OCC vs. PJD – It’s on!
American Chopper: Paul Sr. & Paul Jr. Discuss The Cadillac Build-Off
While we tend to skew away from reality television on this site, I felt that it was only appropriate to write about the news of TLC canceling American Chopper. This show has not only been the Discovery Network’s flagship series for the past seven years, but it has helped Discovery (and their various networks) to grow into one of the most powerful, educational and entertaining channels on television.
For the past six seasons, American Chopper has not only brought us hundreds of interesting bike builds, but has continuously proven to be one of the most “real” reality televisions on the air. While building bikes is what the show is named after, fans of the series know that the family interaction and drama was equally as important, if not more so, than the actual bike builds.
This was never more apparent than in this past season where we saw the literal demise of the Teutul family relationship with Paul Sr. firing both sons, Paul Jr. starting his own company and Mikey going to rehab. Move over, The Hills, this is what actual reality looks like.
While I hate to see a series that I’ve enjoyed for so many years come to an end, I couldn’t really see any other option. With Paul Jr. removed from the company, the bike designs and builds became less creative and more about Paul Sr. trying to prove that his son wasn’t the only one in the family that could design unique motorcycles. Sadly, it seems as though he was.
As the season continued, the episodes started falling apart. I would find myself skipping over the motorcycle builds to watch what Mikey and Paul Jr. were up to. Partly because I wasn’t interested in the bike builds anymore, but mostly because I was getting tired of seeing Paul Sr. act like a child by continuously talking bad about his family.
Paul Jr. is ready to be his own bike man.
But maybe all is not lost, as Paul Jr. has taken to Twitter to make sure everyone knows that while American Chopper may be over, he’s not going away anytime soon and “the best is yet to come.”
*AC series finally [finale]! Its been almost a decade of great experiences. For me, I am certainly not done with television. The best is yet to come
Hmm… does this mean that Paul Jr. will be getting his own show? I have to say that I might watch it. I found his having to start over really refreshing.
Check out the trailer for the series finale episode below.
Are you happy to see American Chopper come to an end? Would you watch a show staring Paul Jr.? Any thoughts on the family drama?
Catch the last ever episode of American Chopper Thursday night @9PM on TLC
Source: TMZ
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Catherine, two more words for you – You’re nice! (At least I think it counts as two words with the apostrophe) {;-) Greetings from Australia.
[ thought you knew it all] two words not nice] have a nice life but can i just say just becase i am not as educated as youself doesent mean i cant have an opinion and at the age of 75 do you think i am worried about your opinion or correction you must have a full happy life checking others spelling , going back to what my original mail was about great show. i do hope a new show comes back with paul jnr and vinnie and mikey good luck to all and thanks for many hours of happy veiwing. merry christmas happy new year from manchester ENGLAND kay and family. [ps only just learnt to use computer its great isent it ,feel free to correct any of my mistakes thanks ]
ps hope you found mistake little clue[ R]
Thanks Catherine,
I’m a retired teacher but my brain still sees mistakes and can’t help commenting. On the show, also sad to see it finish as Snr and Jnr were just starting to get their act together again as father and son and I would love to have seen it develop further. Perhaps a one-off show a year from now to see how they’re going would be good.
There’s a few other shows on with family stories behind them that I think are good. They are Pawn Stars and Hard Core Pawn with another called Duck Dynasty which is absolutley hilarious. Cheers and seasons greetings to you.
i have watched pawn stars but not the others ,but some of the bikes jnr designed were works of art ,ps never ridden a bike in my life maybe thats one to go on my list .ps one of my list is next time in america i was going to visit occ. shame .happy healthy new year kay. ps if you like comedy shows look out for mrs browns boys by brenden ocarrol fantastic k.
