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American Chopper: The Series
American Chopper: The Series logo
Starring	Paul Teutul, Sr. Paul Teutul, Jr. Michael Teutul Rick Petko Jason Pohl Mike Rowe (narrator)[citation needed]
Country of origin	United States
No. of seasons	4
No. of episodes	108
Production
Executive producer(s)	Hank Capshaw, Craig Piligian
Running time	60 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel	Discovery Channel(2003-2007) TLC(2007-)
Picture format	1080i (HDTV)
Original run	2003 – present
External links
Official website
IMDb profile

American Chopper: The Series is a Learning Channel reality television series produced by Pilgrim Films & Television Inc., and a video game published by Activision. This popular series is based around the founder of the company, Paul Teutul, Sr., and his son, Paul Teutul, Jr., also known as Paulie or simply Junior, as the two run a business creating custom motorcycles in their workshop, Orange County Choppers. The workshop is based in Montgomery, New York. One of their most famous bikes is the Black Widow Spider Bike. Image File history File links Broom_icon. ... Image File history File links American_Chopper_logo. ... Paul John Teutul, (May 1, 1949 in Yonkers, New York), is the founder of Orange County Ironworks and Orange County Choppers. ... Paul Paulie Michael Teutul (born October 2, 1974) is one of the stars of the American reality television program American Chopper. ... Michael Mikey Joseph Teutul (born November 26, 1978) is the youngest son of Paul Teutul Sr. ... For other persons named Mike Rowe, see Mike Rowe (disambiguation). ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Discovery Channel is a cable and satellite TV channel founded by John Hendricks which is distributed by Discovery Communications. ... TLC is a cable TV network in the US and Canada, that carries a variety of informational and reality-based programming. ... 1080i (pronounced ten eighty eye) is shorthand name for a category of video modes. ... High-definition television (HDTV) means broadcast of television signals with a higher resolution than traditional formats (NTSC, SECAM, PAL) allow. ... This is a list of television-related events in 2003. ... TLC official logo TLC is a cable TV network in the US, that carries a variety of informational and reality-based programming. ... Reality television is a genre of television programming which presents purportedly unscripted dramatic or humorous situations, documents actual events, and features ordinary people instead of professional actors. ... A television program is the content of television broadcasting. ... Activision, Inc. ... Paul John Teutul, (May 1, 1949 in Yonkers, New York), is the founder of Orange County Ironworks and Orange County Choppers. ... Paul Paulie Michael Teutul (born October 2, 1974) is one of the stars of the American reality television program American Chopper. ... A custom motorcycle is a motorcycle that is highly stylized or which treats aspects such as frame geometry or engine design in an unusual way compared to standard manufacturing. ... For other uses, see Motorcycle (disambiguation). ... A workshop is a room or building which provides both the area and tools (or machinery) that may be required for the manufacture or repair of manufactured goods. ... Orange County Choppers store near Montgomery, New York. ... Wards Bridge Montgomery is a village located in Orange County, New York. ... “NY” redirects here. ... Paul Jr. ...

The contrasting attitudes of the men and their propensity for sulking often lead to fiery but humorous verbal exchanges as they meet unusually short schedule deadlines for building distinct custom choppers. For other uses of the word, see Chopper. ...

Originally a show on the Discovery Channel, the series moved to Discovery's sister channel, TLC, on December 28th, 2006, starting off with an 18-hour marathon. Its first season on TLC premiered on January 18, 2007. Discovery Channel is a cable and satellite TV channel founded by John Hendricks which is distributed by Discovery Communications. ... TLC is a cable TV network in the US and Canada, that carries a variety of informational and reality-based programming. ...

Main cast with Brazilian President Luís Inácio Lula da Silva and First Lady Marisa Letícia.

Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 742 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (2193 × 1772 pixel, file size: 603 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File historyClick on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time. ... Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 742 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (2193 × 1772 pixel, file size: 603 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File historyClick on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time. ... This is a list of the Presidents of Brazil. ... Term of office: January 1, 2003 – present Preceded by: Fernando Henrique Cardoso Succeeded by: incumbent Date of birth: October 6, 1945 Place of birth: Vargem Grande (now Caetés), Garanhuns, Pernambuco First Lady: Marisa Letícia Lula da Silva Political party: Workers Party Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (born... This article is about the use of the term first lady internationally. ... Lula and Marisa Marisa Letícia Lula da Silva, née Marisa Letícia Rocco Casa, is the wife of the President of Brazil Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and thus First Lady of Brazil. ...

Positions

Typically Paul Jr. works alongside fabricators and mechanics such as Vinnie DiMartino, Rick Petko, Cody Connelly (a BOCES student intern who left to attend Wyoming Technical Institute (WyoTech) but has since returned), Nick Hansford and Christian Welter to create dozens of custom motorbikes. Paul Sr. supervises the builds and has built motorcycles himself. Michael Teutul, commonly referred to as Mikey serves as the shop's custodian and webmaster, appears and provides comic relief, though has been seen doing metal work now and then because one of his early jobs was working at Orange County Ironworks. Wyoming Technical Institute (Now known as WyoTech) is a for-profit college system founded in Laramie, Wyoming in 1966. ... Michael Mikey Joseph Teutul (born November 26, 1978) is the youngest son of Paul Teutul Sr. ...

The show also documents their personal and promotional activities ranging from magazine photo shoots to family holidays and custom bike shows.

On August 30, 2007, The Times Herald-Record, a newspaper that serves Orange County, NY reported that both Vinnie DiMartino and Cody Connelly have left Orange County Choppers.[1] The Times Herald Record, often referred to as just The Record in its coverage area, is a daily newspaper published in Middletown, New York. ...

