Hardcore Pawn

Hardcore Pawn
Starring
Country of origin United States
Original language(s) English
No. of seasons 9
No. of episodes 162 (list of episodes)
Production
Running time 21–23 minutes
Production company(s)
Release
Original network TruTV
Original release August 16, 2010 (2010-08-16) – April 6, 2015 (2015-04-06)
External links
Website www.trutv.com/shows/hardcore-pawn/

Hardcore Pawn is an American reality television series produced by RDF USA (later Zodiak USA) and Richard Dominick Productions for truTV about the day-to-day operations of American Jewelry and Loan, a family-owned and operated Pawn shop and broker in Detroit, Michigan's 8 Mile Road corridor.[1][2]

The series premiered on August 16, 2010,[3] delivering two million viewers, setting a record as truTV's most-watched series premiere ever.[4]

Overview

American Jewelry and Loan is owned by Leslie "Les" Gold, a third generation pawnbroker and businessman, and the grandson of a pawnbroker who once owned Sam's Loans, a now-defunct pawnshop on Michigan Avenue in Detroit.[5] Les first opened American Jewelry at the Green Eight Shopping Center on 8 Mile Road in Oak Park in 1978, moving to its present location in 1993.[3]

In 2011, American Jewelry expanded to its second location when it acquired Premier Jewelry and Loan in Pontiac;[6][lower-alpha 1] the new location was featured in the first few episodes of Hardcore Pawn's fifth season,[9] and in two episodes of the sixth season, where Les's son and co-owner/employee Seth attempts to sell the Pontiac location behind Les's back.[10][11]

Les's only son, Seth, is an alumnus of the University of Michigan and has been a co-owner of American Jewelry since graduating from school. Seth handles the store's marketing division and claims that if it was not for him, the shop's only marketing campaign would be "an ad in the Yellow Pages".[12] Les's daughter, Ashley, has a bachelor's degree in business administration from Michigan State University and earned her graduate diamond certification from the Gemological Institute of America. Ashley is a co-owner of American Jewelry and has been working there for more than fifteen years, although she took three years off at one point for maternity leave. The sibling rivalry between her and Seth is a common element of many episodes.[13]

Ratings response

The show averaged 2.6 million viewers during its sixth season.[14]

Cast

Reception

Comparison to Pawn Stars

The show has been largely compared to similar reality program Pawn Stars on History, but in the vein of similar programs (also on truTV Operation Repo and Lizard Lick Towing for example), where it differs however is the focus being mainly on the human aspects of drama and interaction, rather than the actual significance of the items being brought into the shop.[15]

Due to similarities to Pawn Stars, Hardcore Pawn has been described as simply being a knock-off and a capitalization on the breakout success of Pawn Stars.[16] Les Gold, defends the show with claims that his show is a true representation of what a pawn shop does, focusing on the human element and showing that people are suffering tough times and need money for basic necessities like food and rent.[3][17]

According to Marc Juris of truTV, any similarities between the shows are coincidental. He also noted that Hardcore Pawn was in development for more than a year and two test episodes aired in December 2009. Regarding the initial identical time slot of Monday nights at 10 pm ET, opposite Pawn Stars at the time, Juris claimed the choice was made because Hardcore Pawn fit well with Operation Repo. The second season debuted in December 2010, in the Tuesday at 9 pm ET timeslot.[18]

Reality versus scripting

Owner Les Gold said at the launch of the show that there would be no staged antics, products or characters on the show.[3] However, New York Post writer Linda Stasi has opined that some situations in Hardcore Pawn are set up.[19]

Episodes

Season Episodes Originally aired
First aired Last aired
Pilot episodes 2 December 21, 2009 (2009-12-21)
1 8 August 16, 2010 (2010-08-16) September 27, 2010 (2010-09-27)
2 8 December 28, 2010 (2010-12-28) February 8, 2011 (2011-02-08)
3 13 February 15, 2011 (2011-02-15) May 24, 2011 (2011-05-24)
4 13 June 21, 2011 (2011-06-21) October 4, 2011 (2011-10-04)
5 26 November 15, 2011 (2011-11-15) June 19, 2012 (2012-06-19)
6 26 July 10, 2012 (2012-07-10) February 5, 2013 (2013-02-05)
7 26 March 26, 2013 (2013-03-26) November 5, 2013 (2013-11-05)
8 27 December 17, 2013 (2013-12-17) August 20, 2014 (2014-08-20)
9 13 December 29, 2014 (2014-12-29) April 6, 2015 (2015-04-06)

162 episodes (including the pilots and specials) have aired over nine seasons. Repeats of Hardcore Pawn are also seen on occasion on TNT.

