# General Mandolin Topics > eBay, Craig's List, etc. >  Pawn Shop Reality Show

## journeybear

There's a new show on The History Channel called "Pawn Stars." This being a family friendly forum, I didn't title this thread that; THC has no compunction going with the punny title, to attract viewers. I just tuned it in, so I don't know much about it, but it seems to follow the goings-on at a family-owned pawn shop in Las Vegas. I don't know how long this will be running, but it may prove to be informative as well as entertaining, and go a long ways toward demystifying how these outfits operate. Granted, this will be severely edited to make it interesting for viewers, and you can be sure there won't be anything hinky shown. But given some of the horror stories reported here, it would be good to learn something a little closer to actuality than what is so often, and easily, assumed. Plus it's a half hour show, so that should help it move along.

No mandolins yet (see how I get that MC in?), but there was a guitar supposedly once owned by Chuck Berry.

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## Keith Erickson

Journey Bear,

It's on at 8pm Mountain Time here in El Paso.  I thought it was okay.....   That Chuck Berry signed guitar didn't really amount to much.  

According to the guy behind the counter, that Chuck Berry Guitar was really a signed pickguard that was slapped on a cheap junk guitar  :Sleepy: 

Would I watch it again?   :Confused:    Not too sure........but I will tell you that I would much rather watch Antiques Road Show.  Just my opinion.

Maybe if someone walked in with a mandolin, maybe I might watch.....but not even that cannon really beckened me to watch again.

Sorry...........it's just that Pawn Stars follows Ice Road Truckers and it's sort of like the "Fonzie's jump the Shark" moment  :Frown:

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## journeybear

Yeah, I kind of rushed the word out before I got a good look at it. The pickguard on the guitar was autographed, not owned, by Chuck Berry, and the guitar was a piece of you-know-what. Got to be careful how you read the TV guide info ...  :Whistling:  I thought the cannon was cool though. But for that kind of thing, I prefer "Junkyard Wars."

Still, I'm hoping to learn a little bit here and there. But you're right - I wouldn't have sought it out if it weren't for the IRT lead-in ...  :Wink:

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## MikeEdgerton

Watch for Orange County Upholsterers coming soon to a cable channel near you. Sure to be a hit, this cable reality show will detail the lives and times of a crazy group of hard-core upholstery artists as they live through the real life drama of slip covers and and tractor seats. It will leave you in stitches.

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## jim_n_virginia

> Watch for Orange County Upholsterers coming soon to a cable channel near you. Sure to be a hit, this cable reality show will detail the lives and times of a crazy group of hard-core upholstery artists as they live through the real life drama of slip covers and and tractor seats. It will leave you in stitches.


 :Laughing:  :Laughing:  :Laughing:  :Laughing: 

I stopped watching TV and cut cable over 10 years ago. And now it simply amazes me what people will watch on TV especially the reality shows!  

I don't miss it one bit!  :Mandosmiley:

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## Chris Biorkman

> I stopped watching TV and cut cable over 10 years ago. And now it simply amazes me what people will watch on TV especially the reality shows!  
> 
> I don't miss it one bit!


You're missing out on a front row seat at the destruction of western civilization.

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## JEStanek

Maybe Jim is playing fiddle tunes on mandolin while wester civ burns....

Jamie

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## Keith Erickson

> Watch for Orange County Upholsterers coming soon to a cable channel near you. Sure to be a hit, this cable reality show will detail the lives and times of a crazy group of hard-core upholstery artists as they live through the real life drama of slip covers and and tractor seats. It will leave you in stitches.


 :Laughing:  :Laughing:  :Laughing:  :Laughing:  :Laughing:

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## journeybear

All right, youse guys! You're _so_ funny!  :Laughing:  I'm no fan of "reality" shows either - it can't be "real" if cameras are in the room and there's an editing bay nearby - but I saw some stuff I wouldn't have otherwise and learned a few things, such as negotiating techniques, that might actually prove useful down the line. Sure, this isn't great TV, but that's not the point - I just wanted folks to know this is out there. FWIW, as always ...

If you don't want to watch, change the channel.  :Wink:

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## woodwizard

I seen that last nite too... I'm no fan of reality shows either but I thought that show was interesting and funny. Like all reality shows though it will probably get old and boring when the new wears off.

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## Elliot Luber

I HATE reality shows, but for some reason the worse they get the more I watch. Right now I'll only watch two: Deadliest Catch, about crab fishing -- which they neglect to tell you is only the deadliest catch because captains used to fill their holds with "ballast" water when heading out empty and this lead to many sinkings until they realized the problem. The other one I watch is TrueTV's The Smoking Gun: Worlds Stupidist...(fill in the blank).  This is the absolute bottom of the barrel, but I watch it to laugh at how stupid television has become and guess they're making a lot of money that way. Awful show and I can't get enough of it!

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## Elliot Luber

Someone ought to do a reality show about someone on the BG circuit. I'd watch and play along too!

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## journeybear

Someone ought to do a reality show about making reality shows. Maybe if people see how little these shows resemble "reality" and how much the producers skew them to suit their purposes people will realize they're being hoodwinked and turn away. MAYBE ...  :Laughing: 

I've got no problem wth documentary-style shows, if they're really showing people and events that are actually occurring and with a minimum of editorializing - explanation, yes; editorializing, no. For instance, I've been enjoying Ice Road Truckers for its depiction of a hitherto-unknown-to-me occupation, but I can really do without the producers/writers' injection of story lines and subplots about rivalry between two truckers battling it out for last place ... OMG!!! Why am I talking about this? AAAHHH!!!  :Crying: 

Yep - time to change the channel, or maybe turn the dang thing off ...  :Wink:

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## ApK

I flipped passed Pawn Stars last night.  Even the sight of the guitar wasn't enough to get me to stop.

If you think "Orange County Upholsterers" is a joke, you obviously don't watch as much HGTV as we do.

That's not literally a name of a show , but there are SEVERAL shows that could quite seriously carry that title appropriately.

And some of them are pretty good.

As for the reality show about making reality shows, I would not bet against anyone who said that will be announced shortly.

ApK

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## MikeEdgerton

Watch for the next episode of The Real Pump Jockeys of New Jersey. In this weeks episode Chester is confronted by a motorist that wants her oil checked and her windows washed, Ralphie steps in gum, and Vinny accepts a fake one hundred-dollar bill from three smooth-talking guys from Alabama. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll stomp your feet and holler whoo boy!

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## ApK

Mr Edgerton, there is a Mark Burnett holding for you on line two.

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## Mike Bromley

Let's cross our fingers that CNN doesn't start a 'factual' spot on mandolins... :Whistling: 

Wolfy Blitzes the Loar Legend.

Larry Kink interviews Scott T.

Underson Scooper does a 360 and ends up talking about guitars.

Oh brother....

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## MikeEdgerton

> Mr Edgerton, there is a Mark Burnett holding for you on line two.


It's a gift.

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## EdHanrahan

No need for forced or fabricated "reality".  Last night, there was a commercial for an electric mascara applicator.  "Vibrates 100 time per second!"

As Jay Leno says: "No wonder the world hates us!"

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## ApK

> "Vibrates 100 time per second!"


Sure.  It's a "mascara applicator."  Riiiiiiight.   :Wink:

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## allenhopkins

Can we get Kat Von D of _LA Ink_ to become a mandolin-making luthier?  Now *that* I'd watch!

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