Pawn Stars (History)

PAWN STARS goes behind the counter at the Gold & Silver Pawn Shop, a busy Las Vegas store that handles everything from motorboats to classic works of art to antique firearms. The store is run by three generations of the Harrison family -- Rick, his son Corey, and his dad Richard. The series focuses on the men's wheeling and dealing as they negotiate with people hoping to sell unusual items -- and on the back-office bickering as the trio argues over whether one of them has pulled of a major coup ... or gotten taken for a ride.

The Harrisons' tempestuous personalities are part of what makes this show fun. All three are very savvy businessmen, but they don’t always see eye to eye. Where one sees an underpriced diamond in the rough, another sees a lump of coal -- and they aren’t shy about sharing their opinions.

But it’s the naked capitalism that’s even more interesting. There’s no way to predict what people will try to sell at the pawn shop, and the guys will seriously consider even the most unusual objects -- if they think they can sell it later for a profit. That means they have to be experts in an enormous range of high-end products, capable of spotting both a fake Rolex and a real Picasso. After each negotiation, they explain what an item might really be worth and why they were willing (or not) to buy it. In the end, any object is worth exactly as much as someone is willing to pay -- a fundamental rule of business that's rarely seen as clearly as here.