The Good

Who doesn’t enjoy 576 minutes of family arguing? This type of show is a motorcycle fan’s dream come true.

The Bad

Seeing these people go at it over and over again does get a big boring. Sometimes it seems like if things got a bit slow, they would “cook up” an argument just to liven the show up a bit.

It would be hard not to like a show that plays like a real life version of “All in the Family.” Featured in American Chopper: The Series - Season Three as always is Paul Teutal Sr. and Jr., his “interesting” son Mikey and the rest of the crew as they create “custom-built” choppers with a lot of blood, sweat, tears and yelling. Whether the kids are working, cleaning up or doing nothing, they are not doing it right and at some point Paul Sr. is going to come out and yell at them. I love how we get to see the personality dynamic between the father and his sons. Paul Jr. will actually argue back and really seems to have no fear of his dad. Mikey is just so lovable and funny, that I think Paul Sr. knows he isn’t going to get the reaction or the results that he wants from him. Yet, somehow through all of this, these people always get their act together and create things of beauty. Whether it is the “Dixie Chopper Bike,” the “Future Bike” or the “Police Bike,” the job always gets done. And with Paul Teutal Sr. leading the charge, it isn’t hard to see why.

I had watched a few episodes of this show before being given it to review, but nothing had prepared me to really enjoy American Chopper: The Series - Season Three as much as I did.

Features

Jr. vs. Sr.

This is almost like a toned down version of the show and it has a therapy vibe to it. Paul Jr. and Paul Sr. sit and talk about the show. They talk about their differences, their similarities and it is very evident that as different as they seem, they are very much alike. Sure, Paul Jr. might be messy and his dad might be clean, but at the end of the day they have a dedication and love for their craft that really comes out in their work. This is a pretty in-depth and extensive piece but it’s worth watching because we get to see a side of them here that we only see glimpses of on the show.

Video

Episodes 1-2 - 1.33:1 - Full Screen. Episodes 3-13 - 1.78:1 Widescreen. I am sure that on a day to day business these people are just not that interesting, but for a Reality TV show using all the structures and conveniences of that medium, American Chopper: The Series - Season Three plays really well. There is just something about seeing life sped up, so that we see the action and reaction almost immediately, that makes for good TV. While I don’t typically watch this show, I will admit that when it comes on now, I will do my best to try and at least watch more episodes.

Audio

Dolby Digital. English Stereo. Close Captioned. Filled with typical reality TV music and quick cuts, American Chopper: The Series - Season Three is a show that is also very easy to watch while you work. I say this because if you don’t have time to sit down in front of the TV, you can just listen to these characters as they yell back and forth. I watched the show, so I got the advantage of seeing these people in action, and I must admit, watching Mikey work is a sight to behold. It is so interesting how different the 3 main people are. Movies are always trying to make characters complex but on a show like this the characters become complex because they are so simple.

Package

Both Paul’s stand on this front cover with their arms crossed. They are surrounded by a yellow bike and blue bike and the background seems to be a garage. Looking at this picture (and watching this show) I wondered what they were like before all the TV hoopla came around? The back features two generic shots (both of which seem like they were taken by an “on set” photographer), a description of the show, a tiny “Special Feature” listing, an episode list, credits list and technical specs. This 3 disc set comes housed in 3 slim cases with a different picture on each cover. The back of each disc has an episode listing and a description of each episode. All 3 of these plastic cases are nicely housed in a vinyl cardboard cover, which makes this nicely laid out digipack packaging fit very well as a set in any collector’s collection.

Final Word

If you are a fan of this show then you need to own this box set. I don’t think that you can have a complete collection (and I don’’t think that you would feel complete) without owning this third season. As I have mentioned, I had seen this show before so I basically knew what to expect, and while sometimes the constant arguing got old, it was nice to see that the “kids” could do things right, the dad could be wrong and that these people could have success in their chosen profession.

While I am not typically someone who watches Reality Television, this is easily the best Reality TV show out there in my humble opinion.

American Chopper: The Series was released .