Well done for a great win,well you showed they wannabe`s who is a bike fabricater,and with any luck that jessica james will now shut his mouth,he looked stupid on that mini bike,but different from the giant bike he did for the 1st build off,that one was huge,and he couldn`t even see over the handle bars,there never was any doubt about who the winner was going to be,i give sr one point for actually building a bike this time round,but at the same time i would have to take 5 points away as that jason FOOL was the one to sit behind a desk using software to make a pretty picture,got to feel sorry for Rick,hes the only one of worth at occ………….Jr and Crew,you knocked it out of the ball park yet again,well done,just a shame its the end of the show,but who knows,it could return again like it did before,be great to see video`s on youtube of how your all doing,keep the fans happy,once more,WELL DONE…
I have found my self fast forwarding every scene with OCC and only watching PJD scenes for a long time. I can’t take the drama and childness of Paul Sr.’s team.
haha.. I found myself fast forwarding to all PJD stuff too
I am not happy about American Chopper ending but there time is up, as long as Paul jr Design keeps fabricating incredible bikes I will watch there show.
I think its time for Snr to retire and spend his cash…..
I have always enjoyed American chopper and would love to see Paul Jr. get his own show. I would watch it for sure!
I would like to see a bike building show with everyone but the old man in it! I liked him until he became a loose cannon, but he’s a very unstable man with personal problems that interfere with good bike building. I think a rotation of all those guys from both shops building nice bikes would be what everyone would love to see. Thats what we all started watching the show for in the first place. Also, if you do it then rotate the guys every bike so all of those talents can be watched and admired. These guys worked real hard at their craft and deserve to be seen without centering around the heads of the shop and their families. This shouldn’t be the center of the attention, we want to see lots of different bikes and I personnally don’t care about who wins a build-off. I love bikes, lots of bikes. I wanna see softtails, hardtails, drag-bikes, crotch-rockets.ETC. Thanks for the good years, Tim (63yrs.old)
Only in America can a dysfunctional family become millionaires by having a reality TV show fall into their laps. Paul Sr didnt like the fact his employees had to sit around idle while his son thought of what do to next in each step of the design and build. To complicate matters and add to his anxiety his other son Mikey does not have a mechancial apptitude and provided no tangible value to building the motorcycles. To improve employee efficiency Paul Sr. hires computer designer Jason to speed up the process thinking Vinnie and company would have a complete design available before the build starts. Problem was Paul Jr. would makes changes during the build that undermined the improvement in resource efficiency Paul Sr was trying to achieve. Once the design was on paper Paul Sr. thought there would be no changes or delays in the build and everyone would stay busy and productive. Paul Sr. wanted to churn out $150k theme bikes as fast as $20k production bikes. He had state of the art fabrication equipment given to them by vendors for advertising purposes. He went from his basement to a multimillion dollar complex and is afraid of losing his new found fame and fortune. To make matters worse, the design ideas Paul Sr. would suggest were quickly shot down by Paul Jr. This came across as disrespectful to Paul Sr. along with his coming in late to work, so the only value add he felt he could provide was to improve the efficiency of his employees. Firing his sons is something I am sure he regrets. Paul Sr. biker look is the value he provided to the show, Paul Jr. creative designs is what he provided, while Vinnie and Rick brought the fabrication talent to the builds. The cast of characters that appeared on the show after Paul Jr. left probably were building production version bikes. Happy to see it was ended with father and sons trying to reunite as a family.
Selfishly I am sad to see American Chopper go away. For the sake of the Teutul family though it is the best thing that could happen. They enjoyed great financial success at the cost of there family relationship. I have my thoughts on what conspired to the demise but will just keep them with me.
For all the good times the Teutul family provided I wish them nothing but the best. I hope they repair there relationships and prosper first as a family, business should be second.
Thank you for the best show I have had the pleasure of watching, to put your life on TV took real guts I and I appreciate it.
I have to admit that I to found myself fast forwarding through the senior parts to see Jr. and the PJD crew. I got so tired of sr. bashing JR. when he was the one that made it work. My question: Why didn’t Sr. just make Jr. in charge of Theme Bikes and he could take care of the production bikes and the business. You would never see a 20% shareholder in any other business get treated like Jr. did. He would at least be the Vice President of the company. I think Sr. gave him the shares out of guilt. He knew that Jr. was the talent behind the company.
less drama and make more bikes
I would like to see how Junior expands his business ventures, his new directions. It would be nice to see more interaction in his personal life, wife and family. Seeing when his family expands. I would like to see more of Vinny and his family and his business insights .
