A non-beer public service announcement…

I just have to say this: American Chopper has jumped the shark. Probably some time last season, but it’s definitely all the way gone now. Somewhere a couple seasons ago, the Teutels became self-aware, which led to contrived and seemingly scripted arguments and confessionals, instead of the original father-son tension. Then the producers of the show started introducing out-of-the-shop inanity, a motorcycle joust last season and a demolition derby on the episode I saw tonight.

These detract from the show the same way This Old House’s weekly excursions away from the project do. Now, the new shop displays paid advertising and a huge banner for the show’s website. It’s all so much for a skinny, non-tattooed, totally unmechanical motorcyle-riding wannabe like me to digest.

It was inevitable. For how long can building movie-themed bikes remain interesting? How many times can Senior lose his temper before we think he should get help? Or before we actually feel sorry for Paulie, who will probably never have to work again when TLC—the Discovery Channel wisely passed the series to its less-watched child—puts the show to bed?

So, it’s onto the gimmicks. Mikey is no longer cute. (Hopefully, the producers will send him away to actually get a real job.) Say “hello” to Cousin Oliver next season.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 31st, 2007 at 4:00 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.