TLC cancelled 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.
Mike Campo left on good terms to seek new creative artistic work. In September 2007, Vincent DiMartino and Cody Connelly left OCC and American Chopper for undisclosed reasons. The two have since started their own bike shop, V Force Customs in Rock Tavern, New York not far from OCC's original shop.
Paul Teutul, Jr. was fired from the shop in the first April 2009 episode, after a huge argument with Paul, Sr. After a month apart, the two met at the original shop and discussed their differences and agreed to resume working together.
The next day Paul, Jr. returned to the shop. Not long after returning Junior decided he made a mistake. After talking with his brother Mikey, he decided to leave OCC, informing his dad of his decision after revealing a bike honoring Alaska's 50th Anniversary.
To this day both Mikey and Paul, Jr. have not returned to OCC. Paul, Jr. is working to build his own company Paul Jr. Designs, and Mikey is recovering from problems with Alcohol abuse.
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.
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Teutul Family Rift Proves "American Chopper" Isn't Like Pro Wrestling
I always thought the family drama on "American Chopper" was staged-- kinda like pro wrestling, without the steroids. But it turns out the Teutul family's dysfunctions are dead real.
Not only did Paul Jr. leave the show in a huff earlier this year, Paul Sr. is now suing his son for more than a million bucks over his son's shares in Orange County Choppers Holdings, Inc.
According to celebrity gossipmongers TMZ, a lawsuit was filed in the Supreme Court of New York after Paul Jr. refused to cede his company shares; apparently, big Paul allegedly had an agreement with 'lil Paul that he could buy out his share in the company if he so pleased, but the younger just wouldn't relent.
If these two are as stubborn as they appear on TV, this might be a messy one.
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The father/son team behind the hit TV series American Chopper may be heading to court.
Paul Teutul, Sr. has filed a lawsuit against son Paul Teutul, Jr. over who has control of Orange County Choppers, the family company made famous by the long-running reality show. Paul Tuetul, Sr. claims his son misappropriated assets and took part in "competitive business activities" that damaged the company.
Through the Paul Teutel lawsuit, dad hopes to buy out his son's shares in Orange County Choppers. According to court documents, Paul Sr. sent a letter to his son saying that he was exercising his option to buy out his son's share in the company. According to Paul Sr., his son never complied.
Paul Teutul Sr. and Paul M. Teutul had a very public falling out, which was chronicled on American Chopper. In the Season 6 premiere, Paul Sr. and son had a contentious contract dispute, which led to Paul Jr.'s departure from the company. After a brief reconciliation, Paul Jr. left the OCC for good to explore other opportunities. In later episodes, Paul Jr. was seen working as a consultant at Orange County Choppers.
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I really enjoyed this show when it first came out because they had all of these ideas that were fresh for the bikes. But after a while, it just got to a point where every bike they did looked like the last one. And having every single big company have a custom bike that they will never ride seemed kinda dumb. Sure it boosted revenue and ratings but seems like a waste of money to me. I have to say though that I was done with the show when they did the john and kate plus 8 bike. Are you fucking kidding me??? Johns bike wasnt even that impressive and giving kate a scooter.....:
coming from the perspective of someone who was raised in a family business, I can tell you that it is all harder than it looks to maintain balance.
But Paul Jr was a spoiled brat with a poor work ethic but a well developed sense of entitlement
If Paulie really believed that he was the true source of the business success, and working with the old man was intolerable, why didn't he take the money and start his own business? that's more than most people would have been offered as severance
a big ego and little talent is a devastating combination
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Stopped watching this show a few years back. No surprise about the split. Sr had plenty of money before the show started.He went into the mega rich zone from the show and JRs talent. The old man is ok deep down but a real asshole to work with. Paul Jr is a genius but lazy and eclectic. Mikey reminds me of a 2000s version of Spicoli. I hope they all reconcile lifes short.
coming from the perspective of someone who was raised in a family business, I can tell you that it is all harder than it looks to maintain balance.
