Tag Archives: Paul Teutul

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.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

American Chopper: Sr. vs. Jr. Returns Yet Again, December 2010

14 Dec

December 14, 2010

I thought I was done. After the “season finale” in which the gang all went to Sturgis, I thought this show would be gone for awhile. There’s usually a break of a few months between seasons. There I was, taking a nice break from writing about phony-reality television. No American Choppers, no Scrappers (except for the spam some loser from their Facebook page keeps sending) for what I  thought was the long haul. I figured I’d see an ad, read an article, catch a commercial when American Choppers returned but no, this caught me by surprise. How did I know it had returned? It was a suggestion on my TiVo. Thanks. Betrayed by my own TiVo.

At any rate, just because the show came back, there was no real reason for me to write about it. Oh, I was always going to watch. Unlike Scrappers, I do tend to enjoy this show and except for a season or so in the middle, I’ve seen it from the beginning. In all honesty, I get a lot of clicks on the site from the Choppers blogs, but I get a lot of clicks from other things too. However, in this latest show, something caught me eye. Or rather, my ear.

It was Senior.

He didn’t yell. He didn’t insult his son. Though he said some uncomplimentary things about Paulie, they weren’t gratuitous, or simply just “he’s a jerk”-type stuff. And talking about PJD’s debut at Sturgis, he was nearly complimentary

That’s what got me. Senior was reasonable. A reasonable Senior.

Of course, I am an episode behind, so we’ll see how long this lasts.

So here I go.

First, the bikes.

OCC was contracted to build a bike for the Fallen Heroes Foundation, honoring soldiers who died in combat. Remembering the POW/MIA bike, I figured this was right up their alley.

I was wrong.

For some reason, Sr. left the design totally in the hands of the ass-kissing primate, Jason. Jason designed a really cool looking bike. Seriously, it was. It was a true GI Joe bike, desert colors, with ammo draped over it, grenades, claymore mines, and a rifle. It was a really great tribute to war and weapons. I’m sure Duke or Hawk would awesome fighting Cobra on it. I’m not really sure how it was a tribute to fallen soldiers. Everyone gushed about how cool it was, and I agree, it was, but as a tribute it fell flat.

But Jason got to run around with a gun.

PJD was contracted to rebuild and personalize an ATV. Having four wheels and resembling a dune buggy, you may realize that this was not, technically, a motorcycle. To be fair, this is a start-up and Paulie has to take what he can get.

Problem- Paulie knows nothing about ATV’s. Worse, he told the costumer, something called “Blingstar,” that “I don’t really understand quads.” I see a public relations course in his future.

Solution- Odie knows ATV’s. Put him in charge.

Problem- Odie is an inexperienced kid who mumbles when he talks because he doesn’t move his lower jaw, is obsessed with the word “freak” (Seriously- count how many times he said it this episode) and is totally not ready to run a build. When learning that the kid was to be in charge, the buyer, to his credit, didn’t run away, but he did laugh out loud.

Solution- Let Vinnie supervise Odie.

Unfortunately, that is not what happens, so parts don’t arrive on time, guys show up work and have no work to do, and Odie chooses to paint the ATV in unfortunate 1980’s-style neon orange and yellow. It’ll be Hulkamania running wild all over again.

It also inspired no confidence when Odie flipped the quad and landed flat on his face.

PJD has also expanded to the point where Mikey’s blind assistant helps take apart the bikes, and some old guy hangs around in the background.

More on the bike, er, ATV, next week.

The highlight of the show was Senior. He never yelled. He never screamed. I don’t know what got into him, except maybe he finally watched his own show and realized what a goon he looked like.

He gave Paulie credit for building two bikes, gave him credit for actually getting the business up and running, and even back-hand complimented the bikes.

This week he got an invitation to his son’s wedding, and to the surprise of no one, he didn’t go. Say what you will about the guy, and I agree- everything in the family is about 95% his fault, if not more. But this week, he sounded so damn reasonable that even if you didn’t agree with him, you had to admit that he still made a logical point. He said he wanted to go the wedding, but if he did, he would be a distraction, and he was right. He thought it would take away from Paulie’s day, which it might have.  Certainly, a lot of questions would have been asked of Paulie, and who knows what pressure he might have felt.

Personally, I would have gone, but Senior made sense. I didn’t agree, but I could see his point.

Next, Senior reached out to Mikey. After about a dozen emails, they agreed to a sit down in neutral territory to work things out. Senior, calmly and reasonably, explained how he never had a problem with Mikey, how any trouble with Paulie had no bearing on their relationship. Again, damnably reasonable. THIS WASN’T PAUL TEUTUL SR!

For whatever, reason, Mikey decided not to go. He also decided not to tell his father so his father showed up at the diner, waited around for half an hour, tried to call his son, and then left. If I didn’t know better, I’d feel sorry for him.

By the way, this week we also saw Mikey’s new art studio, in which I’m pretty sure he hung up some drop cloths and called it art. And blink and you missed it, there was a “Free Rick” poster there too.

So bottom line, Mikey will have nothing to do with his father unless he patches things up with the rest of the family, which isn’t really fair to his father.

Nor is it fair to us, the viewers.

I don’t know what happened this week, I have no idea what they slipped into Senior’s coffee, I don’t care if he’s in therapy, next week he better scream and yell, blow up a mannequin of his son, take an axe to an old car, anything but be calm and reasonable.

Or this show may have to focus on making bikes again.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Newer Entries →