there are a lot of reasons, but the most recent on is that the pawn shop guy is now an expert on history on united stuff of america.

And not to mention that Ancient Aliens bullsh*t.

I only watch the stuff that is made available through my Apple TV. Never the so-called reality shows.

My only compliant is they take an interesting fact of history that can be conveyed
in ten-minutes and through the use of redundancy turn it into an hour long program.

My wife loves watching Pawn Stars, and is continually trying to get me to come and see that crap. But she loves going to flea markets, and thinks she's going to find real valuable stuff if she learns what to look for. Frankly, I think she's a bit nuts for that kind of thinking. But that's women for you.

(07-20-2014 01:52 AM)EagleX Wrote:  there are a lot of reasons, but the most recent on is that the pawn shop guy is now an expert on history on united stuff of america.

I bet in their line of business you have folks coming in selling you any and everything. If you aren't up on some of it you could get taken. He also seems to have a network of friends for stuff he doesn't know much about. Think about how much dough people need to gamble in Vegas and I think you have your answer. That said, I wonder how much of the tv portions are real average joes off the street versus "scripted" to stop by by The History Channel. The deal/no deal is probably legit.

I think Pawn Stars and even American Pickers are are at tangentally History Channel worthy.

It's the goofy Swamp Ice Road Fisherman crap that kills me.

Both Pawn Stars and Pickers have jumped the shark. American Pickers was a good show when they were unknowns. Now it is like any other reality show and their celebrity have gone to their heads. Too many contrived situations now.

(07-20-2014 12:50 PM)PirateTreasureNC Wrote:  That said, I wonder how much of the tv portions are real average joes off the street versus "scripted" to stop by by The History Channel. The deal/no deal is probably legit.

While visiting Vegas I had a unique occurrence with the show and learned alot of the inside details on how it works.

The items brought in for sale are legit from real average joes off the street. But its not live action. When a person comes in or calls in about a unique item that the store workers, owners or show producers think will make for an interesting segment, they work with that person to schedule a preset time to come back to film it. When the scheduled time comes for this person to bring in their item, they clear the store of average day-to-day customers and shut down the store for a period of 30-60 minutes. They ask a few customers off the street to be included in the filming as background people in the shot. The person brings in their item, they film the segment, then they reopen the store to the public.

I was at the shop during a live taping and was one of the customers brought in as background filler. I've been in the store multiple times and have never seen Rick, Corey, Chum or the Old Man. I was told during the taping of the segment that these 4 have limited hours anymore and even when they're in the store they stay in the back most of the time because of their celebrity status. They only generally come out to tape the shows segments. The large back man who works as their door attendant/security guy who is on the show was their both times I was and I talked to him a little about the details.

I whole-heartedly agree with Memphis Blazer. They jumped the shark. The show was good until they started putting in all the contrived situations. When they stick to the items for sale and their unique history and value its interesting. When they show Chum doing some stupid antics its just feel scripted and pointless.

Re: Pawn Stars, I read that Rick Harrison was bed-ridden as a child. He spent most of his formulative years reading history books--- his passion in particular was Naval History from the 1700s to the early 1800s.

(07-20-2014 02:13 AM)ClairtonPanther Wrote:  And not to mention that Ancient Aliens bullsh*t.

I couldn't agree more. The history channel has gone stale, and needs to change its' name to the "History Related Channel". H2 just needs to be called the "Kind of Inspired by History Channel". The Discovery Channel(s) are out of ideas too.

(07-20-2014 02:54 PM)Memphis Blazer Wrote:  Both Pawn Stars and Pickers have jumped the shark. American Pickers was a good show when they were unknowns. Now it is like any other reality show and their celebrity have gone to their heads. Too many contrived situations now.

I love Pickers, but I don't like the contrived situations. I think they try to set up stories on American Restoration and Counting Cars even more.

Anyway, I can understand why people don't want those shows on Hist Channel (maybe one, but not all). I love the shows, but the history content is not extensive.

(07-20-2014 02:13 AM)ClairtonPanther Wrote:  And not to mention that Ancient Aliens bullsh*t.

It's great for a laugh though.

(07-22-2014 08:17 AM)Bucster Wrote:  

(07-20-2014 02:13 AM)ClairtonPanther Wrote:  And not to mention that Ancient Aliens bullsh*t.

It's great for a laugh though.

(07-21-2014 08:04 AM)nachoman91 Wrote:  

(07-20-2014 12:50 PM)PirateTreasureNC Wrote:  That said, I wonder how much of the tv portions are real average joes off the street versus "scripted" to stop by by The History Channel. The deal/no deal is probably legit.

While visiting Vegas I had a unique occurrence with the show and learned alot of the inside details on how it works.

The items brought in for sale are legit from real average joes off the street. But its not live action. When a person comes in or calls in about a unique item that the store workers, owners or show producers think will make for an interesting segment, they work with that person to schedule a preset time to come back to film it. When the scheduled time comes for this person to bring in their item, they clear the store of average day-to-day customers and shut down the store for a period of 30-60 minutes. They ask a few customers off the street to be included in the filming as background people in the shot. The person brings in their item, they film the segment, then they reopen the store to the public.

I was at the shop during a live taping and was one of the customers brought in as background filler. I've been in the store multiple times and have never seen Rick, Corey, Chum or the Old Man. I was told during the taping of the segment that these 4 have limited hours anymore and even when they're in the store they stay in the back most of the time because of their celebrity status. They only generally come out to tape the shows segments. The large back man who works as their door attendant/security guy who is on the show was their both times I was and I talked to him a little about the details.

I whole-heartedly agree with Memphis Blazer. They jumped the shark. The show was good until they started putting in all the contrived situations. When they stick to the items for sale and their unique history and value its interesting. When they show Chum doing some stupid antics its just feel scripted and pointless.

Then you'll know that the shop is located in Shithole, USA, is a lot smaller than the camera angles lead you to believe, and clever camera work makes you think the area is a nice place to be. It's not.

(07-25-2014 08:37 PM)smn1256 Wrote:  Then you'll know that the shop is located in Shithole, USA, is a lot smaller than the camera angles lead you to believe, and clever camera work makes you think the area is a nice place to be. It's not.

Agree its not in a great part of Vegas. And the store is incredibly small. Its L-shaped and is less than 1000 sq ft in the showroom. I'd guess that over 90% of their business is done over the internet or phone. I doubt many people are walking in the door of a tiny pawn shop in the dregs of Vegas looking for thousand dollar historical artifacts.