Alan Parker thought he was on the receiving end of a prank phone call in July when the producers of a new CMT Network show, Trick My What? dialed him up and asked if he had an old vehicle in need of restoration. But Parker, owner of Peninsula Septic Service in Crystal Beach, Texas, soon found out this was no joke.

In no time at all, Parker’s aging 1979 International Transtar 4300 vacuum truck was whisked away for a makeover and the show’s host, actor/singer John Schneider (Bo Duke, of The Dukes of Hazard fame) was at his shop learning the finer points of the septic service business. Parker and his wife, Teresa, are excited to watch the first airing of the Trick My What? episode they were featured in on Friday, Oct. 28 (10 p.m. Eastern/9 p.m. Central) on CMT.

“They really did a number on it,’’ Alan Parker said of the big reveal of his rig, which was restored by Lonestar Speed Shop. In an upcoming issue of Pumper, we’ll show photos of Parker’s rig and share more details about his business located on Bolivar Peninsula, a popular Texas resort area.

Parker said the show’s producers were encouraged to call him because his hometown was practically wiped out by Hurricane Ike in 2008. At the same time that 65 percent of the community’s homes were destroyed by the storm, Parker had just purchased three new service vehicles. The devastation and the poor economy have been an economic challenge for Parker’s company, but he’s now just starting to come out of it.

Trick My What? is sort of a combination of the popular reality shows, Trick My Truck and Dirty Jobs. In the show, Schneider travels the country to help small businesses refurbish a favorite piece of equipment, and also learns the challenges of their jobs. Check it out on Friday and come back here and let us know what you thought of Parker’s appearance and his tricked-out rig.