THE TRUTH BEHIND THE JUNK CELEBS: THE PICKER SISTERS

The backgrounds on most  "junk TV" celebs is fairly easy to track down.

 Wikipedia, as an example, is chock full of info, as long as you do some minor searching, and clickin' on links. In this case, however, I have done the searching for you, so all you have to do is some clickin'!

Take "Picker Sisters" as an example.

The hosts are Tracy Hutson and Tanya McQueen.

The names may sound familiar to you because they each were part of another highly popular Reality TV show, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.  Yes, that is the one with that bundle of seemingly boundless energy that is always bouncing around your TV screen, also known as Ty Pennington.

Tracy Hutson is also an actress, and also started her own design business in Los Angeles in 1999. She ended up as one of the original style consultants on the same show, as well as appeared in a few films and TV shows, including:

 TV Sitcoms: Damaged Goods and Less Than Perfect.
 Films/Movies:  Mixed Signals, Endsville, and Rated X (appearing in the role of noted porn actress,  Marilyn Chambers (who was also an exotic dancer, model and, oddly enough, vice-presidential candidate!)

So, Tracy Hutson is an experienced actress who is also a designer.

Hmmm....

Sounds like a match made in heaven for a reality TV show producer, eh?

Tanya McQueen was first noticed by an ABC producer when she appeared with her cousin on TLC Network's reality TV show Property Ladder.

She ended up on Extreme Makeover: Home Edition and since then also hosted Hitched or Ditched on the CW Network. 

^{So, that is the general background of the "Picker Sisters"...who I guess are not really sisters, and I suppose not really pickers,as far as most people's definition of the word goes.}

<sup>Oh well, it is just TV, after all. 

To further check out the host's other interests, businesses, history, check out the links below:</sup>

^{Tracy Hutson}  

^{Ex Husband Barry_Watson}

^{Article on the website "Oregonlive.com"} 

^{Bio on Picker Sisters "About" Section} 

^{Bio from Extreme Makeover: Home Edition}

^{Bio at IMDb}

^{Tanya McQueen} 

^{Tanya's official website} 

^{Bio at IMDb}

^{Bio on Picker Sisters "About" Section}

 ^{TV Guide's Bio on Tanya}

 

 

Junk TV - Let Me Count Thy Programs

Was just thinking about how many "Junk TV" shows that have popped up in the last 2 years.

The most recent (at the time of my writing this) is "The Big American Auction", which I mentioned in my last posting.

Another new show called "Real Deal" aired Nov 27th on History Channel (USA).

Others that have aired in the last 2 years include (in no particular order):

American Pickers
Canadian Pickers
Cash & Cari
Pawn Stars
Hardcore Pawn
Picker Sisters
Storage Wars
Storage Wars: Texas 
Auction Hunters
Storage Hunters 

Born Dealers / Natural Born Dealers (retitled "Born Dealers" for Discovery TV of Canada)

Another recent spin-off of PAWN STARS is about to air, also. Surprise, surprise...not.

It is set in central Louisiana,  entitled.....wait for it.....CAJUN PAWN STARS ! Actually, I don't know if that is the official title.....

Damn, it IS the official title...! 

Oh well, guess it was the only natural choice.


Now, I am also waiting for an AMERICAN version of THIS show to arrive!

The blogger of that article calls it "Antiques Roadshow With A Sledgehammer!"

Personally, I think that would actually make a darn fine real name for the American version of the show....and I'd LOVE to host it!


As a dealer who is SO tired of repros, fakes, etc messing up the market place & values, and causing anguish among beginning collectors and long time collectors alike, not to mention us dealers...  it would be SO cool to see some of that crap get what it deserves!

 Imagine, smashing the crap out of fakes, repros, etc...a dream job for some dealers! Imagine the satisfaction you would get from your job!

Hmmm.....I think I am going to go now....I need to get my resume ready....and hone up on my sledgehammer swingin' skills....

Junk TV

Was just checking out the "stats" on the blog, and noticed that someone came across my blog by searching for (and I quote):

"canadian pickers" gone for good?

Not sure what the person doing that search is thinking....as far as I know, there is still season 2 coming out, and from what I have heard down the antiques biz grapevine is that Sheldon Smithens and Scott Cozens, the hosts from the first season of Canadian Pickers have been signed for a THIRD season.

I do think that is odd, considering the 2nd season hasn't even aired.....but, maybe the production company knows something we don't.

 What I do know is that there has been quite a bit of discontent from folks across the entire "junk biz" spectrum, as far as the current choice of hosts for "Canadian Pickers".   Comments from 99% of those folks have, well, lets just say they haven't exactly been very complimentary.

I don't want to relay anything here, as I know it will be perceived by some people out there as "sour grapes" on my part.

Meh.

 I'm not getting paid by any production companies to offer my expertise, market research, etc, and they obviously have no interest in what we all think, anyway.

By "we" I mean the the majority of people who make up the "junk business."

