American Pickers

[Chuckyg1]

Just finished watching the newest episode of American Pickers. Lotsa cool stuff from my youth. The Rickshaw is one of them, the rest you can discover on your own, and watch in awe as more cars are revealed. The episode title is Hollywood hot rods and is worth a look, especially if you're into movie/tv cars. Check it out.

[espo]

I cant believe what they pay for some items and think they're going to resell and make a profit. You know the old saying about one mans trash being another mans treasure. 

[Tom Geiger]

They don't!  It's television.   One of the east coast model car dealers was on the show... he was the guy who had an old train station in Pennsylvania full of model trains.  

There is no way these guys could drive around, wasting gas and travel expenses to buy a few trinkets at each stop.  In real life they'd just offer the seller a bulk number for everything!   Since seller's goal is to empty the property.  And they'd have to buy ten cents on the dollar to make any money!

[espo]

11 minutes ago, Tom Geiger said:

They don't!  It's television.   One of the east coast model car dealers was on the show... he was the guy who had an old train station in Pennsylvania full of model trains.  

There is no way these guys could drive around, wasting gas and travel expenses to buy a few trinkets at each stop.  In real life they'd just offer the seller a bulk number for everything!   Since seller's goal is to empty the property.  And they'd have to buy ten cents on the dollar to make any money!

This has always been my feeling about this show but I didn't want to start anything. "Reality TV" at it's finest.  

[The Junkman]

A friend of mine was the subject of an episode (old/antique surfboards).  Much communication was done, arrangements made and agreed to between my friend and the production company prior to them ever showing up at his place.  Reality TV isn't.

Edited March 3, 2021 by The Junkman

[Tom Geiger]

Yup, when they knock on a door and the person looks surprised, note that they’ve already signed a contract!

Still, the characters are good likable folks and it’s fun to see the collections of “stuff” out there..  as in “See honey, my collection is nowhere as bad as that!”

[BlackSheep214]

American Pickers... fake reality show. Used to watch it but after awhile you kinda get suspicious that there’s no way any of it is real and unedited. Kinda like Storage Wars where they plant items in these “abandoned” storage sheds. But hey, it’s entertainment for suckers. I don’t waste my time tuning into American Pickers.

[slusher]

What’s good is seeing things you remember from the past or connection with. Cool show but it is a scripted reality show..

[styromaniac]

After awhile you can't escape the notion that it's all scripted....after all...you've got location shots, overhead shots from helicopters, and probably a second van or a semi hauling camera crew and equipment. But its still a fun show...I enjoy it...and the frequent references to past product history is informative and educational. ( like Rick Dale's American Restoration...I miss that show ). I got a big kick out of the episode where Mike Wolfe, Frankie Fritz and Danielle put a time capsule in the wall of their shop addition...Mike included a built up Rat Fink model and gave a little story about Big Daddy Roth...touched the heart of this old baby boomer!

 

[Tom Geiger]

Hey even Bitchin Rides is scripted.. there was one episode where the car owner didn’t get excited at the reveal so they retook it a few times!  And we saw all the takes until they got a little “Wow!” out of him!

[BlackSheep214]

Bitchin' Rides is BLAH_BLAH_BLAH_BLAH. Never liked his work. Now.... Iron Resurrection is great. I'd rather see Martin brothers work their magic on cars than Bitchin' Rides. Let's not forget  that Junkyard restorer show. Guy gets done with his restoration only none of then seem to run right. The other one that really annoys me is that Mopar "expert" - I forget the name of the show. Too much talking not enough actual work. It's like Shut up already! LOLOLOLOL!!!

[cobraman]

Would that be Graveyard Cars ?

[Modelbuilder Mark]

On most of the "scripted reality" car shows, nearly all of them have become so predictable, "oh watch, here come the uh oh moment", that I find them painful to watch. I have found myself literally watching the first few minutes to see what they start with, and then skipping to the end to see what they ended up with. For the most part, my 1:1 automotive content now comes from Youtube channels, where there are everyday garage mechanics, taking you on their adventures. Yeah, there is junk there too, but I find it easier to skip the crud, and ingest the fun stuff in smaller doses. 

