American Chopper Cancelled by TLC

[Asphalt & Rubber]

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This article comes from AsphaltandRubber.com
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The Learning Channel (TLC) has finally given the television series American Chopper the boot, releasing information that show’s season finale will debut this Thursday at 9pm (8pm Central). We can only conclude that the show’s demise comes as a result of the ongoing rift between Paul Teutel Sr. and his sons, in particular his former partner Paul Teutel Jr. The two Paul’s are locked in a legal struggle regarding ownership of the American Chopper business, which has bled onto the television screen.

Additionally, the last few episodes of the show have seen Paul Sr. constantly taking jabs at Paul Jr. and Mikey, which for a channel based on family-oriented values and content, may not exactly be the image TLC is looking to portray to its viewers. While we can only speculate on TLC’s abrupt decision to cancel the show, a TLC *representative is quoted as saying, “the Teutuls will always be a part of the Discovery family and we congratulate them on a tremendously successful series run.”

Source: TMZ via The Kneeslider



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[BikePilot]

About time - show sucked from day 1 imho

[Chris]

I liked the show, I just didn't like him. He had to many domination issues. Some of the bikes were OK? most were mobile advertising products.

[Rich]

The show was amusing in the early days, but the bikes are poor now and the fighting became ugly, to the point where they had to split. Paul jr was the only one with a bit of talent, now he's left the show was rolling off the rails and likely to crash, as apparently it has . . .

[voodootwin]

I liked the show. It was interesting to watch their business evolve. The level of creativeness and innovation as far as design styles grew with each successive show. Their modest workshop also grew, adding staff and high-tech equipment. It was an American business success story.

The drama that was played out between the father and sons certainly added a dimension to the programs, but they showed they can have fun as well and I was impressed by the number of charitable contributions they have made to many a number of causes.

I think Paul Sr. has had emotional issues most of his life. It cost him his marriage, his relationship with his older sons (whom we rarely see or hear about) and now Paul Jr. and Mikey. Too bad. But hey, they're all rich now!

[BikePilot]

The "bikes" should more accurately be characterized as abstract art (and poorly done at that imho) than actual motorcycles. Virtually no attention was given to making them rideable, much less reasonably performing. I suspect most maxi-scooters would be far better machines from a functional/performance standpoint

Perhaps most telling was when in one of the few (perhaps only) episodes I watched they noticed that they built the oil tank which was to rest between the frame rails a bit too wide. Rather than re-do it properly they quite literally cut the frame rails in half to make room. Either the frame was way too stiff/ridged/heavy to start with or it is seriously compromised after. Either way, they aren't building machines I'd wanna ride

Perhaps these chopper builders are to motorcycles what Peter Keating was to architects (BNC should get that one).

[Rich]

Originally Posted by BikePilot

Perhaps most telling was when in one of the few (perhaps only) episodes I watched they noticed that they built the oil tank which was to rest between the frame rails a bit too wide. Rather than re-do it properly they quite literally cut the frame rails in half to make room. Either the frame was way too stiff/ridged/heavy to start with or it is seriously compromised after. Either way, they aren't building machines I'd wanna ride

There was an early show where they cut a piece out of the swingarm because the belt drive didn't clear it . . . still makes me wince to think of that

But I couldn't stop watching it, in the same way you couldn't ignore a car crash happening in front of you . . . weirdly gripping

[voodootwin]

Nor would I like to ride them.
They use primarily heavy gauge steel for everything and there are no engineering or physics thoughtfully applied. They are simply show pieces and/or a conveyance between bar stops for the weekend outlaw biker.

[wreckah]

creativity...yapp, OCC uses that word quite loosely

it's always the exact same bike with some different ornaments, adding nothing more than weight.

sometimes you could see great craftsmanship, really great, but don't mistake it for design or creativity. they are not artists in that sense at all.

i get that remark too BP, i'm an archi too Fantastic book by the way! ( I'm reading Atlas Shrugged now, same writer, and it's even better )

[Sam]

Originally Posted by wreckah

it's always the exact same bike with some different ornaments, adding nothing more than weight.

sometimes you could see great craftsmanship, really great, but don't mistake it for design or creativity. they are not artists in that sense at all.

I used to love American Hotrod because they made so much from scratch including chassis and body's

Hence why I then started watching American Chopper, it was fun to watch but the fighting drove the wife mad and couldn't bare to be in the same room as the TV

To say they built the new premises with all the fancy machines they still basically just added new fenders and bars to the same template, hardly hand built

I've not even watched the latest series, I think the last one was when Paul Jr bought the shop for his girlfriend. I guess it's gone downhill fast if the Pauls are in court over the business