Hardcore Pawn
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| Hardcore Pawn | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Format | Reality television |
| Starring | Leslie "Les" Gold Seth Gold Ashley Broad |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 6 |
| No. of episodes | 96 (List of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Location(s) | Detroit, Michigan |
| Running time | 20 min. (30 min. time slot) |
| Production company(s) | RDF USA / Zodiak USA Richard Dominick Productions |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | TruTV |
| Original run | August 16, 2010 – present |
| External links | |
| Website | |
The series premiered on August 16, 2010,[3] delivering two million viewers, setting a record as truTV's most-watched series premiere ever.[4]
Overview
American Jewelry and Loan is owned by Leslie "Les" Gold, the son of a pawnbroker who once owned Sam's Loans, a now-defunct pawnshop on Michigan Avenue in Detroit.[5] Les first opened American Jewelry at the Green Eight Shopping Center on 8 Mile Road in Oak Park in 1978, moving to its present location in 1993.[3].In 2011, American Jewelry expanded to its second location when it acquired Premier Jewelry and Loan in Pontiac;[6][a] the new location was featured in the first few episodes of Hardcore Pawn's fifth season,[9] and in two episodes of the sixth season, where Seth deliberates selling the Pontiac location behind Les's back.[10][11]
Les's only son, Seth, a graduate of the University of Michigan who initially pursued a career in medicine before joining the family business, is the general manager, Les's business partner, and handles the shop's marketing.[citation needed] Seth claims that if it wasn't for him, the shop's only marketing would be "an ad in the Yellow Pages".[12] The co-manager is Les's daughter, Ashley (a college graduate from Michigan State University with a bachelor's degree in business administration who, as the series debuted, returned to the shop after taking some time off for maternity leave. The sibling rivalry between her and Seth is a common element of many episodes.
On January 25, 2013 it was announced that Hardcore Pawn had been renewed for a seventh season by TruTV. The show averaged 2.6 million viewers during its sixth season.[13]
Reception
The show has been largely compared to Pawn Stars on History, but in the vein of other truTV programs (Operation Repo and All Worked Up for example), the focus is mainly on the human aspects of drama, conflicts, humor, and absurdity between the staff members and their customers, rather than the significance of the items being brought into the shop.Because of the similarities however, Hardcore Pawn has been accused of being simply a knock-off and a capitalization on the breakout success of Pawn Stars.[14] Les has said that Hardcore Pawn is a more-realistic portrayal of a pawn shop than Pawn Stars: "There will be people from all walks of life laughing, crying and experiencing a wide range of emotions. Every item has a story. And some of these stories are incredible, whether you believe them or not... We're a Detroit-made business that represents what real pawn shops do... [catering to a] wide range of real people who need money. What you’ve had in the past is this stigma that pawnbrokers only dealt with drug dealers and drug addicts and thieves. Now, what truTV is showing you is the mom that has two kids at home that need food on their table, and she needs to put a roof over their heads."[3][15]
Some scenes featured in Hardcore Pawn have also been speculated to have been staged;[16] however, Les defends the show, saying that no part of the program was staged.[3]
According to Marc Juris, executive vice president and general manager of truTV, "Quite honestly, we did absolutely nothing different than we would have done whether or not the other show was on the air... We look for shows that really hit our sweet spot and when they're right for our audience is when we put them on the air." He also noted that Hardcore Pawn was in development for more than a year and two test episodes aired in December 2009. Regarding the initial identical time slot with Pawn Stars, Juris claimed the choice was because Hardcore Pawn fit well with Operation Repo. When the series' second season debuted in December 2010, the show was moved to Tuesdays at 9PM ET, often as part of an evening marathon that includes repeats of earlier episodes.[b]
Nancy DuBuc, president and general manager of History, said she couldn't speak to whether TruTV's choice is truly a coincidence. "I haven't seen [Hardcore Pawn]... There's no mistaking the power of the show that we've launched."[1]
Episodes
Main article: List of Hardcore Pawn episodes
| Season | Episodes | Season Premiere | Season Finale | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pilots | 2 | December 21, 2009 | December 21, 2009 | |
| 1 | 8 | August 16, 2010 | September 27, 2010 | |
| 2 | 8 | December 28, 2010 | February 8, 2011 | |
| 3 | 13 | February 15, 2011 | May 24, 2011 | |
| 4 | 13 | June 21, 2011 | October 4, 2011 | |
| 5 | 26 | November 15, 2011 | June 19, 2012 | |
| 6 | 26 | July 10, 2012 | February 5, 2013 | |
| 7 | N/A | March 26, 2013 | N/A | |
Repeats of Hardcore Pawn are also seen on occasion on TNT.
Spinoffs
Hardcore Pawn has generated two spinoffs:- Combat Pawn, a series about the employees and customers at Guns Plus, a gun shop located near the Fort Bragg military installation in North Carolina. Originally developed under the title "Hardcore Pawn: Fort Bragg", Combat Pawn debuted on truTV on Sunday July 15, 2012 at 10:30PM ET/PT.[18]
- Hardcore Pawn: Chicago, which features Chicago's Royal Pawn Shop, a pawn shop owned by two brothers, Randy and Wayne Cohen, whose family has been in the business for over 100 years. The series debuted January 1, 2013[19] and is produced for truTV by Bischoff-Hervey Entertainment, with Eric Bischoff and Jason Hervey as executive producers.[20]
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