As 'Chopper' Crashes, We Remember Our Dear Mikey

By Mike Hess Posted Feb 10th 2010 11:54AM

With word of the cancellation of 'American Chopper,' for some reason, we felt a bit reflective. It seems like we've grown along with the Teutul family -- only while we grew with them, they grew apart. The show that brought them fame and fortune also seems to have sent them into familial disarray, leading to lawsuits and lots of other tension. While screaming blow-outs, door smashing and other primal feats of manhood were all too common in the Orange County Choppers headquarters, there's one person who always seemed out of place, and in a sense, innocent from all of the ridiculousness: Mikey. And with the show ending, he's pretty much the one we feel most sorry for.

As family patriarch Paul Sr.'s divisiveness caused major tension with head bikebuilder Paul Jr. and others in the shop, Mikey was always the show's soul -- the lovable, goofy comic relief sorely needed to get between the two territorial bears clawing each other's faces off. Without Mikey, the show never would have lasted the seven years it's been on.

Think about it. Here's essentially every episode of 'American Chopper' in a nutshell: Design and conceptualize a new bike, yell for 40 minutes, show off shiny new bike. To break up the monotony of the same thing happening every episode, there needed to be something that had a bit of spontaneity and flair. That was Mikey.

He seemed to be the only one who could diffuse Senior's tyrannical grip on the shop, whether it was via slapstick comedy or his inherent ineptitude around the shop. As Paul Jr. pranced around in mirrored sunglasses and a beard that looked like it was finely honed with an Exacto knife, Mikey oafed about with hair that hasn't seen a comb since the millenium and a carelessness about life that made everyone else seem like egomaniacal fools. As the show and machismo among the rest of the crew grew, Mikey was the same guy in season six that he was in season one.

In a massive throwdown last year, Junior screamed that OCC "would go to sh-t" if he weren't the one in charge of design. Then, in true hotheaded Teutul style, a chair was launched at a wall (really, are we 12 years old? Grown men having these types of tantrums with such frequency is quite unsettling). Looking to follow suit in an equally inefficient and barbaric manner, Papa Teutul then raged against the machine ... only the machine in this case was a garbage can.

"I'm still getting stepped on, and I need to make a separation," Senior told the New York Daily News last October. "My health was starting to deteriorate."

It's no wonder Mikey is the funny, lax one. He likely had to morph his personality and temperament that way as a defense mechanism. Otherwise, he'd be just as violent and aneurysm-prone as the rest of his family.

The shop tension eventually led to Paul Jr. leaving OCC to start his own design firm, and Paul Sr. eventually sued Paul Jr. for $1 million in stock options according to TMZ. And while a separation from Junior was in need, Teutul didn't foresee the show's demise just yet. "I think I've got another two or three years, maybe," he said of the show in October 2009.

In the world of reality television, families tend to collapse under the boom mics and fame that come along with it. The Teutuls seemed doomed for an implosion from the get-go, and the show's (and family's) demise likely would have happened long ago if it weren't for

Tags: american chopper, AmericanChopper

Comments

(545)

Wednesday 10 February

By MrDoughnut

Lowest Rank Vote down Vote up Report this

They weren't building Harley's that was enough to end the show.

Friday 12 February

By dennis

they wern't builders just asmblers of real builders parts

By Donny Cooksey

Highest Rank Vote down Vote up Report this

Paul Senior ruined the whole thing with his dictatorship tyrant attitude. He should be strung up by his manhood for treating people the way he does. It's no wonder Paul jr. has the anger issues it is all learned behavior from his dad........Poor Mikey just to fragile to handle the madness.

By steve

ur dumm that show was tha best of shows on tv and if u didnt c that u need to go back into the dam cave u belong in

By crocker

Yes that is correct, they were not building bikes that were like white t-shirts (everyone has one). I do as well.

They were building and selling unique American pride.

By bill

the harley image thing is nuts. a bunch fat guys with too much money who think they are "bikers". Grow up punks.

By BTDT

I'm amazed it lasted seven years. I only watched it the first two years and was certain that one of the boys would lay a heavy wrench alonside the old man's head.

By tara

You obviously have no concept of what a CHOPPER actually is....a Harley is a bike built by Harley Davidson, and a CHOPPER is a one-of-a-kind bike built from "chopped" parts. Next time, get a clue before you open your mouth and prove yourself to be such a fool.

By BMW

You mean they weren't building BMW motorcycles. A harley will break down and the engine life is about 25,000 miles before you have to do something.

By terry

thats the best bike on the road dumb a**

By Ja

Low Ranked Vote down Vote up Report this

Harley'S? They are the worst riding bikes out there I know people that gladly got rid of their Harleys for a better riding bike. It's over priced. Who in their right mind would spend 20,000 on a bike? Not me!!!!

Sunday 14 February

By Al Schrader

Vote down Vote up Report this

Tara- I was there when the first chopper was made and it's not from chopped-up parts. It's a "chopper" because we would cut or "chop" the forks in half and add extension pipes to make the front end longer. I made one of the longest but an interesting thing happened, it would reach a point where the thing would no longer steer & the front wheel would simply lean to one side or the other. It all started on 114 st in Miami including the first guy that could ride a wheely continuously, even before Knievel did it. There were guys on the next street, 115 th that would turn a bicycle upside down & reverse the forks or swap the handle bars & front wheel, then install a seat pipe & ride these bikes about 10 feet off the ground. I never built one of those. It's ok. The Wilsons built the best Harleys. That was 1966...Al-

By ace

All part of the story line. The Teutuls' have taken it all to the bank. Good show and well scripted.

By smitty

Agreed. Kind of like the professional wrestling of the motorcycle world.

By Melindannah

You think? It's such a great script that it called for splitting up the family, sueing each other, and canceling the show? Uh..I don't think so.

By Bonbon

You got it. That show would never have lasted seven years without the arguing and fighting. Who would want to watch a couple of guys putting motorcycle parts together every week. You can bet the estrangements and lawsuits were all for the sake of ratings. Don't believe everything you see on TV.

By arline

you are so naive. the script couldn't be that good. family will never recover

By d

most ridiculous show i've ever seen. only interesting thing were the dysfunctional family relations. once they had counciling or whatever they did to calm down some, and paul sr. started building his idea of "cool" bikes, the show went to hell. i'm so glad it's gone, just such a shame they had to get rich off of some dumbasses who watched week after week to see some ridiculous looking bike with wrenches and golf clubs and stuck on them and called them art.
stupid show.

By mpdlad

The big mistake made was Paul Sr. failing to realize that he has not been in the motorcycle business for the last seven years, rather he was in the branding and licensing business. Two thirds of that brand was Paul Jr. and Mikey...thats what made people tune in and kept the brand going. The real money being made was selling millions of hats, t shirts etc. with the OCC logo that cost next to nothing to produce and are sold for huge profit. So if Paul Jr. wasn't wrenching on a motorcycle 12 hours a day and Mikey was not there all the time it was not hurting your brand but was actually expanding it as it led to the fights and yelling that people watched and helped keep the show on the air.
In short Paul Sr. seriously underestimated the value of his sons to the brand. He exercised extremely poor judgment believing he could carry it himself and I it has and will continue to cost him dearly.

By Tim

I fully agree with your take on the situation at OCC. I only add that Sr. thought the show was all about "him", not realizing it was about all three. People weren't tuning in to watch them build bikes, it was about the interaction between them and the shop staff. When that tanked, i didn't want to watch anymore.

Page 1 of 28