Die Werkstatt-Helden

Great premise for a show, if there weren't throngs of other car restoration shows on TV. But this one is slightly different.

Propped up by the backdrop of glitzy Las Vegas, the show revolves around Danny Koker, a well-known Vegas personality who's business interests not only surround cars, but tattoo parlours and bars. The show is creatively scripted, as most reality shows, and contains obviously cast-ed story-lines examples being one of Koker's cast of characters restoring their own car, or taking on the teaching duties of "airbrushing" to a colleague, all to have a contest at the end to see who is the better airbrush artist. Some shows focus on a specific customer and their story, which can tug at the heartstrings and keeps it interesting. The viewer is filled in on specific facts related to the original vehicle, and is given a glimpse into how Koker and his team are going to approach each project. In the end, Koker and his team do their magic on an automobile or motorcycle raised from the scrapyard, only to bring it back to a greater glory. His work is fabulous and his attention to detail, although good, sometimes shows up on some of the smaller stuff, like headlight chrome which remains pitted and dull remaining on what is a beautifully restored auto. Could be an issue with not being able to find a 60 year old part? So I never said the show was perfect. Barring that, its an interesting watch, however too much time is spent on the story-lines in my opinion, where more could be dedicated to the intricacies of the beautiful work they do, and focusing on the difficulties of exactly how they get it done, like re- manufacturing parts where none are able to be found. Did I mention the headlight chrome? All in all, Koker is an engaging sort. He has what seems an warm TV personality, a good heart and a good soul. He helps out the Vets with doing things for no money, and takes time to look after those who have been dealt a bad hand or have an unfortunate story, which makes this totally watchable. Take a look, it will help you kill 30 minutes.

Love the Count and crew except for Horney Mike. Mike is not just not funny, but is mean, angry, argumentative, and annoying. Notice that his smile is not genuine but menacing. Why is this guy on the show? The Count should count him out!

I have no education or workplace experience in shop, mechanics, or engineering... & I've been a fan of this show for about eleven years.

After being discovered & featured as a recurring guest star on the hit series Die drei vom Pfandhaus (2009), Danny Koker, owner of Count's Customs, a maverick Las Vegas autoshop enterprise, was given his own show by History Channel.

It (almost) could not have gone better.

Danny has one of the most infectious likeable personalities in reality television history. His passion for sports cars & choppers is unrivalled - not merely from a materialistic perspective, but from the history & the experiences they hold, for himself & for his customers.

But, as the maxim goes, "never mix business with pleasure". This is a frequently broken rule in life, & a major pillar in the dynamic of this show is the need to balance Danny's passion for the pieces of art he & his team creates with the financial demands of running a business. This is where Kevin Mack (and in Season 1, Scott Jones) comes in, as a foil to Danny's often unrestrained personality. To add even more character notes to the show, the antics of some of Count's Customs' talented but adolescent staff (especially Horny Mike) create some amusing side stories.

I would give this series a 10/10 for packing a potent punch of entertainment, but I deduct a star for one reason. Loud muscle cars & shiny, tweaked-up choppers may make for more exciting television than other road vehicles. However, for a guy like me who has a penchant for quiet, smooth sedans, the Count's Customs focus on rubber-burners has become repetitive, detracting from my enjoyment of the series as the seasons rolled on.

Regardless of my personal motoring preferences, I still insist that this is one of the greatest reality television series of all time.

For the most part the show is a success - however there are two characters who add nothing to the overall value - Mike and Scott - both are horrible actors and their parts take away from the cars and interactions of Danny with the customers. I enjoy seeing Danny ride around and find vehicles, talk to the owners and sometimes purchase a flip - the end products of the creations are fantastic to see but the yelling of Scott and the lack of credibility of Mike take away from the entire show. I turn the sound off whenever Scott or Mike come on.

That guy with the horns, yeah – horns and horny ha ha .. very funny but this gag got old the first time they used it. He's a great airbrush artist this guy, can't they show how he works instead of the stupid horny jokes all the time? There's some immigrant guy with an accent that cleans the cars or whatever it is that he does, that they made fun of in one of the shows, seriously? That is so stupid, why are you trying to "dumb down" the show? It's a shame. Danny tries to be "sly" and pretend like he isn't the big boss, and instead they brought some loud mouth that is pretending to be the guy who's running things – also dumb, who's brilliant idea it was to portray this guy as obnoxious I don't know, but it's really not smart and unpleasant to watch. Why not just be more natural? This show is really interesting when the guys are respectful and show the parts with the cars, but all those silly "sub plots" that they pretend that they're real, damn that is so annoying and makes this show that could have been awesome like "Pawn Stars" to slightly higher than mediocre, because Danny is great and the cars are great, change the rest if you really want to give your audience something good to watch.