American Chopper on Discovery (1 Viewer)

[Chuck C]

Has anyone been watching this show? It's about Orange County Choppers which is a custom Chopper shop in upstate NY. It's a father and son team. Paul Sr., the boss, gets frustrated a lot, especially at his son Paul Jr. who fabricates and builds the bikes from scratch. If fact, most would argue that Paul Jr. is the true boss of OCC. It's a show not about building motorcycles, but about family, strife, integrity, pressure, and strength. It's by far one of the most enjoyable shows on TV today. catch it on Discovery Mondays at 10...repeats throughout the week.

 

[Shawn Shultzaberger]

My kids were watching that the other day and I decided to sit down and watch since I didn't have anything else to do. Now I'm stuck. The bike they did with the spider web design on the front and rear fenders was a real work of art. And the dad is one cranky dude. He helps make that show.

 

[LewB]

It's almost a mix of Monster Garage and the Osbornes. Talk about reality TV ! If these guys don't get the job done, they don't eat.

 

[Martino]

I love this show, but the father is a lot to take. His son is doing all of the skilled work, while the dad just rides him to get it done yesterday. Most of the time, all the father is doing is answering the phone. The son does all of the design and metal work that actually makes the bike. I've seen the father lift a wrench 1 time and put on a few parts. I'm just waiting for the son to start up his own shop and not have to deal with the constant nagging from the father.

 

[LewB]

Found this on the web.

 

[Chuck C]

I was discussing AC on the Discovery board. Alotta people complain about Paul Sr. I think he comes from an old-fashioned work enviornment and doesn't know how to properly motivate people in the new, "Paul Jr." oriented workplace. Remember, Sr. has been in the business for 30 yrs, but OCC is only 3-4 yrs old. Things will probably change over time with increasing world-wide recognition of OCC...and it'll happen either with a bang or improvements. I hope this show goes 12 seasons!

 

[Chuck C]

it's been a few months and AC just gets better and better. is anyone else watching?

 

[LewB]

I try to watch every episode. I find it very entertaining. How did the kid Cody get in with these guys ? I musta missed that.

 

[Jeremy_Watson]

I too love this show. However, I can appreciate that Big Paul does a lot of behind the scenes work (getting clients, talking to vendors) while Paulie does the cool stuff that people actually want to see on TV. They many times make Paul Sr out to be a mean old guy, but I can see where he's coming from in his tantrums. Luckily, this does't take away from enjoying the show.

Jeremy

 

[Alex Spindler]

It is an impressive show, not only because the people are able to generate so much heart felt drama and enthusiasm that doesn't feel manufactured but also becase their profession is so completely fascinating. I not a motorcycle enthusiast by any stretch of the imagination, but watching them put together a bike is just unbelievable.

I'd recommend it to absolutely anyone.

I also don't think either of them is perfect, they just have completely different attitudes about work and life. I also get the impression than Paul Sr. is actively staying out of the fabrication process to let his son get experience. But I love watching is practical nature get revved up when his son decides to modify a chopper at the last minute.

Great television, and I've learned a great deal while watching it. Truly a coup for The Discovery Channel.

 

[Chuck C]

by the way, these due was on letterman this week. you could tell sr. was a little nervous. both men were great and as genuine as can be.

alex, i think you summed it up in your first paragraph. AC is for everyone. even if you dont like motorcycles, 1. you will after watching the show, 2. the reality of a family business can supply endless hours of enjoyment, and 3. you got Mikey.

 

[JeffTodd]

I have been watching this show off and on for some time now and enjoy it greatly! It's reality TV, but it's not the same old brain dead programming that is on regular network TV.

Regarding Cody....I think he is the kid that got a chance a while back to build his own design in the shop. As far as I recall he was just some kid that had a lot of ambition and talent in bike design and the guys at OCC gave him a shot to create it. It appears as if he has been off and on since then.

Great show and Mikey is a riot.

