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Chicago, previously known for the likes of Al Capone, Michael Jordan and Steve Bartman, is the latest locale for a reality TV show about a family-owned pawn shop.
First came the History Channel's "Pawn Stars," about day-to-day goings-on at a Las Vegas pawn shop.
The show was so successful--it's History's top-rated program--that rival network truTV ripped off the idea and created "Hardcore Pawn," about the daily antics at a Detroit pawn shop (it's truTv's top-rated show).
The History Channel then made a spin-off show, "Cajun Pawn Stars," about a pawn shop in Alexandria, Louisiana.
Now the rip-off will have a spin-off.
TruTv announced this week that a new pawn shop-themed reality show, called "Hardcore Pawn: Chicago," will debut in the fall and showcase the daily activities of--what else?--a Chicago pawn shop.
The latest once-obscure pawn shop that will become world-famous because of reality TV is the Royal Pawn Shop (www.royalpaysmore.com), run by brothers Wayne and Randy Cohen.
So what kind of uniquely Chicago items might be expected to "walk through the door" as they say in the pawn biz?
Capone's tommy gun?
Some Jordan NBA championship rings?
How about that infamous baseball Bartman bobbled
(Oh, right, that ball was blown up--literally with TNT--at a restaurant near Wrigley Field.)
How about a charred brick from the Great Chicago Fire?
Or a a bullet from the St. Valentine's Day Massacre?
Or some strands of ivy from Wrigley?
Or if the show really plans to be hardcore, they might feature some Sammy Sosa items, such as the hypodermic needles he used to inject steroids or the little Superballs he once corked a bat with.
No matter what shows up on "Hardcore Pawn: Chicago," though, viewers can count on producers sticking to the tried-and-true pawn shop reality show format: lots of wacky customers, lots of wacky items, lots of wacky customers who don't know what their wacky items are worth and lots and lots and lots of squabbling among the family members who bamboozle said clueless customers.
By Tom Somach
Gambling911.com Staff Writer
