Tag Archives: Orange County choppers

American Chopper: Senior vs. Junior: The Settlement

29 Aug

August 29, 2011

When last we saw American Chopper, OCC and PJD built dueling Cadillac bikes and it was left to the fans to vote for the favorite. Was anyone surprised when the vote was about sixteen million to one in favor of Paulie? Probably no one but Paul Sr. who did nothing but talk crap about his son all season.

As of August 27th, the auction has ended and Paulie won 146,916 to 10,413. I don’t know how Senior will spin it but he got his ass kicked. No matter what else happens this week, I expect him to still say that Paulie’s bike sucked. The real winner was the charity getting that the bikes are being auctioned off for. The high bid for Senior’s bike is $51,000 but Paulie has more than doubled him at $113,000. Any way you look at it, Senior got his ass kicked.

This week the commercials have been teasing a possible resolution in the war between father and son. Paulie still has 20% of OCC and Senor wants it back. I just hope we see more of Mikey’s wonderful “art.”

The show began and guess what? They ignored the big cliffhanger. That Cadillac Build-off they hyped all last season? Done and forgotten. Wanted to hear Senior’s reaction to getting smoked? Too bad.

The hype in the show’s tease was “The day everyone has been waiting for has arrived. Senior and Junior finally sit down to settle the lawsuit that has torn the family apart.” So of course, when the show started instead of that it began with OCC and PJD getting new clients. PJD got Fist technologies, who make biometric starters (meaning only those whose fingerprint matches can start them)  and OCC was hired by Hard Rock.

Even worse, at 6 minutes in we got Jason Pohl saying “gee-tar.” He smiled like he made a joke, and bless his little brain, I’m sure to him it was funny.

But it wasn’t that long until Paulie began talking about the settlement and he has one demand, he wants the Black Widow bike. On the one hand I think OCC wouldn’t want to part with it since it was one of the bikes that made their reputation, but one the other hand Senior always says they are so much better nowadays so why would they want a link to the past, especially since it was made mostly by Paulie, whom Senior always says is a lousy designer? Interestingly, Senior said “he wants his… uh our, Black Widow bike” so maybe deep down he knows it was all Junior. And surprisingly, he agreed to let Paulie have it. 

Interestingly, they spent more time than usual on the builds, almost like they did in seasons past. Recently the bikes have taken a back seat to the drama, but since Discovery ignored the drama of the Cadillac Build Off (and pissed off the fans who wanted to see the outcome) maybe they are going back to the bikes. And that’s good because it gives Rick Petko more screen time, and he seems to be the only guy at OCC who knows what to do and better yet, he knocked Jason Pohl’s designs as nice on paper but unrealistic to ride or build, and one thing I can’t get enough of is knocking Monkey Boy. But we all know if it comes down to Rick or Jason, Senior is going with the one who kisses his ass more.

Jason came out to the floor to complain about the bars and the guys changed it based on his word because- well, I really don’t know why. They should really know best what works, right? But they let Jason decide. At least go to Senior. I guess they know how much Senior loves his puppy. That got Rick unhappy. “What goes on paper isn’t necessarily what is going to happen in real life.” That left Jason unhappy.

As for PJD, they are continuing to work without a blueprint or design and Brendon (who has complained about this in the past) still had to ask Paulie what he wanted down with this and how he should do that. But Paulie is still creative and when the biometric starter- a little finger scanner- arrived, he decided to mount it in the gas tank. (Outside, that is, not inside.)

The Hard Rock bike ended up being an all black frame and tank with a chrome seat in the shape of a guitar. The neck stretched over the gas tank and almost up to the bars. It was nice but take that off the bike and it could have been any bike for anyone. For a bike with a Hard Rock theme it could have been better. From the side the guitar was hard to see and while it was nice, it didn’t say Hard Rock. In my opinion it is a nice bike but it missed the theme.

