“Trick My What? 9 p.m. Friday, CMT

RICHMOND, Texas — Something about the scene for the new CMT reality series being shot here last week seemed strangely out of whack.

John Schneider, who became famous in the 1980s as one of the General Lee’s daredevil drivers in “The Dukes of Hazzard,” was steering a road grader that inched along while he watched the blade scrape dirt.

He was going slow — very slow — and being so careful. It was very un-Bo Duke-like driving, although we had just seen him skid to a stop in a pristine car to make a splashy entrance.

And the big man in the cowboy hat and boots itching to take over for Schneider wasn’t Boss Hogg, the Dukes’ nemesis. He was Patrick Sims, an Alvin asphalt contractor, who was getting Schneider started on the paving process.

The actor, singer/songwriter and accomplished driver also has been getting lessons on a cement mixer, shrimp boat, farm tractor and septic-tank pump truck as the host of “Trick My What?.”

Described as “Dirty Jobs” meets “Trick My Truck,” the show refurbishes heavy equipment that nine Texans depend on for their businesses. Schneider, 51, learns about the lives of the blue-collar men and women while working with them.

“The biggest difference between cars and this kind of equipment is that cars are much more forgiving, or maybe I just know more about them. But these things — that blade is so touchy,” Schneider said during a lunch break from the asphalt job.

Although Sims couldn’t wait to hop back on the grader and get things moving a little faster, he said Schneider did a pretty good job.

“Well, it’s just when you see somebody that doesn’t really know exactly what’s going on, you just kind of want to get on there and help them,” Sims said. “He being an actor, I think he’s a pretty fast learner.”

Sims thought he was being pranked earlier this year when a producer met him to gauge his interest in participating in the series. He still didn’t believe it when he got the call that he had been chosen.

“It’s just something that would never happen to you, you know what I’m saying? It’s just like finding a sack full of money on the road,” said Sims, who works with his 22-year-old son, Cory.

When the episode airs, Sims and Schneider will show off 5,000 square feet of fresh asphalt and Sims will get his first look at the tricked-out roller that he uses to crush loads and patch roads. No sneak peeks were allowed.

The flashy part of each hourlong episode is revealing the customized work by Lonestar Speed Shop in Richmond, Schneider said.

“You know that their vehicle is going to be as good as new when my guys at Lonestar get done with it. What you don’t know is how much better than new it is going to be,” Schneider said.

The premiere episode will feature Paul Palmer, a logger from Batson, and his busted tree skidder. In future episodes, look for Texans Alfred Froberg, produce farmer from Alvin; Jason Class, concrete supplier from Eagle Lake; Jim McGraw, bricklayer from Sugar Land; Alan Parker, sanitation serviceman from Crystal Beach; America Cordaway, feed supplier from Royse City; Willard Hill, pig farmer from Nevada; and Brian Brady, shrimper from Palacios.

While shooting the CMT series the past couple of months, Schneider has been living in a motor home parked in front of the Lonestar shop. With his guitar and laptop, he had spent most of the previous evening working on a new song, he said.