Do We Care Anymore?

While Sr. and Jr. put on their all-business all-the-time faces Mikey flashes his trademark easy-going grin.
They're back! Not two months after TLC pulled the plug on American Chopper, the TV station is now planning to film a new series that pits the competing motorcycle shops of Orange County Choppers, run by Senior, against Paul Jr.'s new bike-building enterprise.
‘They’re back.’ Just like the house destroying ghosts in the movie Poltergeist, the antics of the dysfunctional motorcycle-building Teutul clan will soon be back on the air. According to Orange County Choppers official website, TLC is preparing to bring back American Chopper in a new show entitled American Chopper: Senior vs. Junior. The site states that “Orange County Choppers are amped up and ready to roll!”

American Chopper redux will feature both Senior’s current OCC enterprise and Junior’s fledgling bike shop as competing businesses. Paul Jr. left the show with bad blood between him and his father and started up his own company, Paul Jr. Designs. Originally Paulie separated himself from building custom motorcycles, opting to lend his keen eye for design to companies like Coleman for whom he created the Coleman RoadTrip Grill. But now he’s getting back into the moto industry and has opened up his own business across from the original OCC shop in Rock Tavern, NY.

The conflict within the family has spilled into court. The two are currently fighting over the date to be used to decide the value of the Orange County Choppers enterprise at the time Paul Jr. left the family business for buy-out purposes. Paul Jr. owns a 20% share of the business while Senior has the rights to the remaining 80%. The case is pending trial before the Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of Orange.

American Chopper’s hiatus was short-lived. TLC canceled the show in early February of this year. American Chopper debuted in September 2002 on the Discovery Channel until TLC took over broadcasting in 2007. Filming for the new series is said to begin next week with the first episode projected to air in August.

Media hype states that the two haven’t talked in a year, a truth that only the Teutuls know for sure. But Paul Jr. stated in a report in the New York Post that he was “hopeful for reconciliation.” We’ll wager the show’s producers hope that doesn’t happen any time soon because interest in the show hinges on capitalizing on the familial dispute and the tempestuous relationship between fat