The Fist bike was all red, black, and chrome and looked good. The bio-starter was right in the center of the tank and it looked like a tough bike. Fist doesn’t have the big image like Hard Rock so there were no expectations, just the use of the new technology. (By the way, wasn’t it Senior who bragged about the new technology in their bikes?)

But for anyone who wants proof that Senior is a liar, here it is. Remember when OCC went into foreclosure and Senior and his lawyers blew it off as a business move? Well due to the foreclosure Senior is considering moving back to the old shop where he first started, since he is in financial trouble and he owns that place outright. Too bad the roof collapsed in a storm. But due to the foreclosure (which Senior said was nothing, remember?) he is forced to find a new shop.

And for the record, we are 45 minutes into the show and they still have not gotten to “the day everyone has been waiting for… Senior and Junior finally sit down.”

After a commercial break, Senior unveiled the bike at the NYC Hard Rock Cafe- and thank God the goofy OCC band didn’t play- and then they got to the settlement, with 10 minutes left in the show. Actually, they got to talking about the settlement. Paulie and Mikey talking to each other in Paulie’s kitchen doesn’t really count as a settlement.

And then at 9:51 they went to commercial. But at least it was an American Chopper commercial, showing that everything you expected in this episode will be in next week’s episode. We’ll see. The commercial showed Paulie in the OCC store looking at the Black Widow bike and Senior talking crap about him. Of course.

With five minutes left in the show Senior and his lawyer arrived in the conference room and awaited Paulie. (Insert your own “Paulie is late again” joke here.) The lawyer says it is all a matter of just signing some papers and it is all over. Paulie and his lawyer arrived- with three minutes left in the show- and father and son actually shook hands and half-embraced. With two minutes left Senior signed, then Paulie signed, and it was over. Senior and Junior shook again, both smiled, and it was over. Total and complete boredom and anticlimax.

Honestly, it was an average show. Last season ended with drama, this one started with none at all.

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American Chopper: Senior vs. Junior: Mikey’s Art Opening

25 Apr

April 25, 2011

American Chopper: Senior vs. Junior returned last night.

Let’s recap what came before.

Paulie and Senior fought, a lot. Sr. got fed up with his son’s laziness, Jr. got fed up with his father’s constant abuse, Junior ended up leaving OCC and, after a no-compete period, founded his own bike company, Paul Junior Designs. What did he do during the no-compete time? Not much. He tried to push a line of doggie toys but that went nowhere. He started his own bike company, brought in Vinnie to do the real work, and brother Mikey came along for the ride. Along for Mikey’s ride was his new personal assistant, who happens to be blind so Mikey is really his assistant’s assistant. He also set up an art studio inside the shop after he failed to become an adult and live on his own.

Senior kept rolling along, meaning that he badmouthed Paulie at every turn to random strangers. The lawsuit between them continued to drag on. Paulie owns 20% of OCC and Senior wants to buy it at market value, which he cleverly contends is zero. Paulie shot back with “if the business is worthless sell it to me.” Senior didn’t bite.

Notable events were Paulie firing the bad-attitude kid, Odie, and Mikey breaking an expensive prototype on loan to PJD. Paulie got married and Senior didn’t attend the wedding. Jason “fan favorite” Pohl got married and Senior did attend the wedding. And for all the people who thought that Odie and Cody were the same guy, Paulie brought in Cody who worked rings around Odie.

Mikey tried to reconcile with his father but kept adding new conditions, that last one being that Senior must see a relationship counselor. He did, but Mikey decided that he only did it as a condition to a reunion and not from his heart so he nixed it. He’s like Linus in the pumpkin patch looking for sincerity or the Great Pumpkin won’t show up.

And the most likeable member of the show, Gus the dog, died.

That should bring you up to speed.

The new episode picks up right where that left off. OCC had recently launched a second lawsuit against Paulie because, they allege, Joe used OCC contacts to get business for PJD. Paulie’s lawyer assured him that it was unfounded and he had nothing to worry about. We’ll see.

As far as the bikes go, PJD was contacted by NFL’er Jared Allen to make a bike for his Homes for Wounded Warriors charity. They build houses for wounded vets. This is going to be the third or fourth military-themed bike we’ve seen on American Chopper so we’ll see how it goes.

