teutul

Following the season six premiere of American Chopper on Thursday at 9 PM (I sure hope those squabbling Teutuls can work things out), TLC is premiering a new pilot titled Heavy Haulers at 10 PM. That picture sort of says it all, doesn't it? In addition to the logistics of moving such a huge piece of machinery, I'm wondering how you even get into the thing once you get where you're going.

You know, I used to watch American Chopper now and again because I kind of liked the Teutuls' act. You know what I mean: Paulie Sr. is the gruff but lovable father that is always barking out orders and issuing empty threats; Paulie Jr. is supposed to be the heir apparent to the Orange County Choppers empire, but doesn't seem to want it or care; Mikey's the comic relief. Then, of course, I found out that, like most reality shows, the yelling and tension is mostly made-up. By then it didn't really matter, though; I had stopped watching because the formula started to get tiresome to me.

But then I read in my local newspaper (yes, they still print those) that this episode, which first aired on Monday, would be a celebrity build for my favorite singer, Billy Joel, and that Billy would be a complete pain in the ass. Oh, boy. The prickly "my way or the highway" Teutuls mixed with the "delicate genius" of the Piano Man? This was one I had to watch.