I’ve seen only two episodes and none of them all way through because hardass Dad is such a turn-off. I think the son may have been a problem child, but I don’t see how riding the young man so hard is any help whatsoever.
And why does Tuttle Jr stay in his Dad’s shop? It seems to me that he could get work just about anywhere.
Maybe the two shows I saw were not really indicative of the relationship between these two. Does anyone watch this show? Can you explain?
I think his problem is that he’s slightly jealous that he started the shop but his son’s custom designs put it on the map. That’s just my amateur opinion though.
Paul Sr strikes me as a total control freak. He is unable to accept that Paul Jr just doesn’t want to do things Dad’s way.
You also have to realize that the show is made for television. That is, the producers think setting up the father-son dynamic makes for an interesting story, so that’s the parts that they show and the parts that appear on the teasers. Having watched a few more episodes, I think they probably get along pretty well off camera in a relatively antagonistic sort of way.
As for why Paul Jr stays… Dad has all the money and the space. Paul Sr’s main business is/was Orange County Ironworks and Orange County Choppers was a side project that grew. He moved his son over to the bikes because he was good at it. What you don’t see from the show is the amount of time Paul Sr spends at the other shop or how the other business is run.
I’m not saying that I’d want to be part of that family (either father or son), just that you aren’t seeing the whole story in a few one hour episodes meant to air next to Monster Garage (talk about dysfunctional) and other “reality television” that has to have arguments and fights to be interesting to the general public… or so the producers seem to think.
I, personally, would be much happier just watching them build the bikes without the family stuff thrown in. Both Pauls actually build really amazing motorcycles (e.g. Old School chopper from Dad and any of Paul Jr’s bikes).
I’d point you to their website for more background on the family, but it’s primarily built in flash and obviously designed post-show.
Keep in mind that this is ‘reality TV’ and they do a lot of editing to provide a show that will be popular. For 30 minutes of Paul Sr. bitching about Paul Jr. for a single episode they probably shoot many, many hours of tape/film.
If Paul Jr. is the biggest slacker in the world they’ll never show it; just Paul Sr. complaining. That’s what the show is about.
There’s also the dynamic between business/financial concerns (Paul Sr) and artistic styling (Paul Jr).
I like Paul Sr. I think he’s funny. I also think it was very cool that he gave a chopper to the younger kid that recently started working with them. He had nothing but complimentary things to say about the kid.
My favorite Big Paul moment: He was yelling at Paul Jr. about something while wearing this pink vest, and then bellowed “I’M GONNA GO GET A MASSAGE!” and stormed out. Cracked me UP.
I thought the best was the episode with the drill and with Mike, that cracked me up.
They both went on O’Brien together and they say exactly what NameAlreadyTaken and Fredge said. It’s edited to playup the differences.
That’s reality television and that’s why I’m not a very big fan of the genre.
Another great Paul Sr. moment was him swimming in the ocean with his dog, who looks just like him. It was funny.
Oh, yea! If there’s ever been a more perfect owner-dog combination, I have yet to see it.
I’ve said before in an earlier post it’s just a “father and son” thing. They just feed off each other…makes for good television.
BTW, I like that their bringing Mike into the limelite a little. he’s funny as hell.
Although watching one or two eps I was all on Paul Jr.'s side, I’ve got to admit - watching him dilly-dally around with his “moment” when they’ve got a deadline to meet makes me understand Paul Sr.'s position much more. It is a business, after all. Paulie likes to pretend it’s his own little fantasy workshop, but Paul Sr. is the one that has to explain why a bike isn’t ready when they’ve had all this promotional stuff for it’s unveiling.
I think Paul Sr. is so hard on Paulie because he knows what potential he has and he wants him to suceed. He certainly does have the patience with that HS kid. I’d bet he was as patient when Paulie was a kid. Paul treats him like he’d treat any other employee - Paulie needs to grow up a little.
StG