American Chopper
American Chopper is an American reality television series that is still on air on Discovery Channel from 2003, produced by Pilgrim Films & Television. The series centers on Paul Teutul Sr., and his son Paul Teutul Jr., who manufacture custom chopper-style motorcycles. Orange County Choppers is in Newburgh, New York. The contrasting work and creative styles of the father-and-son team and their resulting verbal arguments were the series' hallmark until 2008 when an explosive argument led to Paul Jr.'s termination and departure to start a competing chopper company, Paul Jr. Designs.
The series originally aired on Discovery Channel beginning in March 2003. In December 2007, the series moved to Discovery's sister channel TLC, starting off with an 18-hour marathon. Its first TLC season premiered in January 2008. Season 6 began in April 2009 but the series was canceled by TLC in February 2010. In July 2010, TLC announced that the Teutuls would return in a new series, . Senior vs. Junior premiered on TLC but was soon moved to Discovery halfway through the first season. Discovery Channel announced that the show would end with "The Chopper Live: The Revenge" show on December 11, 2012 after 10 seasons.
Featured staff
The OCC fabricators and mechanics such as Paul Teutul Jr., Rick Petko, Nick Hansford, Christian Welter, and former employees Vincent DiMartino, and Cody Connelly, create dozens of custom motorbikes. Michael Teutul, usually referred to as "Mikey", serves as the shop's custodian and webmaster, and provides comic relief to the show. He has been seen doing metal work occasionally, as one of his early jobs was working at Orange County Ironworks. Also featured occasionally is Danny Teutul, the second oldest child, who succeeded Paul Sr. as the owner of Orange County Ironworks. Danny visits to do contracted work for the OCC facilities. The show also documents their personal and promotional activities ranging from magazine photo shoots to family holidays and custom bike shows.Paul Jr. leaves Orange County Choppers
Following regular disagreements with his father, Paul Jr. was fired from the shop in late 2008. In January 2009, TLC served a notice of default due to Paul Jr.'s absence. Paul Jr. then returned to OCC briefly as a contractor, but left finally in April 2009 in order to start his own design firm, Paul Jr. Designs. Paul Sr. then exercised a contractual option to purchase Paul Jr.'s 20% share in OCC, and subsequently filed a lawsuit to force the buyout. The case remained ongoing while a valuation of OCC was performed.On December 14, 2010, Paul Jr. won his appeal of a lower court ruling forcing him to sell his 20% ownership of OCC to Paul Sr. Paul Jr.'s appeal asked that the agreement to sell be ruled invalid, so Paul Jr. will continue to own 20% of OCC until a fair selling price is agreed to. Paul Jr. has also filed a counter-suit laying out massive fraud on Paul Sr.'s part in dealing with Paul Jr.'s interests at OCC. The suit seeks $100 million in damages along with court-ordered controls over the company's finances to prevent further fraud.
After a one-year non-compete clause ended, Paul Jr. opened a motorcycle design company in April 2010. TLC then commissioned a 7th season titled which features both OCC and Paul Jr. Designs.
Original series (2002–10)
Series overview
Production
Legal issues
OCC is the defendant in a legal action filed by artist Justin Barnes, who alleges that his original designs were copied on merchandise without his permission and appropriate compensation.In July 2009, Cody Connelly sued OCC and Paul Teutul Sr., seeking damages for misappropriation of likeness, breach of contract and fraud. He claimed the show used his likeness in posters, coloring books and other merchandise after he left it in 2007. Connelly also claimed that he never received "the old school chopper" that he helped design, though Paul Teutul Sr., said it would be his in one episode of the show.
Cancellation and Senior vs. Junior
On February 6, 2010, TLC announced that American Chopper's season finale scheduled for February 11 would also mark the end of the series, stating, "The Teutuls will always be a part of the Discovery family and we congratulate them on a tremendously successful series run." On April 7, TLC announced the Teutuls would return for a new series.The new series, , chronicles the aftermath of Paul Jr.'s departure from OCC and his construction of a new custom chopper company across the street from younger brother Dan's Orange County Iron Works. It premiered August 12, 2010 on TLC.
