Do any of you follow non-scripted TV? If so, you’ll know there is a sub-genre of programming known as “blue collar jobs.” Series like “Deadliest Catch” (lobstermen), “Ax Men” (loggers), “Ice Road Truckers” (truck drivers). Those are the rural shows. Then there are the urban ones like “Parking Wars” (parking enforcement and tow trucks). For some reason, people seem to be fascinated by these kind of gigs.

With that in mind, this caught my attention: Tow Truck War Erupts in Philadelphia:

PHILADELPHIA — A tow truck driver is shot, allegedly by a rival, at an accident scene. Two days later, properties linked to both companies are torched or riddled by gunfire.

A towing turf war has broken out in Philadelphia.

“I’ve never seen problems where it erupted into this kind of violence,” Philadelphia police spokesman Frank Vanore said.

Philadelphia has tried in recent years to rein in pushy tow truck drivers who start aggressively competing for business the second an accident comes across the police radio. “Wreck-chasers” race to accident scenes to sign up drivers with papers that sometimes commit them to expensive repairs, said a city councilman who has pushed legislation to make the towing process more orderly.

“Whoever’s fingerprints are on that car first normally gets the ability to claim the wreck,” said Councilman Frank Rizzo. “And that’s probably what caused this dispute.”

There have been plenty of movies about one-upmanship.

* Tin Men (1987): A minor car accident drives two rival aluminum-siding salesmen to the ridiculous extremes of man versus man in 1963 Baltimore.

* Grumpy Old Men (1993): A lifelong feud between two neighbors since childhood, only gets worse when a new female neighbor moves across the street.

* Pushing Tin (1999): A feud develops between two air traffic controllers: one cocky and determined while the other is restrained and laidback, which inevitably affects their lives.

* Deck the Halls (2006): Two neighbors have it out after one of them decorates his house for the holidays so brightly that it can be seen from space.

So one angle on this is rival tow truck operators who get into a feud that grows way out of proportion. Comedy? Yes. But you could go dark with it, too, with violence leading to more violence.

Another angle would be to explore the subculture of tow trucks ala one of my favorite movies, Alex Cox’s brilliant Repo Man (1984): Young punk Otto becomes a repo man after helping to steal a car, and stumbles into a world of wackiness as a result.

What do you think? Anything there with rival tow truck operators?