The History Channel Isn't Just For Nerds

As you can see, I've let Google put their ads back on my blog. I'm not really sure why we ever broke up in the first place, but we're back together now, and..."We're like peas and carrots, Google and me."

My two new favorite t.v. shows happen to be on the History Channel, but that doesn't mean I'm learning about World War I (the Big One) or about President Taft (the really Big One). No, my shows hit much closer to my redneck roots: Pawn Stars and The American Pickers.

Pawn Stars (think: Porn Stars) takes you inside of a pawn shop in Las Vegas run by a family (think: mafia) of shrewd wheeler-dealers, headed by the grandfather, Richard, who started the business, Richard's son, Rick, who does most of the day-to-day deals, and Rick's son, Corey, who is learning the business from Dad and Grandpa. It's not just your run-of-the-mill diamond rings and fake Rolex watches that come into the store. It's vintage pinball machines, cuckoo clocks, guns and swords, as well as old boats, motorcycles and trucks. It's a little bit of everything. Expect the unexpected and expect the grandfather to be as hateful as hell, Rick to call in one of his expert friends to do an appraisal on every show and Corey to be the village idiot. Not only is it entertaining, but you learn a lot about the workings of a pawn shop, as well as historical facts about the items that are brought in by Las Vegas customers. Casinos are never mentioned in the show, but I picture the people who do business with the family, walking straight out of the pawn shop and straight into their favorite casinos with new-found cash. But again, that is never mentioned.

The American Pickers is entirely different. It's two guys, Mike and Frank, who travel the country "picking" treasures out of old sheds, barns and junkyards to take back to Iowa to rehabilitate and resell for profit. They're pros at spotting the pieces that have value, from the smallest knickknack to the biggest albatross. They buy it all. The interesting part is seeing the collective messes that people have hoarded in their basements for forty or more years, and how hard it is to get them to part with any part of those messes...even when some one's offering them cold hard cash and the camera's rolling.

Apparently, I'm not the only one who loves these shows. They're in the top ten of most watched on cable t.v. God bless the U.S.A.