Ready to Ride *** Bike-Building Family TV Show on the Move

By JUDY BERGERON

They’re immortalized on PEZ dispensers, bobblehead dolls and their own edition of Monopoly.

The Teutuls, of Orange County Choppers in New York and TV’s “American Chopper,” first on Discovery Channel and now on TLC, are riding high on their success as the series’ fourth season gets under way tonight.

“Yeah, those are the three most flattering things (PEZ, bobbleheads and Monopoly) we’ve been associated with,” Michael Teutul, better known as Mikey, said by phone Friday from Los Angeles.

“Yeah, very Americana,” chimed in brother Paul Teutul Jr., who along with his father, Paul Sr., design and build custom motorcycles at their shop in Montgomery, N.Y.

The series provides a fly-onthe- wall look at the day-to-day operations of the family business, the building of the bikes, the ever-present deadline pressure and the relationships among the family, inside and outside the shop. Figuring prominently here is matriarch Paul Sr., whose tough-guy, disciplined work ethic and short fuse make for often daily fireworks with his crew. Son Paul Jr., “Paulie,” usually bears the brunt of “Sr.’s” rampages.

Younger brother Mikey offers the comic relief.

The three were in L.A. to promote the series’ move to TLC, another of the Discovery Networks.

The show also will change its night and time, moving from 9 p.m. Mondays to 8 p.m. Thursdays. This puts the cabler “Chopper” up against network ratings-grabbers “Grey’s Anatomy” and “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.”

“Thursday night’s a tough night to be on, no question, but it’s also a night where people watch TV,” Paul Teutul Jr. said. “We’re hoping that people TiVo those shows and watch ours in real time.”

“I don’t think anything’s bigger than ‘Monday Night Football,’ so that’s what we were up against before,” Paul Teutul Sr. said.

“I watch both those shows, especially ‘Grey’s Anatomy,’ and they’re really good shows, so it’s like you’re really on a bad night where there’s no competition or you’re on the best night where there’s heavy competition, and there’s really no way to really figure it out,” Paul Teutul Jr. said. “The only thing I can say is for our fan base, airing at 9 o’clock (Eastern time) is going to make a big difference, I think we’re going to gain viewers.”

From the beginning, the show has drawn fans beyond motorcycle enthusiasts, as, although it’s centered on bike-building, it’s the Teutuls’ and their co-workers’ relationships which prove entertaining week in and week out.

“Just the family dynamics I think,” Paul Teutul Jr. said in discussing “Chopper’s” broad audience. “Everybody relates to it. It really transcends an age, gender and even culture. The show airs in 160 countries and it’s popular in the majority of those countries. It’s an amazing kind of phenomenon that people just enjoy seeing the honesty of the family relationship.”

The show’s fan base extends to celebrities as well, and the Teutuls have built bikes for Jay Leno, Bill Murray and Billy Joel, among other stars, in past episodes. Corporations such as Wendy’s, Gillette and Trim-Spa have commissioned bikes from the Teutuls, who say they’re most well-known for their theme bikes, including the POW/ MIA bike, the Spider Man bike and the Fire bike donated to the Orange County Firefighters Museum. They were even sought out to build a chopper for the U.S. Air Force.

Another testament to the Teutuls’ success is that they’ve just broken ground on another headquarters, in nearby Neuberg, N.Y., having outgrown its first three buildings.

“It’s in a better location, 100,000 square feet,” Paul Teutul Jr. said. “Now we have the main shop, the showroom down the street and a warehouse up from there. We’re putting it all in one building. And we’re reserving about 30,000 square feet for showroom and retail, so we’re really kind of gearing up more for our fans to make it more of an enjoyable experience for them.

“We’re going to have a really cool, like one-way glass, ’cause every time people come down to the shop they want to see us, and they can’t always see us, so this will kind of make it more available for them. They’ll be able to see us while we’re working and filming the show; meanwhile they’re experiencing the showroom and all the bikes. So they’ll be able to do both and we’ll still be able to film the show.

“Currently, buses come down to our showroom. It’s 8,000 square feet but it’s nothing compared to what we’re putting in for the fans.”

This season, viewers can look forward to “more cool bikes,” the Teutuls said, as they also introduce their production, or mass market bikes, to dealerships across the country. Prices will start at $32,000, which they said is very competitive in the motorcycle market. New episodes will also feature race car driver Danica Patrick and an Indy racing-inspired bike and a Peavy Amps chopper.

And what about Paul Teutul Sr.’s tirades?

“I think you’ve probably seen the best of it, and like everything it evolves,” he said. “I’m getting older, so it takes more of a toll on me so I need to back off a little bit. I’m sure you’ll still see a little bit of that side of me, also, but you know, again, everything changes and I think that’s what keeps the show interesting.”

Later, in his dry humor, he put it like this: “We’re just probably a dysfunctional family that will always be a dysfunctional family.”

“We just keep putting the show out there and hopefully the success continues and people keep watching,” son Paul Jr. adds.

And from Mikey Teutul: “I’m done being funny, and I’m just going to be the kind of boring guy from now on.”

Always the wise guy, that Mikey is.

‘American Chopper’

WHAT: Reality TV series about the Teutul family, who build custom motorcycles at their shop, Orange County Choppers, in New York state.

WHEN: 8 p.m.

Thursdays.

CHANNEL: TLC (cable Channel 48).

(c) 2007 Advocate; Baton Rouge, La.. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.