American Pickers - Mike has been pissing me off, I'll explain why.

[gigantes]

... I tried watching Pawn Stars once, but I didn't like it. The predatory nature of the show was a real turn-off, with people on there hocking possessions to pay bills...

i know what you mean. that used to be kind of unpleasant flag in the back of my mind watching the episodes, but for some reason it went away over time. not sure if they tried to tone that factor down or whether i reached a different understanding about such things. or maybe both.

i'm watching the last couple seasons right now, and you'll very often hear the customer complete a sale with "cool! now i can go out for dinner / drinks, take the wife to a show, etc." at worst, you'll hear them lightly talk about a couple bills to pay. never that they're in massive debt / house in foreclosure, etc.

history channel must have realised early on that ratings could be jeopardised if they showed the bleaker aspect of the biz... therefore probably made a business decision to funnel that side of things to hardcore pawn for those who like that kind of thing... deliberately keeping PS lighter in tone.

[ItsMillerTime]

are those two guys a couple?

Always thought this. You never hear them talking about a wife or kids.

[Proctor]

are those two guys a couple?

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/25/ga...anted=all&_r=0

Good article about Mike, and it addresses that.