially went down Route 66 in Illinois last fall, then started grabbing more footage in Missouri, Kansas and Oklahoma in recent days. Rich Dinkela, president of the Route 66 Association of Missouri, has served as their unofficial tour guide.

Here are some snippets of video and photographs, including the Chicago-to-Mississippi River episode:

Here are photographs from along Missouri, Kansas and Oklahoma in recent days.

Eastern Missouri:

Fanning Outpost in Fanning, Missouri:

Mid-Missouri:

More Missouri:

At Red Oak II near Carthage, Missouri:

Kansas and northeast Oklahoma:

A snippet about the shoot in Miami, Oklahoma:

Here’s the Blue Whale in Catoosa, Oklahoma:

With Oklahoma Route 66 Association president Rhys Martin in Tulsa:

At Buck Atom’s Cosmic Curios on Route 66 in Tulsa, along with stops in Stroud and Arcadia:

In western Oklahoma on the final day of shooting:

“Small Town Big Deal” has a list where and when you can watch the show in your local market. Dinkela says the new Route 66 episodes will air in October or November.

(Screen-capture image from video of “Small Town Big Deal’s” Rodney Miller and Jann Carl interviewing Lowell Davis at Red Oak II near Carthage, Missouri)