American Restoration

This show started out pretty good, but went down hill fast. So much fake drama, Kowboy, the wife etc... They must all be very unlikable if some streaming service (there are so many now) hasn't brought back a new version of this show. Who did History Channel think was the demographics for this? Nobody wants to see all the scripted drama and stupidity.

Let's get the negatives out of the way first. Yes, I do agree with the critic who noted that, as the series progresses, they are spending less time on the actual restorations and more time on the lives of the characters, who invariably get into dramas that may be real, or may the result of the writer's over-active imaginations. Were I more cynical (and I can be, on demand) I might start to question this magical world where every restoration turns out perfectly, every customer loves the result, and nothing ever goes wrong, except when Tyler (Rick's son) does something that you'd except to see on LEAVE IT TO BEAVER or DENNIS THE MENACE. OK, so much for the negatives. This show could be, bar none, the most upbeat production on the air. Rick Dale should run for office. He genuinely seems to find the good in every situation, every job, every client and he generates a palpable longing for the days when Americans made things by hand, by themselves, and they lasted. 30 minutes hanging out with Rick is the rough equivalent of listening to the STAR SPANGLED BANNER 78 times, give or take. As a warned you, this is a guilty pleasure. Ultimately, the real joke will be that Tyler does not actually have to learn his dad's tricks of the trade, he will likely be able to retire on the residuals.

I am a long term electronic service engineer specialized to professional video tape recorders. I do also much restoration work with old radios etc. It is just awful to see how they destroy those nice old things removing every single nuance and original paint they have. Even if the paintwork is really good for its age. They repaint using their own colors which usually are too bright and do not fit to these old beauties. Also they ruin labels and texts when they can't do them right. They use wrong fonts and wrong colors etc. Also they change old, beautiful gears and buttons and other things which made the apparatus look so fine. Why? Did they sell those to real restorers or museums? Also the prices are something ridiculous. I wonder if anybody really has paid those huge sums for that bad job. One of the worst was the Nasa helmet they totally ruined.

One of the more watchable "Reality" shows if you just ignore the cast clowing around. Rick Dale is a master of restoring practically anything! Watching him restore something that should be buried in a crap heap to something that looks factory new is the appeal of the show. For some reason producers feel they have to have a sitcom feel and have the cast joke around with their asinine antics. If you can get past that you can enjoy the show.

I loved the show when it first started. Rick seems like a genuinely nice guy. There was some contrived shtick, but now (2014) it's getting out of hand. They spend less time showing how the work is done and more time on everybody trying to be an inked-up weirdo and phony conflict scenarios. I don't expect the show to view like a PBS craftsman documentary, but I don't know why History has come to believe that everybody enjoys this fake sitcom garbage. They have introduced 3 new cast members, and all their scenarios and hi-jinks seem utterly scripted. I liked it better when his wife was on camera now and then. I think they need to go back to basics and focus on the history of the items and the details of how they are restored. I'm starting to wonder if the work is even done there. I was in shock the other day when a guy was actually demonstrating a lathe. They need more of that! I know reality TV is anything but reality, but this show is getting hard to watch, especially that kid with the two-tone hair that hasn't seemed to mature at all in 5 years. I'd have thought he'd lose that preposterous dye job by season 3. Honestly, everybody trying to be "weird" on History is getting really tedious and dull.