But Paul Jr was a spoiled brat with a poor work ethic but a well developed sense of entitlement
If Paulie really believed that he was the true source of the business success, and working with the old man was intolerable, why didn't he take the money and start his own business? that's more than most people would have been offered as severance
a big ego and little talent is a devastating combination
Id say its quite the opposite. It seemed to me that paul jr - as spoiled as he was - was the one who made that company famous with his designs and paul sr was a tyrant who couldn't accept it any other way than his own. Being a creative person, I know that you need time and peace to foster that creative energy and having a hulking asshole standing over you yelling at you every 5 minutes is about the least creative environment you can be in.
And while they'll never said it outright, I got the impression from the show, that there were higher ups in business that got in Paul sr. ear and convinced him that Paulie and Mikey weren't worth the money they were getting paid and it was time for them to go. Now their show is off the air and Paulie does have his own company. And I guarantee without that show, OCC falls off the landscape.
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You know, that at one point was one of my favorite shows. Their Montgomery shop was about an hour from where I grew up, and when I watched the show, it felt like home. I grew up with guys JUST LIKE those dudes. In fact, a buddy of mine even looked like Vinny, LOL. Been to their old retail store a few times, and their old shop. Have pictures of my son outside the shop under their logo.
It's too bad. Hate to see their demise, especially when it's going to cost jobs. That's a big damn building they put up, and without the show, they're going to fade away.
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And while they'll never said it outright, I got the impression from the show, that there were higher ups in business that got in Paul sr. ear and convinced him that Paulie and Mikey weren't worth the money they were getting paid and it was time for them to go.
Perhaps, Sr's new wife from 3 years ago...
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It's amazing that her kids were a big focal point in the last episode.
On another note. My father and I have been working and started a business together for over 35 years. Yes 35 years. If you see to your left I am 44 years old. I won't go into want we do. The fact of the matter is we built our relationship on mostly money. He was and still considered the best in our field. He has over the last 20 years been a paper pusher and I have had the task of being the producer. I have allowed my father to take credit for the most part, my work. Does this bother me? It can. Only because he gets the pat on the back from the buyers of our product. Then you would ask. Why do you let this happen. 1. I don't like to talk to people. For the most part they are crooks and aren't interested in you, but are trying to make money off of your talents. 2. I know that my father can not do what I do. So does he. In his own way, he let's me know this. 3. I need him and the contacts he's made that I can't stand to talk to. It's a win win sitsuation for the both of us. To go to what Daisy said earlier. Paul Sr. is at fault here. He let someone get in between blood. As it is when big money is envolved. Could it be his new wife? Producers? Lawyers? What have you. He let someone get in his head that Paul Jr. is not needed. Paul Jr. while his work ethics were less than average. Was the talent of the business. He has every right to his thinking and will come out on top of what is left of it all. Being a brat and being a tyrant can be one in the same. If you have money. Does it really matter which one you are?
yea, i was a big fan for the first couple of years. I thought they built some pretty cool bikes. My favorite was the firefighter bike! I do believe that Big ego's and fame did them in!
I have met a few of the big name bikers. I've met jesse james in daytona. it was prolly after the first show he did. He stood right there with me for a few minutes and talked bikes. Real cool guy. Down to earth with no big ego detected. The other guy i got to met while in florida on vacation was Eddie Trotta. Me and my uncles loaded our bikes up and went down to florida to visit my mum for a week and while we were down there we rode over to thundercycles (eddie's) company. Just so happened that he was there doing some work. He walked out of the back and came up and asked if we needed help and asked how we were. He walked outside with us and looked at my bike. I have a custom built bike that has a 1200 sportster motor in it. He was looking it over and seemed to like it. Although my bike was in no bracket with his customs he said he thought it was a pretty cool bike for the money i had in it. He gladly agreed to take a pic with me and my uncles. It was pretty cool i thought. He was a real nice guy! Dont know why i told u all that but i guess my point was that maybe the OCC guys where cool once upon a time but i think the fortune and fame might have went to their heads!!
