One of the most popular TV series about motorcycles, American Chopper, returns to Australian TV through the Discovery Channel in October 2018.
The show that featured Paul Teutul Snr and Paul Jnr building custom choppers at Orange Country Choppers started in 2002 and ran for 223 episodes over 10 years with audiences peaking at 3.4 million per episode.
However it ended bitterly when Paul Sr fired Paul Jr in an infamous fight and they became estranged.
They’re back!
Now, they’re back and want to try and rebuild some semblance of a relationship. The first episode is at 7.30pm on October 1.
The new series will follow the duo as they build custom bikes for their respective businesses (Orange Country Choppers and Paul Jr. Designs) while trying to mend their partnership.
Since we last saw them, Paul Sr. has turned Orange County Choppers into a complex with a shop, café, bowling alley, restaurant and, of course, the showroom.
But this came with a hefty price tag and he’s feeling the burden of a high overhead and a lack of foot traffic.
In 2013, he also launched a short-lived series of his own called Orange County Choppers.
Meanwhile, Paul Jr. has also felt the sting of a rough economy. With his business built solely on high-dollar custom-builds and commissions becoming tougher to come by, he stresses about the long-term stability of his own shop, Paul Jr. Designs, especially now that he has his own family.
The duo has vowed to begin a new chapter (again) and put the past behind them once and for all.
But old habits die hard and the road to an amicable partnership will be anything but smooth.
The show includes a host of celebrities, world famous athletes and Forbes 100 businesses as clients.
Most popular series
American Chopper was the Discovery Channel’s most popular series and pioneered that horrific reality TV genre “docusoap” that we can blame for the rise of the Kardashians and other gut-wrenching shows.
The motorcycling world has since moved on.
Now custom bike builds are dominated by bearded hipsters.
It will be interesting to see if the motorcycle world takes to the new series of these ageing bikers.