American Restoration

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.

I was very pleased when American Restoration spun off of Pawn Stars The concept was thoroughly engaging and became a personal favorite. Its decline in quality was subtle until the dramatic and unessisary introduction of the character Leonard. This was a grave and incredible stumble and prompted me to simply stop watching the show. So strong was my reaction and disappointment it compelled me to write this comment while seeing a re-run. As it evolved the show became less technical and more incredible. Obviously staged scenes attempted to keep the audience engaged. It has instead transitioned to being sad with sarcastic characters and plot lines that are insulting. Simply not true to the original concept. The premise was good, the current execution is unacceptable. You have silenced a positive voice for American Restoration and you've lost at least one more viewer.

I used to watch this program and enjoyed it. It showed people working hard, who had great knowledge of restoration. The first couple of seasons were great, but now it's become the same old reality trash that most other shows are. I like watching something that is informative and shows you something you don't see everyday. American Restoration has grown into stupidity. I don't care about who bought a dog, or who gets in trouble at school, and I certainly don't care about any wedding crap either. I thought this was a show about restoration, not picking out a wedding dress. The entire show now focuses on this kind of stuff. I've stopped watching it since you don't see much about restoration. You just see the item as old and rusty, to brand new. I guess if you like watching a bunch of grown men bickering about nothing,then watch it. Maybe TLC will pick up the next season. I think the low point was having to endure Rick crying about moving. Just terrible.

The first three to four seasons were great! Then the History Channel started adding all the scripted drama that killed the show. Most of the folks commenting here are just clueless as to how the world works. They complain that enough of the actual work isn't shown. Well, each show would need to be 10 hours long if you followed each item thoroughly from start to finish. Many complain about pricing. For them, I would suggest they lease a huge property and fill it with a Million Dollars worth of tools and equipment and then hire a solid crew of skilled craftsmen to do restorations. If they can do that and charge bargain basement prices on their restorations, I'll give them a pat on the shoulder. Basically, in this world, you get what you pay for. Wonder how many of the complainers have a $1000 iPhone in their pocket that shatters the first time you drop it? Anyways, it was a wonderful show. I enjoyed the first 6 seasons. I loved watching 'the family' each week and watching Rick teach his son and stepson responsibility and seeing them become productive members of society after learning their skilled trade. Wonderful show! It was like watching a 1960's era family. Sure, people argued and bickered. But, that's life. I spent my life working the oil fields and shipyards around the world. That's kind of the norm for folks in the skilled trade fields.