That's a pretty broad stroke and depends on your definition of reality. I believe Survivor is completely non-scripted and real. You wouldn't have seasons like RI where their big ratings player, Russell Hantz, gets voted out early in the game. Editors can play with the footage and create storylines and play things out of context, but the actions we see really took place.


If Pawn Stars is completely fake, then I'm just watching a low rent fictional series and I have no interest in that.

I wouldn't call Pawn Stars fake but I'm sure most (if not all) of the deals are already committed before filming the "negotiations". Bringing in the experts is just for show.

Figured I'd add something to the conversation since I have read Rick Harrison's autobiography. In the book he discusses these same issues, stating that the popularity of the show has really changed their job description. The store is now constantly flooded with people (as someone said before) but when Rick/Chum/Old Man/Corey come out to do deals, they modify that set up to let only a limited number of people come in at a time. Staged? I guess in a way. I also read that those four can no longer do regular pawn deals or work regular shifts for some confidentiality of the customers reason...or something like that.

I'm a firm believer that most of the show is real. Yes, the banter scenes are silly put ons. Chum's not that stupid in real life. And many of those big ticket items (the les Paul perhaps) are probably set up in advance. But after reading about their lives, Rick LOVES the pawn business. However much money is involved, to take that completely away from him just doesn't seem like something he would do. I mean, he really gets off on history and seeing new things.

The books kinda basic and reads like a conversation. Recommended for fans of the show.

Not sure if this has been mentioned, but over the weekend I came across a show called Hardcore Pawn. It's set in Detroit, and it seems more like what I imagine a real pawn shop is like: lots of angry customers demanding hundreds of dollars for their old crap and getting escorted out by security when they won't accept the fact their beat up old no-name guitar isn't worth $200, and relatively few people walking in with their antique Civil War moustache combs that require bringing in a museum currator to appraise. Hilarious stuff.

It's funny you mention Survivor because I was going to give the example of that show being busted a few years into its run because they were reshooting "b roll" or coverage shots with look alikes. Producers said the "recreations" never changed the outcome, but still, parts of the competitions, while not scripted, were certainly not genuine. I don't know if they stopped doing this or not.

I think the popularity and celebrity status has caught the guys off guard. 5000 people show up every day just to get in the store. That's insane. I suspect the store nows operates mostly as a tourist destination than real pawn shop, but I'm fine with that.

I find it interesting that Rick always states the same thing in interviews that he is just a regular guy who goes home at night and becomes a total bookworm. I don't think History Channel is feeding him lines to say. I think the guy knows his stuff!

I believe they did stop that practice after it was brought out in the media. And they will do shit like film a tribmates reaction out of sequence to make them look like they are shocked at a response or something. Also, the challenges can last for hours, not a mere five minutes like we see on tv. However, all that is just creative editing to increase the entertainment value. A scripted show would have the producers feeding lines to the players which doesn't happen on this show.

It may be interesting to note that History Channel has been busted before for producing fake reality tv. Trucker Dave Redmon has come out saying that he was his firing from IRTeadliest Roads was completely scripted and fake!

Bear Grylls still takes the cake for fake.

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Not that I'm a pawn shop afficionado or anything but Hardcore Pawn doesn't represent any pawn shop I've ever been in. I think it's just as fake, only it goes the Jerry Springer route. And seeing that JS's old producer, Dominic?? produces this show... There's also Cajun Pawn Stars(??). It's more like Pawn Stars only set in Louisiana and with stuff you'd expect to find there. I like it better than the other two for now.
Also, what are the odds that the writing expert will show up out of the blue and be able to "know" the autograph is real without having a sample. Or, the history museum guy, gun guy, guitar guy (well maybe him) will show up knowing the entire history of a particular piece. No, they're clued in before they arrive so they can memorize some research. You know the Harrison's do.

I have a budy who works in Los Angeles who was eating out one day and ran into a crew shooting "The Hills" I think. He said they shot the same thing about six different times before one of the cast people was happy with the take. He didn't realize it was a "reality" show until his girlfriend told him later.

I watched several episodes where it was not presented as if the expert was just waiting outside. Rick will tell the customer that he has a buddy to call, and ask the customer to come back later when the expert is there. We don't know if this is hours, days or weeks. They also use the museum guy a lot and he runs the museum in Clark county.

The finale caused a big hoopla among fans because they pretty much admitted that it was staged.

Well that's all true but are we to believe that the hand writing expert wouldn't be told in the phone call what autograph he was going to be examining. Then he'd whip out a sample autograph to compare it with the item. Regardless of how good he may be I doubt he memorizes every loop and swirl of every famous person.

As to the museum guy, he says that he's worked in many museums. With that while he may have a great deal of surface knowledge I'm sure even he would need to "brush" up on the particular history of some pieces.

Now the guitar guy may actually know his craft as far as stringed instruments. While there's a ton of junk out there, it's easily recognized, just as the really good pieces can be.

Perhaps the experts have time to examine the item before they film their scene. Probably make for boring TV if they just came in with a bunch of books & stood there for a while researching the item. Then once they study it, they do the standard walk in and give their speech routine.

Watch History Detectives on PBS. It's all about researching an interesting old item, and nothing about giving someone who doesn't know any better $10 for a thousand dollar item.

I LOVE History Detectives. They have researched some incredible stuff on the show. I often wonder however if any of these people every see dollar signs when they tell them what they have in their posession.

And that Hardcore Pawn show looks like it is made with a bunch of out of work past their prime porn stars. That show is a disgrace...

When and where? I always felt Dave was ruining his rep by his behavior on that show.

Looks like Rick made $20k off of that Les Paul guitar he bought for $90k - he sold it on eBay for $110k.

Here's a link to his "completed" auctions:

http://www.ebay.com/csc/goldsilverpa...=p3911.c0.m283

good for him... that was still a rather big risk on a relatively small return

I give them integrity points for listing it as Mary Ford's guitar and not Les Paul's.

Ebay fees. Paypal fees. Not so much 20k...

Why didn't the original owner try selling it on eBay with a reserve?

Because he's an idiot like most people on this show?

I would have to say the samething. Fee's. eBay charges you the full fee if you have a reserve set, then they charge you the fee on top of that fee, then you have your PP fee (15% I think?) Without doing the math I do not think he made $20,000 off of it. But unlike people he can take the fee's out at the end of the year on there taxes as fee's to sell the item.

The seller walked away with 90,000 in hand, Was it reported or was it cash out the door?

I have never sold nor bought anything from any pawn shop. Never will. I did go to the link and seen some of the prices they have listed (Come on his book $47 please). The short if I wanted to buy something I could get it much cheaper. I understand they have to make money and pawn shops use peoples hard ships to get items cheap. But really are there any deals to be really had?

I have watched the show, I seen his kid go to jail in Big Bear (I was cooking at the place across the street and seen him, and many cops put him in a SUV he made sure to make sure everyone known who he was). Still there is a market for it and people will still sell. I was at a customers house one day and they had on Hard Core Pawn. I have to say I loved what this color guy was doing. He was stand outside buy things from people at the prices they wanted and the shop would not. Turn out they hit him, he sue, he won.

FYI I fell the same way about all these kind of shows.