Pawn Stars is the new Antiques Roadshow
Posted by 90210code on February 14, 2013
Until reading Chapter 2 in Spreadable Media, I don’t think I have thought of Antiques Roadshow since I watched it with my grandparents when I was younger. Of course when you’re kid, you don’t find things like that interesting. An older couple might bring in a teapot with some sob story of how they acquired it or the sentimental meaning behind it. Someone will appraise it, and tell them it’s worth X amount of dollars. Exciting, right? Not for a kid.
Today, I watch the History Channel almost every day. There’s this “little” show on it called Pawn Stars. I say little in quotation marks because it’s one of the highest rated shows on cable television that’s probably pretty simple to produce. It’s a pretty straightforward reality show set in a pawn shop. People will bring in anything. Their owner’s tagline is, “You never know what’s going to come through that door.” The show is similar to Antiques Roadshow because the owner will bring in the item and give a backstory. Most of the time, a professional that deals with said item will appraise it and give some insight into the said product. The only difference of these two shows is one is set in Vegas and never leaves.
Pawn Stars is somewhat the Antiques Roadshow for my generation. It may be a reality show, but the facts of the items are real. There’s a definite Market exchange on this show because the pawn shop is always looking for someone to buy their items after they’ve bought them from someone else for a fraction of the cost.
erinoestringer said
I couldn’t agree more. I hadn’t really thought about that connection until now, but its really the same principle. Its also another great example of what the chapter covered on valuation and ownership. That 1800′s rifle is only as valuable to Rick and the “Old Man” as they think they can resell it, or enjoy it themselves. The literal price quote from an expert only has about half to do with it.
And I, too, hadn’t seen antiques roadshow since I was a kid. Watching it in class today was much more enjoyable, mainly for shock value, than I remembered it.
Great Connection!
daniellecraig462 said
You’ve made a good point about market exchange. Someone brings in their item to either get it appraised or to sell it to the pawn shop, which are both valuable to the owner of the item. The pawn shop owner is looking to buy people’s goods so they can sell it back to someone else, making a cycle.
classypassi said
For a normal kid, Antiques Roadshow is probably the worst thing to watch on television besides the news. However, Antiques Roadshow is something I enjoyed watching because my dad was really into antiques, thrift stores, garage sales, flea markets.. and so because of this admiration-by-association, I grew up accustomed to these types of nostalgic artifacts that I wasn’t even around for to be sentimentally nostalgic toward me… if that makes much sense at all.
samford said
It reminds me very much of the rummage sale culture I grew up in. My grandma loved yard sales, and I spent many a Saturday scouting, etc. And nothing was more exciting and challenging than running your own yard sale–watching the clutter disappear and turn into some cash, sure, but watching prized possessions get turned into commodity. Of course, when it’s friends and family purchasing things, the negotiations weren’t just “about business,” and someone would be criticized for taking the whole endeavor too seriously…It’s an apt illustration for many of the concepts outlined in Ch. 2.
andyarnoldpopculture said
I remember thinking I liked Pawn Stars, when I realized I tuned out the “drama” of the business’s inner workings, and instead focused solely on the interesting items brought it. Like most reality shows, I’m positive Pawn Stars is scripted, but a TV show where cool things are shown off has a lot of appeal – to history fans, fashion fiends, and bored channel grazers.