His is young company with a lot of opportunities other than just restaurants.
I would like to see how Mikey develops , maturity wise and with his paintings, art gallery.
I guess a continuation but in a less aggressive manner .
I would definitely watch a show with PJD and not Sr
We would really want to see more of Paul Jr. shows because he was the back bone of the bike builds. I would love to see more of his design. Aloha from a big fan from Hawaii.
I really would like to see the both of them patch things up. To say Paul Jr. is the backbone though… if you watch the show, you always see him walking in with parts of the bike while Paul Sr. actually is seen working on the bikes and he delegates tasks for people to do in his shop. Makes me wonder if Paul Jr. actually works on the bikes himself. Paul Jr. also took the idea of bike fabrication from his dad. He is an extension of what his father taught him. I think it’s a little unfair to discredit the father and give all props to the son when his dad started the bike business. It’s family and no one’s family is truly perfect. It’s a shame when people view them as Sr. VS Jr. They’re father and son. Paul Jr. didn’t raise himself.
I’am not sure we have been watching the same show.
I have been watching the show for a long time and will be sad to see it finish.As a father i think Mikey and Paul jnr are spoilt brats,if it was’nt for there father they would have nothing.As for Vinnie he is a traitor,he is just hoping to go where he thinks the big bucks are.As for the staff they are lucky to have work and ALL should have been loyal to Paul snr.The family rift was caused by the lazy,big headed Paul snr and Mikey.They never put in the hours or dedication there father did.A better solution would have been for Paul snr to retire,put his feet up,no more abuse from his kids.Lets see if the kids can run OCC and see if they can be as successful as there father has been.I don’t think so?
Yes I love paul Jr and the team I cried at the last show! I admired his honor and integrity hope they give him a new show I wouldn’t miss it, and I’m 56 no young pup but loved the show
Sr indicated he has visions of another show, but I can not imagine me ever watching it. Sr has had his time and reaped the benefits. The only thing left that would peak my interest would be to follow the inevitable collapsing of OCC. However, depending on format, if Jr comes up with a show I would probably watch. He is just beginning to get his business off the ground and diversifying into different areas. Which succeed or fail could be interesting, though his presence on tv might make the difference. I would like to see more fabrication and much less family melodrama. Been there, done that and don’t care any more.
Would love Paul Jr and Mikey to have a show
cant wait for new show with paul jr and vinnie and see some great bike builds he is good and dad needs to accept this and be proud and not jealous of his children he needs to remember every dog has his day hes had his move over gracefully .kay m/c
Goes to show lemmings will make anyone rich, the only reason the knuckle heads reached their success was from Discovery, without it they would most likely be in jail or living in a trailer park where they belong
Yes I would watch Paul anytime.I miss watching him & Finnie.let me know when his show starts.Thanks.
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Yes I would watch Paul anytime.I miss watching him & Finnie.let me know when his show starts.Thanks.
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Yes I would watch Paul anytime.I miss watching him & Finnie.let me know when his show starts.Thanks.
I sure would like to see paul jr get his own show. I know that the show would be a success. You might ask why I would know that. I know that paul jr has talent, he’s proven that. He also has class. He’s dealt with an father who always bad mouth him. But did he bad mouth his father no. I love to see the builds he does. His design ideas are world class.
One thing I know for sure if Paul jr had his own show. Kids could watch it. And learn how to be a adult, that can give back So yes it has all the right reasons to happen. But will anyone let it happen? Lets wait and see! Good luck paul jr. You have alot to offer.
Very sad to see the show finish ,like all good things ,they eventally come to an end ,I wish everyone involved well ,and thanks for some great tv ,loved every minute ,feel like I’ve lost a family member ,so yes to more of the teutuls
I wouldn`t worry too much about seeing the last of the show, it seems both shops are going to get a new lease of life in their own shows, don’t know if they are going to share or have individual shows yet, but they will be back
I would like to see the show back on air me and my family watched it everytime it was on please bring it back and paul jr has his show its not going to be the same