By Diane Werts, Newsday
WHAT IT’S ABOUT: America can’t get enough of those Pawn Stars guys — owner Rick Harrison, son Corey and dimwit pal Chumlee — so here they are for another weekly hour, doing what they do. Rick knows all, Chumlee’s dumber, Corey tries to keep up.
Out from behind the counter and into a TV studio with host comic Christopher Titus, the guys match trivia wits with two challengers eager to win some of Rick’s shop stash — vintage pinball machine, NBA championship ring, Soviet high-altitude suit. Fastest ringer-in answers multiple-choice queries about swords, landmarks, Scout badges, Caesar salads or magazine swimsuit models. There’s also an isolation booth for a 60-second final round of top challenger vs. Rick. Then there’s negotiating — gotta have that “final offer” — over who goes home with what.
MY SAY: Brand extension. That’s “Pawnography.” I had to write down the rules to get them.
But the low-budget gameplay is hardly the point. Rick drops historical facts. The guys goof. The host reacts and riffs. (Nice to see fleet-tongued Titus back on TV.) And the contestants exploit their own 15 minutes of (minor) fame. This week, meet “a mean Asian Elvis.”
BOTTOM LINE: Build the brand, boys.
Photo: Gsloan via Flickr