Criticism

American Chopper has received criticism from more traditional Discovery Channel viewers^{[citation needed]} who point out that the show has nothing to do with the channel's theme of discovery and learning, and that it is a low-brow show on a supposedly intellectual channel.

In response to this, new commercials for new seasons have had promotional messages — American Chopper's message states, "Let's all discover...the vision".

Production

As described in a 'behind-the-scenes' episode^{[citation needed]}, Orange County Choppers was not the producers' first choice for a shop on which to base American Chopper. Although they had considered OCC as one of the potential candidates, they settled instead on a small bike shop in New England. During the weeks of preparation leading up to production, the show director began having doubts about their final choice. Just three days before shooting was scheduled to begin, the location was switched to the Orange County shop instead.

Supposedly unaware that the final program would include the disputes between father and son, Paul Sr. reportedly called the producers the day after the pilot episode aired and remarked that the program would put the shop out of business.^{[citation needed]}

Video games

Due to its popularity during its first seasons, American Chopper inspired two video games, including American Chopper 2: Full Throttle for the Nintendo GameCube, Sony PS2, and the Xbox. The Nintendo GameCube , GCN) is Nintendos fourth home video game console, belonging to the sixth generation era. ... PS2 redirects here. ... The Xbox is a sixth generation era video game console produced by Microsoft Corporation. ...

The appeal of the show

Vinnie (left) and Mikey filming at an outside location.

Verbal battles: These occur mainly between Paul Sr. and Paul Jr. Since the premiere of the show the two have had endless arguments, mostly related to Jr.'s working pace, which Sr. considers too slow. Paul Jr. has also been known to arrive late to work, take long lunchbreaks, leave unexpectedly without informing anyone, and not cleaning up the shop on a regular basis. Image File history File links Metadata No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links Metadata No higher resolution available. ...

Sr., however, has his own personality quirks; aside from the frustration he expresses over Jr.'s work ethic he is constantly critical of Jr.'s choices in design details, especially when a deadline for completion of a cycle is approaching. He also tends to get himself worked up over seemingly small problems (at least in Jr.'s view), most notably the cleanliness of the shop (Sr. prefers a clean shop). They also bicker about design elements, production deadlines, travel arrangements, and whose authority a design team will recognize and many, many other subjects.

Mikey seems to have a problem with authority but he rarely seems to fuss on the show. He is also able to calm Sr. down.

Random Destruction: Despite the numerous verbal battles and the serious attitude that Sr. usually gives off, he and the rest of the crew do tend to have some fun in and out of the shop now and then, and it occasionally involves a little bit of destruction of various items. Over the seasons, the crew of the OCC have been seen causing a little damage here and there, like when they were moving to a bigger shop, and to celebrate, Sr. used his SUV to destroy the remains of the office area in the old shop. Another memorable moment was when Sr. decided to give Mikey some help rennovating his house, and he used an axe to take down the walls asking the question: "Is the lady of the house home?"

Not all of the fun involves destruction. In one episode, to kill a little time with some fun, the crew were setting off some explosive gasses. They made several attempts. Sr. soon joined in the fun and got probably the biggest bang of all, which he nearly went deaf over.

Of course when there's no time for destruction, some joking around with Mikey tends to get a few laughs from time to time. At times he almost seems like the "shop clown." Even Sr. has gotten a few laughs, which is apparent as he has told Mikey: "the only reason I keep you around is because you make me laugh."

Outside of work: The cast members often participate in leisure activities together — as a group, the crew have hunted pheasant, gone skeet shooting, snowmobiled, fished for striped bass on the Hudson River and, in one of the earliest episodes, closed the shop for a few hours to go bowling.

Small business success: Although OCC itself started as a small business and was built and expanded by Paul Sr., it was not his first foray into this segment of the private sector. A few years before he started OCC he'd built a successful iron-working shop making wrought-iron fencing and other products. This business is now run by another of Sr.'s sons, Daniel. However, OCC is considered by many to be Sr.'s greater success because of the uniqueness of the cycles they build, his son's talent for original design ideas, the crew they've assembled and, of course, the television series.

FANtasy Bike Contest

During 2005, Discovery Channel sponsored a contest in which four finalists won OCC motorcycles. Bike features were specified by the winning fans, who sent in videos expressing their reasons for wanting a bike. The contest winners were (in episode order): Jeff Clegg (Corporal Punishment), Susan Morisset (Female Snake Bike), Joseph McClendon (Custom Hog), Bryan King (Vertebrate Trike). Each winner's bike appeared in a single episode, since each build took only 2 days. Discovery Channel is a cable and satellite TV channel founded by John Hendricks which is distributed by Discovery Communications. ... For more information on fans of football (soccer), see Football (soccer) culture. ...

Seasons

The American Chopper Series consists of several main seasons and also types of episodes, (specials etc. ... This is a list of television-related events in 2003. ... is the 130th day of the year (131st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The American Chopper Series consists of several main seasons and also types of episodes, (specials etc. ... The year 2004 in television involved some significant events. ... is the 130th day of the year (131st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 305th day of the year (306th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The American Chopper Series consists of several main seasons and also types of episodes, (specials etc. ... The year 2005 in television involved some significant events. ... The American Chopper Series consists of several main seasons and also types of episodes, (specials etc. ... This is a list of television-related events in 2006. ... The American Chopper Series consists of main episodes on the building of each project bike and also specials etc. ... This is a list of television-related events in 2003. ... This is a list of television-related events in 2006. ...

External links

• Orange County Choppers website.
• Discovery Channel's American Chopper website.
• HP Bike On American Chopper commercial (video)