TLC Puts Brakes on "American Chopper"

[steve4242]

It's the end of the road for "American Chopper".

The TLC series based on the Teutul family's custom motorcycle building business is going off the air after six seasons.

The network said that “the show has always been about building one-of-a-kind bikes and the drama of running a family business," The Learning Channel said in a statement. "The Teutuls will always be part of the Discovery family and we congratulate them on a tremendously successful series run.”

Paul Teutul, the python-bicepped patriarch of the show, frequently fought with his namesake son, who left the family business and is now suing his Dad.

The show was based in the family's garage in Newburgh, N.Y.

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[Wrider]

Good, too bad it took this long to get it off of the air. I appreciate them as works of art, but as ridable bikes? Have you ever seen them up close? The artistic details are great, but some of the things that are practical are just not right. Besides "my daddy is mean to me", "my brother is a moron", and "my sons are both dumb-orings" can only be funny so many times...

[HYPERR]

Good bye, good riddance.

[Johnj]

Ha ha

[ceemes]

I'd say five season too late....should of been toasted after season one.

[HYPERR]

Good, too bad it took this long to get it off of the air. I appreciate them as works of art, but as ridable bikes? Have you ever seen them up close? The artistic details are great, but some of the things that are practical are just not right. Besides "my daddy is mean to me", "my brother is a moron", and "my sons are both dumb-orings" can only be funny so many times...

They were more like assemblers. It's not like they built them from scratch. They farmed out most of the high-skill jobs like painting to other people. Most of the vital parts like the frame, motor, wheels, etc they used production aftermarket units that were shipped to them totally complete. Yeah they were skilled at some stuff like welding, etc but mainly they just put stuff together. It's not like they built anything from scratch.

[mgold]

I'm not surprised. It's one of the shows that is fun to watch once in awhile. I liked watching it but, it got a little old. It seems like they should be doing different bikes, and not just choppers. If they really considered themselves "Artists" you need to branch out and do different designs.

[havegunjoe]

I liked the show I just didn’t like to see their family, or any family falling apart and fighting over money. I didn’t watch it that closely to know why the falling out between father and son(s). I like the design of the bikes and look of the bikes but as others have said I don’t think they were particularly practical or comfortable to ride. I don’t think they needed to “branch out” as they were building choppers as their name implied. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and I thought they did some very creative things with their theme bikes for different businesses. I remember one they did for some Las Vegas magician that was unbelievable. Just because they didn’t fabricate every washer in the engine doesn’t mean they couldn’t build bikes. The show had run it’s course.

[HYPERR]

Just because they didn’t fabricate every washer in the engine doesn’t mean they couldn’t build bikes.

They don't build bikes, they assembled bikes.

They were not chosen for their skills, not by a long shot. Out of all the ones that auditioned, they were chosen because their personalities fit what the TV producers were looking for the most. No other reason other than that. In that aspect, I would say the TV producers did very well. I don't think anyone(including the TV producers) ever imagined in a million years that this show would be this popular and run for half a decade.

[MTexile]

The show jumped the shark years ago. Good riddence!