Used to sort of like this some time back tried watching it recently & it's become so painfully irritating.Rick has become so gratingly annoying one minute he knows nothing then suddenly he's a bonafide expert like waffling on to the guy who's built many bowling ball mortars & the like about how he thinks it's gonna blow up what a load.Then big hose or whatever the arrogant tubolard is,& how many times do these experts have to introduce themselves per show.Theyve seemingly just become arrogant & above everyone

There are a few things that you need to know about Pawn Stars and the gang. Let's face it, this is a television show. Of course it's scripted. Why leave anything to chance. They rehearse, select, prep, do their homework and make the show entertaining. They thy to get as many "interesting" and "unique" objects on the show as possible. What happens is they advertise that they will be shooting. Currently they film 3 times/ week. People come, line up outside the store and a 4-6 lucky ones gets selected. However, as you watch season after season you start noticing that they take same people over and over again. It does get old pretty soon. But they still keep going. After speaking to one of the guys who works the parking lot for them, he's been there for 3 years now, he stated that everyone has changed a lot. Rick gets impossible to deal with at times, Cory is a big ass with inflated ego who tries to assert his authority stating he's a big shot now and get out of his way, Chum is still cool and of all them actually gets so many women to come by wearing next to nothing wanting his baby, it's crazy. Of the 4 Old Man is the only one who comes out from time to time, otherwise they spend most of the time in their office on the second floor. Having worked for Rick Harrison for 3 years, the employee has seen Old Man a few times and Cory only. Getting back to the "reality show". It's disheartening to find out just how fake everything is. There have been numerous claims that the items come from private collections, museums, and wherever else the producers may find them. Guess that's television today.

Hey, kids! Ever wanted to see a reality show about a pawn shop in Las Vegas that picks up rare artifacts (that no one gives a crap about) for big bucks?! No? Well, you got it anyway with "Pawn Stars", arguably the most popular show ever made for the History Channel (a channel that no one ever wanted). Because when I think of high-quality television, this is totally the first thing that pops into my mind! Whenever I'm physically and mentally drained after a hard day's work, the type of entertainment I desire from my television every evening just has to be something like this! Yeah, nothing speaks excitement like talking about trivial historical items (war memorabilia, written documents involving celebrities, and the like) and their so-called "significance", negotiating a high price that will please both the customer and the employee, and squeezing in mundane scripted material between the shop's employees. Wow! Next, you'll be telling me there's a reality show being made about cartpushers! Oh, I'm just overjoyed!!!!"Pawn Stars" is better than the likes of "Dog Whisperer", "Property Brothers", "American Pickers", "Keeping Up With the Kardashians" and other similar reality shows on unneeded channels, but not by much. The show is further proof why reality TV apparently "needs to exist" by providing the audience with a formula that each and every episode of the show must follow or else audiences will be ripped off. Because you know, we really discourage variety in this country!! The formula goes something like this. We have scripted material in which one employee is usually going to cause trouble to the main boss of the shop in some way. Then that material is intercut with these guys doing their job and looking at the items the customers bring in for compensation. And at the end, from what the show seemingly wants me to believe, everything seems to turn out alright because everyone is still employed in the next episode. And yet we had reason to believe that the boss was going to fire that person since they apparently got on his last nerve from the previous episode. Ummm, this is reality? Now you might be saying to yourself: "That's not realistic! If this guy has made as many mistakes as they're showing us, then they should have fired the guy a long time ago! So why haven't they yet?" Oh! That's right! You don't know about the reality TV star rule, do you? According to the reality TV star rule, the more drama a certain character creates (that would certainly get them kicked out of any normal place of work), the longer they'll stay on the show because……it's the only way a show will get ratings allegedly. So the next time you wonder why a reality show such as "Pawn Stars" feels less and less real with each season, just remember that you have this rule to thank for that. The reality TV star rule: because scripted reality TV didn't already feel fake enough yet! By the way, doesn't it help that the dilemmas the employees experience in the scripted part of the show are derived from every other show from this genre ever made? Oh, yeah! Way to capture the essence of reality, guys! And way to excite us with all the stuff that these customers keep bringing in! Oh, yeah! Forget the fact that there was a frame of animation from "Aladdin" (1992) posted on the wall in a brief shot in one episode. Forget the fact that in another episode, a customer brought in the time machine from "Back to the Future" (1985) or at least something similar to the shop's garage. Forget whatever real cool stuff like that was shown in a few episodes. Because "Pawn Stars" has more exciting things to show us……like weapons, swords, outfits, tools, devices, and whatnot used in any war in human history, paintings and documents signed by celebrities, and other insignificant things that few of us give a damn about. I'm sorry, that's not enough for you?! Well, as an additional bonus, some of these items get analyzed by an expert, with each subject matter having a different one (an expert on weaponry, an expert on documents, etc.). If the item has value, the customer and the employee initiate a negotiation for a reasonable price. Yeah, isn't that just captivating to watch?! I'm sure a normal businessman would want to turn on the television specifically to see that every night! Okay, that's enough sarcasm for one review. But seriously, who thought that a show about a pawn shop was a good idea for entertainment? Obviously, the History Channel was desperate for a reason to exist for 80% of people who watch television. So they shrugged and decided to give "Pawn Stars" a shot since they had nothing else of interest on their channel. The fact that this is now arguably the most popular show on that channel next to "American Pickers" only confirms why I avoid the History Channel. To this show's credit, it has more entertainment value than "American Pickers". On a rare occasion, a few of the items and exchanges between the customers and the employees interest me a little bit. But even then, does it really warrant a half hour time slot on a TV channel more so than a five minute YouTube video? If you enjoy learning about little details regarding big wars in human history and are into this type of television, more power to you. If you aren't into this stuff like me, then "Pawn Stars" is a total bore fest. I felt like I was going to school.

I still enjoy the show but see signs of it maybe running out of gas. Too many obviously scripted situations attempting to be cute and funny. Chum getting a more serious role in the show which he really doesn't seem to be cut out for, especially when he starts rattling off facts concerning whatever a customer is trying to sell or pawn. I realize that it is a TV show and that you can't film a typical day in the pawn shop without boring the viewers to death. The customers are hand picked and Rick and the rest are schooled on the facts and history of whatever item is being featured. All that is still interesting to me and the main reason I watch the show. I guess the problem I have is having to sit through all of the "situations" the staff of the shop has to deal with over the course of an episode. Situations which I find not to be interesting or amusing. Like I said before however, I still watch the show, just not as often as I used to and usually if nothing else is on.