What sinched it for me was when my mom who lives in florida went to bike week one year and stood in a line around the block to get a hat and shirt signed for me cause i couldnt be there that year. She said the line must have been bout a mine long all the way around the block. Well i guess she was in line for an hour and a half, well in front of her was a mother and a lil boy and they had a OCC shirt and the lil kid wanted to get it signed. After a while they get up to the counter and mom said these guys sat there and looked like they were some kind of Gods or something. they turned the lil kid away because he didnt buy the shirt right there at the booth. Mom said the look on the lil kids face pissed her off!! So my mom got up there and she threw her stuff up on the counter and told them to keep their fucking shirts and hats and got out of line! She told me that and i said u know what? I would have done the same thing! Fuck em!
This show has become almost unbearable to watch the last couple of seasons, I'm glad it was cancelled. OCC will probably cease to exist within a year or two since they don't have the TV revenue coming in to be able to afford that massive building they put up.
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watching them actually build bikes was eye opening. i am a qualified machinist (don't do it any more, in IT now of all things ...) and watching these bozos actually put a bike together ...
... oh dear lord ....
i had no idea butchery of this magnitude existed.
- jr. has an eye for line and layout but the poor fucker cannot even draw! all he ever did was tell that cadcam guy in the back to move stuff around. dude couldn't even design his own logo for f's sake! actually that cadcam dude is pretty good as a designer, sr would be well advised to help him develop his talents and tastes to align a bit more with what the market in that industry wants. he could really have a bangup designer hidden back there.
- sr. built the business and deserves all the credit, but he doesn't have the skills to run a business of this size. the help he hired is on the right track. they have to clean house, dump the douchebags (including mikey and jr) and hire on a proper crew of professionals. the trick here will be not to loose soul and passion but that is entirely doable as long as sr is around.
- what i don't know about this market is whether or not there is room for 'a professional industrial shop' or whether the market actually wants the down to earth family hand built pieces of shit that these guys make. that might be a key to whether or not sr goes bankrupt or not in the next few years (in other words, its not JR that is the talent, its the family that is the talent and soul, the whole being greater than the sum of parts sort of thing). it may be that his clientelle actually just wants them to stay small and family oriented and doesn't actually give a fuck about quality, because who rides these things more than twice a year anyway?
- mikey was around for the laughs, he was no danger as he never touched anything in the shop - but he was a useless douche.
- most of the staff was semi competent, but they did have 1 or two REALLY TALENTED AND SKILLED craftsmen in there over the years.
in the end, i would NEVER IN A MILLION YEARS have these fucking bozos build my bike. the quality of their builds looked so abysmally low that frankly I found it stunning that they managed to sell any at all.
but then, i'm not into those sorts of builds anyway, this is closer to my tastes: http://www.confederate.com/
watching them actually build bikes was eye opening. i am a qualified machinist (don't do it any more, in IT now of all things ...) and watching these bozos actually put a bike together ...
... oh dear lord ....
i had no idea butchery of this magnitude existed.
in the end, i would NEVER IN A MILLION YEARS have these fucking bozos build my bike. the quality of their builds looked so abysmally low that frankly I found it stunning that they managed to sell any at all.
Right on.
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This show has become almost unbearable to watch the last couple of seasons, I'm glad it was cancelled.
My sentiments exactly. I used to love the show but towards the end, especially when the cameras were following Mikey around at his house and to piano lessons and shit....wow.....just wow. Brutal.
But I'm not getting this attitude that Paul Jr was a fool or that the bikes were shit. I thought Paulie was a pretty cool shit and I think they turned out some amazing bikes. Don't know if people are jealous or what but it sounds like petty envy to hear people say they didn't know what they were doing.
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