 

[Chuck C]

what a great episode last night. to be honest with you, i loved when Paul Sr. gave Cody the bike "well the old school bike...that's your bike" And i gotta tell ya, that commanche bike is gonna be sweet. to be honest, I was a little stunned at the sticker price of that helicopter ($60M) !! but after watching Paul Jr. operate, I'll tell ya, he's one cool cat.

 

[Wayne Bundrick]

Regarding Cody....I think he is the kid that got a chance a while back to build his own design in the shop. As far as I recall he was just some kid that had a lot of ambition and talent in bike design and the guys at OCC gave him a shot to create it. It appears as if he has been off and on since then.

I just started watching the show last week when they showed three episodes. One was when they went to Bike Week in Daytona, and Cody's bike was sold there. That's when Paul Sr. and Cody started talking about making an old school bike. There were also two episodes about the FDNY tribute bike, there was some serious craftsmanship by everyone involved on that one. Anyway those three episodes had me hooked so I set up a TiVo season pass. I still haven't watched last night's episode, maybe I should go watch it now.

 

[Brett_H]

In case anyone is interested, there have been two new episodes broadcast lately (Tool Bike 1 & 2). Unfortunately, I didn't notice it until last night after I had missed both of them! They will be rerun the day after Christmas, according to Discovery's lineup. It also looks like there's a Christmas special coming next week.

Hope these new ones are as good as the previous ones!

-Brett.

 

[Lee L]

Just as good.

The tool bike turned out pretty cool. Paul Jr is a creative genious.

Paul Jr is alittle more full of himself now that the show is popular. Looks like he bought himself a Prowler with the $$$.

 

[Steve_Tk]

Paul Sr can build them just the same, but his son comes up with the ideas. Plus Paul Sr has all the connections in the business. My favorite bike is the Firemans bike.

I really enjoy the show but have not seen any new ones in a while. Plus I think it's amazing the things they can do. Building something from scratch, almost anything, is interesting to me. I'd love to be able to do something like that, but have absolutely no skills with building machines. I can do a lot with wood, but not something like bikes and cars.

 

[David Rogers]

I've caught a number of episodes. It doesn't really seem that Paul Jr is "doing all the work". He ideas and creates (to be fair), but he leaves Vinnie to handle the vast majority of the construction. Paul Jr often shows up late or fiddles around while Vinnie is assembling a bike. Further, Paul Jr will then walk over to Vinnie's efforts and make a comment that requires disassembling and then reassembling the bike for a minor detail.

The bikes that result are beautiful and very very cool, but it just doesn't seem to me that Paul Jr is all that. Without Vinnie, OCC's theme bikes would still be nothing but collections of boxed parts.

And the show is at its best when they're working on bikes, or showing them. The injected drama and personal disputes are quite off-putting. Hope they focus it better on the former, and not on the latter.

 

[Juan Castillo]

In the last episode :
To be fair to those that missed it.


Paul Sr. calls jr. a premadonna who thinks hes all that but isn't.


Alot of injected Drama?? I don't think so, I think thats the way they are. Tough Love. And if you saw the episode Tool Bike part 2, you know that Paul Sr. Just doesn't take any of Jr.'s shit or think any higher of him just becuase the rest of the world does.


Oh yeah.. umm Jr.s Girlfriend, needs to walk around more in see through pants with G-strings on
The new receptionist isn't bad either

Mikey on the phones was hilarious.

I really enjoy this show and Monster Garage for the reason that I wish I was in there making stuff too.
I want to see another West Coast Choppers special soon.

Oh yeah. There will be a new show or at least more episodes of American Hotrod, or something coming soon too.

 

[SethOakley]

Give it time and Mikey will be the star of the show. Early on, you could see that this cat had a great sense of humor. Lately it seems he’s getting more air time, and he’s hilarious. I’m sure Paul Jr gets frustrated knowing that Mikey can get away with murder, and his dad just laughs.

Paul Sr, started a steel fabrication company several years ago and made a great living. Then he built himself a motorcycle and the rest is history. That is my understanding of the situation.