And how is it going so far? Depends on who you ask. Brendon is doing most of the fabrication and he’s working from Junior’s vision. I say “vision” and not “designs” because there are no designs. Brendon is doing it all according to whatever Paulie feels like at the moment. So when Paulie had a new idea to taper the tank, which was nearly fabricated, Brendon had to cut it in half and go back to work on it. I’m not saying the bike won’t come out nice but is that the best way to work? Who knows what is going to pop into Paulie’s mind next?

Over on the OCC side, the company was contacted by Supernatural Cymbals, who make high-end brass cymbals. (I bet you guessed it from the name.) They came in with a fairly specific vision and while OCC did a great job on the bike, it is worth noting that Supernatural micro-managed them a bit. The bike was black and brass and featured wheels that looked like cymbals, covers that looked like cymbals, pretty much cymbals wherever they would fit.

In something I give them a lot of credit for, OCC built a forge and melted down some brass, which they them cast into a headlight. That was a very nice touch.

Supernatural is, for no reason I can fathom, big fans of the OCC band, and donated some new instruments to Christian, the band’s drummer. This was a big show for Christian as Senior decided that Christian was ready to do an unveil himself. Seriously, how hard are the unveils? We’ve seen a hundred on this show and all Senior does is ride the bike out and say a lot of “idears” and “this is a really cool bike.” Anyway, in the words of Paul Senior, “he’s ready.” I wonder what the criteria were?

BTW- For those keeping score, Jason Pohl got name-checked about 6 minutes in and was seen wandering around behind “Free Rick!” Petko a couple of minutes later. Thankfully, that was all we saw of him this week.

The big deal this episode was the opening of Mikey’s gallery. Yes, seriously, he opened a gallery in what appeared to be an old barn to showcase his art. He told Vinnie and Paulie and went back to finger-painting. Honestly, he was finger-painting.

To promote the show they went back to local radio and on the Fat Guy with the Wheezy Voice Show. I’m sure he has a name but I wasn’t motivated enough to look. It didn’t take long to get around to the subject of their father and his big advice? “Just enjoy yourselves.” Genius. Dr. Laura he isn’t.

So Mikey, after weeks of trying to find the right way to reconcile with his father, didn’t invite him, deciding that it wouldn’t be the right time. I’m dying to know what the right time would be but I’m not going to wait a lifetime to find out. Senior, upon being told about the gallery, decided that he wasn’t going to go if he wasn’t invited, but if he was invited he wouldn’t have gone anyway. He would have gone later though, when Mikey wasn’t around, just to see the art. And likely to badmouth it too.

We got to see Mikey’s art all together, displayed on the walls of his own art gallery and words cannot describe it.

Yes they can: TOTAL SHIT.

They were reminiscent of the scribblings of a distressed monkey. There was nothing artistic about any of it. Much of the “artwork” was indistinguishable from the drop cloths Mikey stood upon to make the paintings. Others resembled bad fifth-grade art projects that even parents are ashamed to put on their refrigerator.

But I was impressed that Mikey wore a suit. He really looked presentable.

The Orange County Chamber Of Commerce was over the moon that another business opened up to stimulate the local economy and pay property taxes. They described Mikey as a “breath of fresh air” and someone who “dares to be different.”

I looked to see if Mikey’s legally blind assistant was there. I didn’t see him but to be fair, he wouldn’t have seen me either.

The emotional hook of the show came when a father and son visited both Paulie and Paul Senior. The father had the same bad relationship with his son that the Teutuls have. The father was diagnosed with cancer, terminal, and he traveled to cold upstate New York to get the Teutuls back together. He wanted them to learn from him and make peace before it is too late. It was his dying wish.

What did Senior take from the emotional visit?
That he already did his “due diligence” about reconciliation and that “maybe it will change Paulie’s thinking.”  

I hope the old guy isn’t clinging to that as his last hope.

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