Picking is by no means a solely American thing to do. People have been sifting through other’s stuff for ages. Hence the old saying. “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.” But ever since the show’s rise in popularity, pickers in other countries have been eager to get their piece of the prize on TV. Canada and Australia have both had their own renditions of the show, while others simply air the original to fans overseas.
Aussie Pickers first premiered in 2013 and was hosted by Adam McDonald and Lucas Callaghan. Unfortunately, it only lasted for a brief 2 seasons before it ultimately bit the dust. The Canadian version was on the air from 2 years from 2011-2013. Hey, what can we say? Apparently we Americans just love our dumpster diving more than our neighbors to the North and South.
The Theme Song’s History
Some fans probably pay a bit more attention to the theme song than others, but it may interest them all to know that it actually comes with quite a story. Jared Gutstadt, creator of Jingle Punks, a music agency, is the one who put it together for them.
Gutstadt is known for his catchy tunes for hit shows like The Voice, Pawn Stars and The Real Housewives. To date, he’s produced music for more than 500 shows and is currently working in the hip-hop industry.
Mike’s Side Hustles
Aside from his successful, decade long career in reality television, Mike’s got some other things going on that contribute to his impressive net worth. He had his store, Antique Archaeology when he got started on the show, but since his increase in popularity (and income) he’s been able to open another location. Antique Archaeology may sound like someplace you’d buy some furniture he found while picking, but it’s actually a clothing store that sells Mike’s very own line of casual fashion. And who does he have running things in the front end of his stores? Danielle Colby, of course! Who else would he trust with his businesses?
One of Mike’s more recent endeavors has been adding a blog to his website, www.antiquearchaeology.com. The blog pulls his store and adventures on the show together for his fans and gives them a place to go where they can see everything that he’s up to these days. The store also has a Facebook page with over 15,000 likes where he (or, his social media manager) regularly posts updates about his whereabouts and happenings.
The Haggling Goes Down in Advance
Mike and Frank sure make it seem like they’re some tough negotiators when the cameras are rolling. But as disappointing as it may be to hear, they actually don’t negotiate the deals at all, they only make it look as If they do. The truth is that the producers handle all of that before the stars even appear at the location.
Of course, producers also tell everyone to ask for more money so they can haggle them down, which makes for better TV. After all, it would be a lot less interesting if that part was missing from each episode. However, all of this isn’t to say that neither of the stars can actually get themselves a good deal, because Mike has been picking since long before he did it on film, so he’s pretty much an expert negotiator, too.
Reality TV? Not Really.
Several speculations have existed over the years as to how real the “reality” show actually is. Is it scripted TV? Is it raw footage? The short answer to both of those questions is – no. It’s somewhere in between a scripted show and a full-on documentary about picking. It’s far from being entirely real, though, that’s for sure.
But hey, does it even matter exactly how candid everything about the series is? It’s an entertaining show and everyday people who want to sell their stuff get to make a little (or a lot of) money here and there, so what’s not to like? Plus, you have to admit they find some pretty amazing stuff, and whether or not the items are planted, they’re new to us, the viewers, so who cares?