Mike Wolfe and Frank Fritz are once again searching the back roads, junkyards, and filled-to-the-brim barns in America for "rusty gold." With an average of 3.8 million total viewers per episode in its first season, AMERICAN PICKERS, the #1 new cable series of 2010, returns for a second season with all new premieres beginning Monday, June 7 at 9pm ET on HISTORY.
Part sleuths, part antiques experts, and part cultural historians - Mike and Frank's adventures bring them to small towns across the country in search of weird and wonderful Americana. Each treasure hunt leads them to fascinating, quirky characters - everyday people with stories that open a window onto American life.
As professional "pickers," these childhood buddies comb through memorabilia and artifacts, hoping to find treasures among the trash. Sometimes they make a few bucks; and sometimes they walk away with little more than the history of an item.
The new season begins (June 7) in North Carolina, where the duo comb through a collector's abandoned outbuildings and find a 1950 Studebaker. Mike becomes obsessed with a 1934 pre-Airstream trailer, but can they negotiate a deal? Then, hoping to sell a choice vintage sign, they visit their friend and NASCAR champion Ryan Newman, who has a surprise of his own for the guys.
As their junkyard journeys continue, the pickers rummage through ramshackle school buses, a burned storage building, forgotten barns, salvage yards, and rust heaps in search of what they call "good junk." They come across an item they've never seen before, place bets on what it actually is, and get a surprising assessment from the appraiser. They encounter a mother and daughter who catch the picking bug and give the guys a run for their money. And with nerves of steel, they try to strike deals with people who are often reluctant to part with their possessions.
Meanwhile, back in Iowa, Danielle Colby Cushman holds down the fort at Antique Archaeology. She spends her time getting leads, talking to sellers and doing research via trade publications and websites. Danielle also keeps the boys in line - while they keep her in stitches with their antics.
"We're caretakers of treasures and the stories behind them," says Mike. Traveling along with the duo, viewers will meet an assortment of American originals and watch as a patchwork of history unfolds - one treasure at a time.
AMERICAN PICKERS is produced for HISTORY by Cineflix Productions. Susan Werbe and Dirk Hoogstra are Executive Producers for HISTORY. Executive Producers for Cineflix Production are CharLes Tremayne and Mark Poertner. Simon Lloyd is Producer and Mike Wolfe is Co-Executive Producer. Series Producer is Stephen Pettinger.
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