My wife really likes these reality shows, cooking, real estate, whatever, but they all pretty much annoy me with the fake drama. Love it or List it is an example, where I have YET to see a single episode where the lady does not promise a list of items, inevitably "miss something" that runs them over budget, and then has t be left out. EVERY time, so it seems to me that she is really bad at foreseeing inevitable overruns in her project estimates.

[lordairgtar]

I'll admit I like the Picker shows. I just wish they would pick up one of the model car kits I sometimes see and say something about it. They usually pass it over and say nothing. Saw a JoHan Superbird kit in some old lady's attic and nothing was said but they sure looked over the falling apart lamp fixtures like they were golden. Saw the episode the OP was talking about...amazing stuff in that guy's collection.

Edited March 3, 2021 by lordairgtar

[Rodent]

44 minutes ago, Modelbuilder Mark said:

EVERY time, so it seems to me that she is really bad at foreseeing inevitable overruns in her project estimates.

Noticed the same thing. "Caaan't give you the additional loo you need because your foundation is collapsed and it must be fixed."

[BlackSheep214]

3 hours ago, cobraman said:

Would that be Graveyard Cars ?

Yes!! That's the one. The first couple episodes wasn't too bad then he really got on my nerves. Too much talking about the history of the car not enough of the how they restored it. 

[gotnitro?]

Fun little fact about graveyard cars..the first few seasons Mark paid for the entire crew to film his banter because the production companies wouldn't pick up the show..Great cars awful show ..and his seemingly endless blab about the proper seam sealer...let's see the build and shut up

[Tom Geiger]

Yea, I finally deleted all the Graveyard Cars off my DVR.  Enough speeches with stock numbers and way too much detail for the average Joe.

I recently started taping Flipping Bangers, a British show about repairing and reselling cheap cars.  I’m just enjoying seeing odd cars I’m not familiar with up close. 

 

Edited March 4, 2021 by Tom Geiger

[cobraman]

I watch Flipping Bangers. Don't see how they can make enough for two guys to live on.

[sfhess]

3 hours ago, Tom Geiger said:

Yea, I finally deleted all the Graveyard Cars off my DVR.  Enough speeches with stock numbers and way too much detail for the average Joe. 

 

Not to mention the total goofiness of the main character.  And what's with the animated part?

[john sharisky]

41 minutes ago, cobraman said:

I watch Flipping Bangers...

I've watched a few episodes. I don't understand why they photograph and post the cars for sale before the cars are rehabbed.

John

[Snake45]

On 3/2/2021 at 11:04 PM, The Junkman said:

A friend of mine was the subject of an episode (old/antique surfboards).  Much communication was done, arrangements made and agreed to between my friend and the production company prior to them ever showing up at his place.  Reality TV isn't.

My daughter was on Househunters. The entire search is fake. You don't even get on the show until you've bought a house. The realtor wasn't even her real realtor, just an old school friend. 

[Chuckyg1]

My favorite car show was fantom works. You actually got to see work done on the cars, parts searching, etc. I'm sure it was scripted also, but it was closer to "real". A lot different types of cars kept it interesting.

[Modelbuilder Mark]

33 minutes ago, Snake45 said:

My daughter was on Househunters. The entire search is fake. You don't even get on the show until you've bought a house. The realtor wasn't even her real realtor, just an old school friend. 

I had heard something about that. I truly think the term "reality" TV needs a kick in the pants, false advertising and all...LOL

 

[Kromolly]

All of the comments above about the poor quality of today's television are the reason our TV hasn't been on in nearly 3 years.  We don't even watch fake news anymore.  Whatever network, it's all overly sensationalized to grab the attention of viewers, for the same reason they pretend to drop the ultra-rare windshield on the restoration shows.  Modern entertainment is an insult to intelligent humans.  Or maybe it's a statement on how far the expectations in our country have fallen in the past 3-4 decades?  Somebody is watching this stuff, because they keep making more of it.