Starting in 2003, American Chopper dominated reality television for ten years, giving a look at the inside workings of Orange County Choppers with a mix of competition and drama that provided a model for all reality shows that have followed.
Unlike most so-called reality shows, though, the fighting, cursing, crying, welding, and painting on American Chopper was real.
The fights seemed to me like they were put on for the cameras. But maybe I just dont hang around with the type of people who throw tantrums and chairs, and kick down doors on a regular basis. It became a one hour commercial each week for whichever company paid for a bike build. The corporations were really paying for the national exposure and didn’t give a shit about the bikes.
American Chopper: the show about building bikes…… that doesn’t show the building of any bikes I like bikes, not soap operas. I was so disappointed by this show back in the day haha!
The first couple of seasons showed more fabrication. Then it became more about drawing nice pictures on a computer and getting a machine to cut out the whole bike for you so you just had to bolt the engine on…. boring.
The show started out alright but ended up being a total waste of time and effort to watch … got more about the bullshit and less about the builds ,and how many theme bikes can we make …. if they just built kick ass choppersand stayed away from the drama, the show may have still been around today!
American Chopper is a reality television series that airs on Discovery Channel, produced by Pilgrim Films & Television. The series centers on Paul Teutul, Sr. (frequently called Senior), and his son Paul Teutul, Jr. (also known as Paulie or simply Junior), who manufacture custom chopper-style motorcycles. Orange County Choppers is in Newburgh, New York. The contrasting work and creative styles of the father and son team and their resulting verbal arguments were the series’ hallmark until 2008 when a culminating explosive argument led to Paul Jr.’s termination and departure to start a competing chopper company (Paul Jr. Designs).
