Tag Archives: American Chopper

American Chopper: Senior vs. Junior: Deadliest Catch Bike

24 May

May 23, 2011

Since this episode mixes up the OCC and Deadliest Catch crews, here is a very short briefing about Deadliest Catch.

Crab fishing in Alaska is called the deadliest job in the world and that isn’t just hype. The odds of dying are very high and the chance of injury is almost 100%. Some of the main players on the show are Sig Hansen, captain of the Northwestern and one of the most respected captains in the fleet, and the Hillstrand brothers who skipper the Time Bandit and are as good at having fun on board as they are at catching crab. Jake and Josh Harris are the sons of Phil Harris, captain of the Cornelia Marie, who died last season and the boys’ are having a rough time with a new captain.

As an alleged reality show I have to wonder where the line is drawn between simply filming what happens in the Teutul lives and the show actually influencing them. It can’t be simply a coincidence that twice this season OCC and PJD have gotten involved with other shows from their network. It has happened a few times in earlier seasons too. It has to be very tempting for the network to cross-promote other shows and boost ratings this way. I am sure that a lot of Deadliest Catch fans who never watch American Chopper will tune in tonight. And a few weeks ago it didn’t hurt the people from the new show Sons of Guns to be featured on American Chopper.

And remember, Senior and Junior get producers credits (and salary) on the show so there is some incentive to keep an interesting feud going. Is it all fake? Can’t be. Actual lawsuits have been filed, but how much is sweetened by the producers? I’m not sure.

The show began with a disclaimer from Paul Senior and if you think things are strange on a normal episode this was a good warning: “We’re here in Alaska and we’re going to be doing some pretty crazy stuff so make sure that whatever you see here you don’t do at home.

Then we got the pre-credit tease and we saw Sr. firing an assault rifle and lots of Jason but no Paul Jr. In fact, there will be no Paulie or anyone from PJD on this program. Realistically , for about 45 minutes it was an episode of Deadliest Catch guest starring OCC. And speaking as a fan of Deadliest Catch, seeing that buffoon Paul Sr. in the Time Bandit wheelhouse made me sick. Senior stood out, not only on the boat, but during the whole time in Alaska because he wore a bright red motorcycle jacket and pants. However, you knew it had to be freezing in Alaska because his shirt also had sleeves.

Like last week, Rick got a lot of screen time just explaining what was going on, and unfortunately Jason got a lot too. I don’t need to explain how annoying he was, but when he fired one of the Hillstrand’s AK-47s I hoped the police would get involved.

The guys went out on the Time Bandit where Senior got seasick and the OCC crew and Mike Fourtner from the boat took turns blowing things up, then they went dog sledding (where Sr. fell into t snow bank) and glacier climbing. And of course, there was always time for Sr. to badmouth his sons.

Captain Andy: “A crew is only as good as its weakest link.”
Paul Sr.: “We got rid of that.”

To the camera, Senior said: “As far as Mikey or Paulie coming out here, first of all I don’t think they would ever do it, I don’t think they would set foot on this boat. They’re just not used to the adventures life that I’ve lived.” I think if you substitute “adventurous” with “drunk” you get nearer the truth.

For the last 15 minutes they went back to OCC where Sr. made Jason change the ugly sissy bar and Robb did an amazing job on the paint, including a dedication to Captain Phil. It was a “bare bones” bike, which I found funny since last week Senior was bragging about all the technology they add to the bikes.

The bike was unveiled at Catch Con and if you are knowledgeable about Deadliest Catch it will be no surprise that among the Captains we saw Sig, Wild Bill, Captain Keith, and a new captain, Scott Campbell, but not Derrick Ray. And while all the boats were visible in the background and Jake and Josh got some face time we never saw the Cornelia Marie. Never mind the Teutuls, there is some serious behind the scenes drama happening there.

Next week is finally the beginning of a bike build-off, pitting Sr. against Jr. and also injecting some much-needed new life into this show. But since the Hillstrands spilled the beans that the call for the Deadliest Catch bike came from Discovery headquarters I am sure that the network is behind that too.

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American Chopper: Senior vs. Junior: Offer Denied

16 May

May 16, 2011

I usually start with the bikes but I want to begin with the lawsuit first because I am not sure that most people tune in for the bikes anymore.

You may recall that last week Paul Senior decided that since the judge ruled that Paulie was under no legal obligation to sell his share of OCC, it would be a good time to reconcile and, not too coincidentally, make an offer to buy back the stock. Subtle he is not. Nor too swift.

