Recently I’ve seen a surge in the number of shows of TV that revolve around the pawn shops and auction houses. I believe the first one was “Pawn Stars” which follows the owners and workers of a Las Vegas pawn shop. The next one is “Auction Kings“, which is about an auction house. And the newest is “Pawn Queens“.

Firda and I enjoy watching Pawn Stars. It’s on Sunday mornings at 10 in the morning and is a nice way to start what is typically a lazy day of us. Key parts of the show are likely staged but it doesn’t feel like staged. The characters in the show, while occasionally annoying, are quite endearing and quite humorous. The reason I enjoy it is the variety of items that come into this particular pawn shops. I also enjoy the bargaining that goes on between the pawners and the pawnees.

Auction Kings doesn’t have quite the draw that Pawn Stars has but is still enjoyable. An episode of the show starts with the either people bringing stuff to the auction house or one of the pickers going out and selecting items from estates that they think will sell. After determining the possible value of the item they hit the auction block. The show ends with all the items sold and the sellers reactions to the sale.

I just finished watching the second episode of Pawn Queens and this is the worst of the bunch. The show is clearly staged, all of the characters over-act and over-react to the situations they are in. The items that they buy and sell aren’t as interesting as the stuff they buy in Pawn Stars. I’m thinking the horridness of the show is the production quality of the show and the fact that they try to inject too much drama into the show. I guess it is on TLC so their has to either be drama, dwarves or an inhuman family with a queen who can’t stop procreating (i.e. the Duggars).

I know there is at least one more of this styles of show called “American Pickers“, which I have not had a chance to watch.

So if any of these shows sound interesting I would go with Pawn Stars or Auction Kings – but stay stay stay away from Pawn Queens. Definitely not worth your time!