American Pickers (Courtesy Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

American Pickers is an American reality television series that premiered on January 18, 2010 on History. The series began running concurrently on sister network Lifetime in December 2010.

Overview

The show follows Mike Wolfe and Frank Fritz as they travel primarily around the greater Midwestern United States in a Mercedes-Benz Sprinter van, buying antiques and collectables ("picking"). They work with Danielle Colby-Cushman, who runs the office of their business, Antique Archeology, from their home base in Le Claire, Iowa and later at their newer location in Nashville, Tennessee. Mike and Frank go on the road, not only following up leads Danielle has generated, but also "freestyling", i.e. stopping at places that look like they might hold things worth buying.

The series introduction is narrated by Mike Wolfe and Frank Fritz. The first three seasons used the complete opening. Beginning with season 4, a shortened version is used, with the portion in italics below removed:

Wolfe and Fritz explore people's homes, barns, sheds, and other outbuildings, and other places where they have stored antiques and collectibles. They call upon casual collectors, hoarders and occasionally people who have inherited overwhelming collections of apparent junk. Wolfe, who has been picking since age four, has a particular interest in antique motorcycles, air-cooled Volkswagens, old bicycles and penny-farthings, while Fritz has a fondness for antique toys, oil cans, and old Hondas. They have purchased old advertisements and commercial signage, film posters, a rare 15-gallon visible gasoline pump, and a Piaggio Ape (pronounced: ah-peh) that one of their friends told them is probably the only one of its kind in North America.

In December 2011, American Pickers revealed that Antique Archaeology had leased a former 1910s car factory in Nashville, Tennessee, which originally made the Marathon, for a second business location to decrease the distance required to haul their finds from the southern states.

Reception

The series debuted on January 18, 2010. The premiere episode of American Pickers had 3.1 million viewers, making it the highest rated History channel debut since Ice Road Truckers in 2007. Season 2 premiered June 7, 2010. The September 8, 2010 episode "Laurel & Hardy" garnered ratings as high as 5.3 million viewers in the 25"54 age group. As of that episode, the show retained the title of #1 new non-fiction series of 2010 among all viewers and adults 25-54. Season 3 premiered March 28, 2011.

Episodes

See List of American Pickers episodes for more information

See also

• Picker Sisters, TV series about two female pickers/designers
• Canadian Pickers / Cash Cowboys, a similar TV series featuring two pickers in Canada; produced by Cineflix for the History channel in Canada.
• Picked Off, History's reality competition series, also produced by Cineflix.

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