Sr. made Paulie an offer, Paulie counter-offered, and neither offer was accepted. Simple? No, because lawyers are involved. Paulie says that Senior’s side made the offer and then took it off the table the next day. What these two need to do is get rid of the lawyers, sit down together and hammer out a deal, then let the lawyers vet it and OK it. The problem (or one of the problems) is that Senior has mixed up in his head the resolution of the lawsuit with reconciliation with his sons and they are totally separate issues. It doesn’t help that his lawyer is also giving him advice on how to get back together with Paulie. One thing we’ve seen over the past two weeks is that lawyers can spin anything any way they want. You got your tax refund? Too bad. Firemen rescue your grandmother from an inferno? That’s a shame. Judge ruled in favor of Paulie? “Neither side won or lost.”

The truth is these two can’t be in the same room. During the filming of the current American Chopper commercial- the one where they are facing each other on bikes- they were never in the same room at the same time. Paulie filmed his part, and then Sr. came in and filmed his. Sr. thought that Paulie was avoiding him, which may be true, but he is also avoiding Paulie.

Sr. got a chance to see the Anti-Venom bike up close. He said it was nice but that it was like what OCC was making ten years ago, which may be true, but he said that it had no technology and pointed to one of the Trams Am bikes and said that PJD couldn’t make anything like it.

Technology? Really? Senior added a Trans Am tachometer to his bike. A nice touch, sure, but hardly cutting edge. And considering that the average OCC bike doesn’t have tail lights he really shouldn’t talk. Interestingly, he opened the door to a competition, which is what the promos have alluded to all season.

Gus died this week which is odd since last season when Gus had a leg amputated the news broke on the show that he died. So I guess that reports of his death were premature.

When discussing it, Sr. broke down on camera and had tears streaming down his face. It was the most human he has seemed since the show began. He said that he loved Gus because “he was always there.” That is interesting since he has talked about how he was not always there in his son’s lives and also how he pushed his sons away so they were not always there.

Gus’ death moved both Paulie and Vinnie and in the show’s emotional climax, Paulie called Sr. He didn’t text or send an email, which meant something to Sr., and told Sr. how sorry he was, offered some comfort, and ended with “I love you.” Senior seemed touched and cried again, but how much his tears were really for Gus I can’t say.

OCC made three bikes based on a trio of classic Trans Am autos and next to the cars they looked great. The build went smoothly with the exception of Senior and Phil dropping a bike off the jack. Luckily there was no damage, either to the bike or Senior’s head, which was not far from the falling heavy cycle.

PJD was still working on the pair of CrankyApe bikes and we got a few words of bike-building wisdom from Paulie: “You can’t have a bike if you don’t have a motor.” Paulie was in a deadline crunch because they are unveiling the bike in Daytona Beach and Paulie has no one to blame but himself. He miscalculated and ordered the motor too late. Luckily it came in time.

Nub did his usual great job on the paint, a mix of matte and gloss that he had never done for either OCC or PJD. As usual, he seemed a little bemused by Paulie. He realizes that though Paulie is a good designer he runs the shop a little too casually and was always “freaking out.” He did point out though that the stress didn’t carry over to the others. “Unlike OCC there is no stress here, no drama. It is a better vibe.” The bike also featured barbed wire wheel spokes that looked really nice.

Of course, it is hard to avoid stress when Mikey is running around in a gorilla suit. Yes, you read that right. Mikey showed up in a gorilla suit led by his legally blind assistant. With Mikey unable to see well in the mask it was literally a case of the blind leading the blind. Paulie ordered him to stay far away and keep his banana-throwing from the freshly painted tins.

The other bike was the one they bought on auction and rebuilt. It had everything new except the frame and motor. True, those are the most important parts of the bike, but what kind of ad is it for CrankyApe when the bike was totally rebuilt? Buy one of their bikes and spend a lot of money to fix it up? It is especially odd since they were very impressed with the bike as it was bought.

At any rate, they were still working on the bike when the trailer arrived and it wouldn’t start. They had to have a new starter delivered to Florida and fixed it there right before the unveil. It went fine, despite the handicap of Mikey in his gorilla suit emceeing.

Next week the OCC crew travels to Alaska to ruin another show, Deadliest Catch, and to get inspiration as they make a Deadliest Catch bike. Will Senior get into it with Sig? Will the Hillstrands shove Jason Pohl in a pot and sink him to the bottom of the Bering? Tune in and find out.

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