In December 2010, Senior vs. Junior was moved to the Discovery Channel, the network American Chopper originally debuted on. In Canada American Chopper started on January 8 on TLC and moved to Saturday nights at 10 p.m.
On February 7, 2011, Paul Teutul Jr. announced that American Chopper: Senior vs. Junior had been renewed for a second season and would return spring 2011.
On November 21, 2012, Eileen O'Neill, president of Discovery Network, announced the show had been cancelled. The final episode aired December 17, 2012.
Series spin-off: Senior vs. Junior (2010–12)
American Chopper: Senior vs. Junior is a reality television spin-off which premiered on the TLC channel on August 12, 2010. The show chronicles the rivalry between Orange County Choppers owned by Paul Teutul Sr. and his son Paul Teutul Jr.'s newly opened motorcycle business Paul Jr. Designs. The second season continued with brand new episodes that aired on Monday, August 29, 2011 at 9pm EST on Discovery Channel. The third season began on February 13, 2012. The fourth season premiered, September 3, 2012. November 16, 2012, the Discovery Channel announced the cancellation of the show. The final episode aired December 17, 2012. Paul Teutul posted a picture of himself with his father and brother Mike all posing in front of the Teutel bike that junior and senior built during season 4.Opening
The introduction is narrated by both Paul Sr. and Paul Jr.:The fourth season intro is narrated by Paul Sr. and Paul Jr.:
Series overview
Note: The cast makes an appearance on Season 2, Episode 3 "American Chopper Gun", of Sons of Guns where the crews collaborate on a dragon-themed gun. This episode coincides with American Chopper: Senior vs. Junior Season 2, Episode 2 "Big Guns".December 2014 special
On December 11, 2014, Discovery Channel aired an American Chopper special under the title "American Chopper: Shaq Bike", which featured the building of a chopper for former NBA star Shaquille O'Neal. It focused on the original Orange County Choppers business, with no sign of Paul Jr., though Michael Teutul did appear and interact with his father. While there were a few new family members and fabricators, the crew at the shop appeared to be the same as the cast of the Orange County Choppers series, including Evan Favaro. According to Paul Sr., the Shaq "Man of Steel" bike is the biggest in OCC history. The specs: 48-inch handlebars, 6-inch rake, 23-inch front wheel and 20-inch rear wheel on a stretched frame.Original series revival (2018–19)
A revival of the series aired in the spring of 2018 on Discovery Channel. According to the series Facebook page, the new season will premiere on May 28, 2018 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on Discovery Channel.A preview of the first episode of season 11 entitled "Welcome Back" aired on March 1, 2018. The episode featured the return of the Teutuls after ten years of their rocky father-son partnership, catching us up to speed with Senior and Junior's separate lives and motorcycle businesses. At Orange County Choppers, Paul Sr. gets a two bike deal with Okada Resort in Manila, Philippines. Meanwhile, Paul Jr. works on a bike for Buffalo Chip Campground in Sturgis, South Dakota. Both come together when Junior asks his father to restore their Yankees bike which had been vandalized and then sold at an auto salvage auction.
On July 28, 2020, it was announced that an TV special titled American Chopper: The Last Ride will premiere on August 4, 2020.
Series overview
Season 11 (2018)
Season 12 (2019)
Home media
In other media
Parody
American Body Shop, an improvisational comedy shown on Comedy Central, is a parody of American Chopper.Video games
Due to its popularity during the first seasons, American Chopper inspired two video game titles. The first was American Chopper by Activision Value, released for the PlayStation 2, PC and Xbox. The second, by Creat Studios was released for the Nintendo GameCube, PlayStation 2, and Xbox.A video pinball arcade game made by Incredible Technologies, Inc. reached on-site play testing but was never released.