Spinoffs

Hardcore Pawn has generated two spinoffs:

In addition, Rich Pyle, one of the American Jewelry clerks who was featured in many episodes of Hardcore Pawn, has since left the show and became host of another television series for the National Geographic Channel, Meltdown, a series focusing on the recycling of precious metals. That series debuted on National Geographic on October 31, 2013.[23]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Name of pawn shop acquired revealed in the episode "Aftermath",[7] with its address matched between American Jewelry's website[6] and Premiere Jewelry's Yelp listing.[8]

References

  1. ↑ Bauder, David (August 11, 2010). "'Hardcore Pawn' Follows in Wake of 'Pawn Stars'". boston.com. The New York Times Company. Associated Press. Retrieved August 16, 2010.
  2. ↑ "'Hardcore Thaw Charity Feb 8th 2013'". Retrieved February 10, 2013.Location verified with Google Maps Street View.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Hammerstein, B.J. (August 15, 2010). "Masters of pawn get a reality check". Detroit Free Press. Archived from the original on January 8, 2011. Retrieved August 18, 2010.
  4. ↑ Cassell, Karen (August 17, 2010). "'Hardcore Pawn' Delivers 2 Million Viewers, Setting New Record as truTV's Most-Watched Series Premiere Ever" (Press release). Time Warner. Retrieved August 18, 2010.
  5. ↑ "Gold at Gunpoint". Hardcore Pawn. September 27, 2010. truTV.
  6. 1 2 "Pawn Detroit". American Jewelry and Loan.
  7. ↑ "Aftermath". Hardcore Pawn. November 15, 2011. truTV.
  8. ↑ "Premier Jewelry & Loan". Yelp.
  9. ↑ "Total Meltdown End Days". Hardcore Pawn. October 4, 2011. truTV. At the end of this episode, Les tells Seth and Ashley that he plans on opening a second location, with one of them running it.
  10. ↑ "Oh No He Didn't". Hardcore Pawn. September 25, 2012. truTV.
  11. ↑ "Oh Yes He Did". Hardcore Pawn. October 2, 2012. truTV.
  12. ↑ "Pilot #1". Hardcore Pawn. December 21, 2009. truTV.
  13. ↑ Hardcore Pawn: Biographies
  14. ↑ Pennington, Gail (January 25, 2013). "Hardcore Pawn picked up for Season 7". St. Louis Post-Dispatch via website. Retrieved January 25, 2013.
  15. ↑ AJ Marechal; Carole Horst (April 10, 2013). "Family drama and thousands of clients draw millions of eyeballs and a ratings hit for niche net". Variety. Retrieved July 7, 2013.
  16. ↑ Hibberd, James (August 17, 2010). "TruTV’s ‘Pawn Stars’ knock-off scores big ratings". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved August 24, 2010.
  17. ↑ Harrison, Stacey (July 3, 2012). "7 Questions With Les Gold of 'Hardcore Pawn". Channel Guide Magazine.
  18. ↑ "Hardcore Pawn". Zap2it.
  19. ↑ Stasi, Linda (August 16, 2010). "'Pawn' spawn: New shop on the block feels the same". New York Post. Retrieved August 24, 2010.
  20. ↑ TV News Desk (July 9, 2012). "truTV to Premiere 'Combat Pawn', 7/15". BWWTVWorld. Retrieved June 21, 2014.
  21. ↑ Bibel, Sara (October 2, 2012). "TruTV to Premiere 'Killer Karaoke', 'Hardcore Pawn: Chicago', 'Impractical Jokers', 'Black Gold', '& 'Full Throttle Saloon'". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved October 14, 2012.
  22. ↑ Kondolojy, Amanda (August 15, 2012). "truTV Greenlights 'Hardcore Pawn: Chicago' – Ratings". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved November 19, 2012.
  23. ↑ "Meltdown". National Geographic Channel. August 5, 2013. Retrieved June 21, 2014.

Coordinates: 42°26′37″N 83°11′58″W / 42.44361°N 83.19944°W / 42.44361; -83.19944

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