Hardcore Pawn

What is wrong with this person? She seems to be constantly arguing with everyone, pushing her nose into other peoples business, and generally being the most unpleasant person in existence.

We have Hardcore Pawn in Ireland for the past year and a half. I first watched it a couple of months ago. In that time i don't think i have ever seen a family business run in the manner that this family run theirs. Normally when the kids come to work in the family business they start somewhere at the bottom so that they learn respect for Authority. These two consequences for children do not even respect their own father never mind that chap Rich who has been manager for 25 years. The series is a few years behind here in Ireland so i had to see an updated version to see if Rich the manager was still there. I just happened to look at the episode where he gets sacked. I can only say that they should be called the "Adams Family in Pawn" cause thats where it is at in terms of logic business. To think they have not grown up in two years is unbelievable. I did see the next episode where Rich comes back, but the Father is in the background watching him like a hawk as though he has done something terrible. The two Gold Kids should go out and get a job in the real world and learn to have respect for other human beings. If they want to be in Managerial Positions, first learn to be the employee so to understand the importance of the employee. The only other reason for all of this carry on is that it is staged. I would like to believe this is the case rather than to believe that this family actually run their business in the manner they do. If it is true the way they carry on, i can just imagine the family home on Thanksgiving: Ashley: Dad Seth is picking on me again. Seth: No Im not Dad, i had first say on the Turkey drumstick and she just can't keep getting her own way on everything. Dad: if the two of you don't stop arguing i will give the drumstick to your Mother. I've been cutting up turkey's for many years and i want you both to learn how to cut up a Turkey together even if it means on the journey you cut the Turkey to ribbons each year while you learn, at least in the end you will learn. The Turkey in this case is the employee's and the Father hopes that in the end they will eventually learn to respect the employees that are under their supervision. If the above is actually real. Its a very very long journey.

Let's put this show in context, it's a reality show. So if you're expecting Jerry Springer meets pawn shop, you're in for a good time!

That's until you see the one person who completely ruined the show. I know you're thinking, "hey didn't you just say, not to take this show too serious and that it's a reality show?"

Yes I did, but then the most annoying, immature, "see you next Tuesday" TV personality I have ever seen on TV, literally made it impossible to watch the show... seriously, I stopped watching mid episode and have not watched another one.

Note to producers: 1) The stars of the show are the pawn business, seeing interesting items, and the freaks that bring them in. 2) Remove Ashley from the show.

Being among the majority of viewers who find (some) entertainment in this, the latest style of "reality shows." ie based on odd albeit interesting professions. I HAVE TO SAY, "This family was born to do this work." For a minute, their competition, "PAWN STARS" almost lifted the reputation of pawnbrokers OUT of the gutter. FEAR NOT American PAWNBROKERS EVERYWHERE......this family are the very brand of parasites your "profession" is believed to have in droves. I'll start at the top. Ashley the sister, is without a doubt, her fathers daughter, but at times, shows some charity if only by giving "lip service" to the plight of those she deals with. Les Gold, the father is a "stand fast" negotiator, if he sets a price when buying merchandise, he won't budge from THAT price no matter what. The problem is, the price is NEVER FAIR. One gets the impression that as a boy, he must have been bullied. The reason for this is, no matter the price asked by a seller, he always goes lower, as if to force his will on the person he deals with. And NEVER SLIGHTLY LOWER...he goes so low as to insure disappointment, injury if you will. A not so sub-conscious need to avenge his own honor. He achieves the opposite. In any environment, outside an actual "Court of Law" what he does, would be considered robbery. The son Seth, is the worst of the bunch. He derives some sort of internal pleasure each time he "gets the better" of some poor "down on their luck" citizen of Detroit. The expression on his face is chilling. It isn't so much a smile as it is a sneer, showing contempt for those he considers beneath him. ie. The very people who put food on his table. He drew a "misers pleasure" by charging a fee from a man whose superstition put a need to have daily contact with some figurine he had pawned with the shop. To watch Seth tell his little scheme of charging a "visitation fee" was truly "telling". He all but wrung his hands, like the classic "villan" in an old "silent film". I feel it necessary at this point to mention that although they're in the same trade, the folks on "Pawn Stars" conduct business in a completely different manner. I suspect that when a client leaves the Vegas pawn shop, he feels as if he's been treated fairly and with respect. In contrast.....when a Detroit citizen leaves "American Pawn and Jewelry" the ONLY thing he feels....is the need for a bath.

In closing, I can't help remembering the woman who came into "Pawn Stars" with a small, old fashioned pin. A butterfly perhaps..... She was hoping for a hundred dollars or two, as she'd found it in a drawer belonging to her recently passed granny and knew nothing of its' true value....after close inspection of the pin, and the blue box it came in, the "pawnbroker" informed the woman of what she had.....what the "Pawn Stars pawnbroker could EASILY have purchased for a mere few hundred dollars. Would NOW cost him $17,000.00, due to his sense of "fair play". Had this woman possessed the "bad luck" of living in Detroit, Les or Seth Gold would have probably whittled her down to a hundred dollars or less, and walked away feeling fulfilled by their negotiating "skill"(?)and their ability to wrangle a larger profit from an unsuspecting victim. This show is worth watching if only to show HOW NOT TO DO BUSINESS.

After watching 2 episodes of "Hardcore Pawn" and noticing that the producer of the show is Richard Dominick, I wasn't surprised. Dominick is/was the producer of the Jerry Springer show, and unless you've been living under a rock, you know what drek that show is.

Others have commented on the curious similarity, or dissimilarity to 'Pawn Stars', if you were hoping for something in the same vein, forget about it. Pawn Stars in a more interesting take on the PBS show 'Antiques Roadshow' and is interesting as well as entertaining. HP is televised ghetto exploitation, I felt like taking a shower after watching it.

It gets 2 stars because the camera operator didn't drop the camera, I'm feeling generous today.