It’s very difficult to capture lightning in a bottle twice as the saying goes and American Chopper was one of those shows that was destined for a decent run, but not much else after the fallout between Teutel Sr. and Jr. It was after all this spat that got the show cancelled as Sr. fired Jr. and kicked him out of the business. That seemed to be the end of the show for good and all, but obviously people have been wondering just when it was going to come back, IF it was going to come back, and what the chances of it coming back would be. Well, the Discovery Channel decided it would be a good idea to bring the show back as of winter of 2018 and show how things have changed in the last 8 years. Obviously Jr. has gone off and started his own business, even bringing his brother Mikey into it with him at one point, and Sr. has been going strong in his own business since that time. But the rift between them, whether it’s healed or not, has gotten kind of stale it feels like, making one wonder if the show will ever be as great as it was to begin with.
It’s hard to tell really since the reaction of the fans is something that has to be gauged on an individual basis.
The most intense drama was found in the earlier seasons.
One of the biggest issues with a show like this is that once they bring out the big drama and the sense that everything is never quite okay within the family dynamic that’s supposed to run the business it’s almost as though we’ve seen everything and been there for the most part and the rest of the show is best devoted to the bikes and the awesome designs that people request. In truth this is what a lot of people tune in for since some of the bikes they design are absolutely amazing to look at and are no doubt affixed with a price tag that no one but the rich could possibly afford. That’s a custom job for you though, it’s all about the right specs and the modifications that are wanted and allowable. But the drama between the main stars of the show kind of took over during parts of the program and made it less about the bikes and more about the family issue that were happening on a recurring basis.
Eventually the drama got to be a constant thing and people kind of got tired of it, no matter that it was counted as quality reality TV since it obviously followed the same pattern as many shows. However much of it was real is kind of hard to judge but the point is that Sr. might be older and still just as aggressive as he used to be, but people are no doubt going to roll their eyes and think that they’re in for more of the same, if they haven’t already.
The whole issue between Senior and Junior has been played out.
At this point there’s really no struggle between the two men that’s worth rehashing even if there are those that think it’s worth another round. They’ve already gone through their struggles and been seen to finally reconcile in a way that’s probably as good as it’s going to get with them. This however was such a big part of the show that it was a reason why some people tuned in. The fact of the matter though is that as they’re both getting older Sr. and Jr. have come to realize that they want a good relationship even if they can’t have a good working relationship. While it might be inspiring to see and even heartwarming it doesn’t do a lot for the ratings since drama and conflict tend to attract more viewers than anything else. But with both men confident that they can’t work together, or at least one of them being confident that he doesn’t want this, it would seem that there’s not a lot left for the show other than the bikes.
Let’s be honest, if the show had always been just about the bikes there’s a good chance that it might not have lasted 10 seasons. Despite the impressive amount of work that goes into building each one of these marvels the whole idea that there was trouble with the crew now and again and between the crew was a big draw for the show that a lot of people loved. But now it almost seems as though it might be contrived just to get ratings since no matter how little Sr. might have changed, slapping his people around after so long would only be appealing to so many workers before someone finally filed a complaint or two.
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