American Restoration

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.

American Restoration is a show which ran on The History Channel from October 25, 2010 to April 1, 2016.

Viewers were first introduced to the star of the show, Rick Dale, by his appearances on Pawn Stars, where he is the preferred restoration specialist of the other Rick. Finding that Rick Dale was also an interesting fount of information, History decided to give him his own show to highlight the interesting work he does and his wacky cast of employees. Basically, think of a cross between Pawn Stars and American Chopper (which is amusing, considering that Pawn Stars is already a cross between American Chopper and Antiques Roadshow).

Tropes used in American Restoration include:
  • Anticlimax: One episode spent quite a bit of time building up to Rick telling Brettly that he (Rick) intended to marry his (Brettly's) mom. When the moment actually came, Brettly basically just shrugged and said "Yeah, you guys are good for each other" and that was that.
  • The Bet: When Kyle and Kowboy find a very old Pepsi bottle at the bottom of a cooler they're restoring (they guess that the bottle must be about 40 years old), they make a bet about whether or not Kowboy will lose any parts from the cooler while they work on it. The loser has to drink the old Pepsi.
  • Catch Phrase: Kowboy will often say, "If there's one thing you don't do, it's (thing someone did that annoyed Kowboy)".
  • Crisis Crossover: The episode "Picks & Ricks." More information can be found on the pages of the shows it crossed over with, American Pickers and Pawn Stars.
  • Don't Try This At Home: Kowboy has a loose tooth...and he decides to take matters into his own hands ("Kowboy up") and pull it out with a set of pliers. It's nasty.
  • Expository Opening Narration: Remember back in the day when things were made by hand, and people took pride in their work? My name's Rick Dale, and I bring these things back to life. Every restoration has its own set of challenges. There's no owner's manual for what we do, but there's no job we can't handle.
  • Family Business: Rick's brother Ron and his son Tyler are both employees at the shop, with Tyler being the heir apparent to eventually take over the business.
    • And Brettly is his soon-to-be stepson.
  • Giftedly Bad: Tyler's attempt at hand-painting lettering.
  • Hot Mom: Kelly is Brettly's mom, apparently.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Kowboy is a good worker and takes pride in what he does, but Rick calls him "the grumpiest bastard I ever met", and when his interactions with the other employees are shown at more than a glance, he lives up to it.
  • Lazy Bum: Ron, the shop's delivery driver. He often takes advantage of his time on the road to indulge in other things that have nothing to do with work, like enjoying extra-long lunches or getting himself another tattoo. Tyler commented after joining Ron for one expedition that he now understood why it took Ron three hours to get back from the hardware store.
  • Missing Mom: It's unclear if Tyler's mom (Rick's ex) is alive or not. Most likely she simply has no interest in appearing on the show (much like the other Rick's own exes).
  • Morality Pet: Kowboy's pet cat The Boy. A subplot in one episode involves him having to take him to the vet.
  • Spin-Off: The show was greenlighted by virtue of Rick's frequent and well-received guest appearances on Pawn Stars.
    • Though of note is that Rick Harrison doesn't seem to consider it an actual spinoff, as it was originally part of their agreement with the History Channel that there would be no spinoffs of Pawn Stars.
  • This Is Gonna Suck: Brettly's fixer-upper truck.
  • "Well Done, Son" Guy: Rick's son, Tyler. He often tries to impress his Dad by taking the initiative on various projects, only to screw things up somehow.
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