Reality TV production groups would be well advised to vet their ideas through a panel of TRUE veterans of this business before they make the decisions that have been made as to host choices, venues, etc, etc.   I suppose any eyes watching makes for profits, even if most of those viewer eyes are rolling constantly. Longevity of most of these shows is something that is obviously not in the production companies' plans.  These are not "British Antiques Roadshow" grade programs when it comes right down to it.

I do enjoy most of the shows, though on average, my eyes roll more than they would while watching the Antiques Roadshow (with the the exception being the Canadian version...it crashed and burned it seems...and for good reason).

I know too much...I'm educated in the business, so when I  hear prices of multi-hundreds being tossed around for an item I KNOW barely garners high double digits....well, I just shake my head.

There has been lots of trash to cash TV shows, and I am sure there are going to be many more. Any cheap & relatively easy to make (IE: reality TV) that feature "ordinary" people making money from other people's "junk" gives "fans/viewers" some "hope", especially when they are short on money (IE: the people who are recently unemployed, downsized, etc...all those things that happen during a recession) it all equals more money in the medias' pockets.

If  "Trash to Cash" happens to sound familiar, that was also the title of a series back in 2003...and has turned into a general term used regularly by a variety of bloggers, articles, etc, as a description of the genre of reality shows I fondly refer to as "Junk TV".

I gotta be different!

Seems like many of the shows are spun off of "American Pickers"...have to wonder if Mike Wolfe is getting royalties! Kudos to him if he is! You may have noticed that the success of AP has caused spin-offs & copies, unsurprisingly. Sadly, the word "Picker" is in those titles for the sole misguided purpose of luring the AP viewership into watching. is one...Once I saw "Picker Sisters", I quickly decided that was not the name I would have choose. Some would even consider "Canadian Pickers" misnamed...the comment I hear is usually something like "Candian Antiquers" would far more accurate."    True, they do go to mainly antiques shops, antiques shows, collectors' collections, and occasionally "other" pickers' offerings. I can not see Scott nor Sheldon ever picking through the muddy basements, dust, dirt & pigeon crap filled attics, and the hay filled, mouse infested, sparrow poop spattered barn lofts that I commonly sift through.  Mis-casting is more the culprit in that case. The production company tried to replicate AP in Canada, but sadly, it is not what most Canadian "American Picker" viewers expected.

I really am not sure why the Canadian versions/spin-offs of US shows always seem to end up leaning towards "corn" factor.  Maybe the self-deprecating Canadian attitude is embedded in the producer's psyches.

The thing is, from everyone I have talked to on the subject, it is obvious that there IS a substantial audience out there that is getting quickly tired of the not-all-that-real Reality TV version of the "junk lifestyle."

When you live the lifestyle, seeing through the TV version is as easy as looking through a clean window.

Frankly, I give kudos to Mike, Frank and Danielle of AP. They are making more $ off the antiques biz than they ever would have in the traditional way.   Sure, I wish it was me making that big $ and getting recognition for the 20+ year long rocky road this business has dragged me over.

But, it is not. So, life goes on, per usual.

I was hoping the shows would garner more interest in antiques & collectibles than it has.

Wait, let me clarify that....

I was hoping the shows would garner more interest in the COLLECTING of antiques & collectibles than it has....

Every show out there right now seems go for the "look at the deal I got" and/or the "I will make lots of money on this" aspect that drive them.

People watch them as if they are "how to" videos .Oiy....they are so far from that...

I know what I am buying and I know what I am doing, so it has no real affect on me.
I might actually save some money by being outbid at auction on some piece of old junk that I really do not need.

If there were far more shows getting people interested in COLLECTING, driving people to COLLECT, and make the collecting end of things more appealing, giving the multitudes of reasons why people should collect this or that, making collecting something that you should do, highlight its importance to history conservation, etc, etc, then that may well create the upward spike in the junk MARKET.

More competition is something that I am sure most don't want. "Cost of goods" increases, which is being seen in the Storage Auction business, as Glendon Cameron of www.urbanpackrat.com has mentioned a fair bit in his video and blog entries. Same thing in the antiques biz, but we have a little different situation here.

Collecting old crap is not like needing a couch for the living room.

  Yes, competition drives up prices, which is fine, but if there is no end consumer that is willing to buy the goods the "dealers" fought over, is that item actually worth what is being paid?

Not likely.

There is a bit of a false market being created in this business by these shows, as there is starting to be a glut of "dealers" (or rather, wanna-be dealers/pickers) being created. More dealers than end buyers can hurt the market.

When you examine the way the market is at present, it starts to sounds a little like the fiasco the Banks pulled.

No worries, it will self correct itself, eventually.

The veterans of the business will be just fine. We know how to make it all work for us.
I do believe that a VERY small percentage of the "newbies" that have gotten into this business will survive, but the vast majority will end up with storage lockers full of crap...and many will end up loosing said lockers...allowing Storage Wars and Auction Hunters to go on forever!

SO, you better study up by reading and re-reading my blog, AND at Mr Cameron's site www.urbanpackrat.com in preparation to tackle the impending influx of abandoned storage lockers!