American Restoration

I started watching random episodes in the background in my home office TV on Quest over 2 years ago and I must admit, I'm hooked.

This show has everything in it, family dynamics, customer satisfaction, creative suspense, humor, drama, etc. Even the LV backdrop is amazing. Everyone has their unique abilities and quirks and it all comes together pretty much flawlessly. The before and after project results are astonishingly jaw-dropping. A well deserved 9/10 from me!

Let's get the negatives out of the way first. Yes, I do agree with the critic who noted that, as the series progresses, they are spending less time on the actual restorations and more time on the lives of the characters, who invariably get into dramas that may be real, or may the result of the writer's over-active imaginations. Were I more cynical (and I can be, on demand) I might start to question this magical world where every restoration turns out perfectly, every customer loves the result, and nothing ever goes wrong, except when Tyler (Rick's son) does something that you'd except to see on LEAVE IT TO BEAVER or DENNIS THE MENACE. OK, so much for the negatives. This show could be, bar none, the most upbeat production on the air. Rick Dale should run for office. He genuinely seems to find the good in every situation, every job, every client and he generates a palpable longing for the days when Americans made things by hand, by themselves, and they lasted. 30 minutes hanging out with Rick is the rough equivalent of listening to the STAR SPANGLED BANNER 78 times, give or take. As a warned you, this is a guilty pleasure. Ultimately, the real joke will be that Tyler does not actually have to learn his dad's tricks of the trade, he will likely be able to retire on the residuals.

I like seeing the items that are brought to Rick Dale go from old and rusty to new. Its fun learning about things that I never knew existed. Rick Dale seems to know a lot about the things he restores.

This show started out pretty good, but went down hill fast. So much fake drama, Kowboy, the wife etc... They must all be very unlikable if some streaming service (there are so many now) hasn't brought back a new version of this show. Who did History Channel think was the demographics for this? Nobody wants to see all the scripted drama and stupidity.

The first three to four seasons were great! Then the History Channel started adding all the scripted drama that killed the show. Most of the folks commenting here are just clueless as to how the world works. They complain that enough of the actual work isn't shown. Well, each show would need to be 10 hours long if you followed each item thoroughly from start to finish. Many complain about pricing. For them, I would suggest they lease a huge property and fill it with a Million Dollars worth of tools and equipment and then hire a solid crew of skilled craftsmen to do restorations. If they can do that and charge bargain basement prices on their restorations, I'll give them a pat on the shoulder. Basically, in this world, you get what you pay for. Wonder how many of the complainers have a $1000 iPhone in their pocket that shatters the first time you drop it? Anyways, it was a wonderful show. I enjoyed the first 6 seasons. I loved watching 'the family' each week and watching Rick teach his son and stepson responsibility and seeing them become productive members of society after learning their skilled trade. Wonderful show! It was like watching a 1960's era family. Sure, people argued and bickered. But, that's life. I spent my life working the oil fields and shipyards around the world. That's kind of the norm for folks in the skilled trade fields.