As a new season of Storage Wars prepares to launch on A&E on April 16th, I decided to watch the previous season’s two part finale episodes, Nobody’s Vault But Mine and Still Nobody’s Vault But Mine, which both aired on March 25th.
I hadn’t had a chance to watch the show since the news of Dave Hester’s lawsuit broke last winter and he stopped filming. I was curious to see what the show would be like without Hester and his infamous, “Yuuup!”
As I’ve stated before on the blog, previous to this job I had never been a fan of the show, but immediately watched everything I could get my hands on to familiarize myself with the world of storage hunting and the cast and all their various bidding methods, and the tips and tricks they sprinkle throughout the show. I was instantly hooked when I did begin watching. I quickly made my way through the first few seasons of the show and then started to watch the Texas episodes as well as catching the first few episodes of the New York spinoff. I was a huge fan of New York, and found Texas to have its own unique flair as well.
A few things struck me as I watched the latest installments. For one thing, the cast seems to be much more self-aware than they were in the early episodes. For example, Darrell actually mentions that he wants to buy a vault that appears like it may contain artwork, because he’s now known as the art guy. While it is true that he is speaking to his status within the ranks of the cast within the setting of the show, he is also clearly drawing on his public persona and the media surrounding his purchase of a unit full of original Frank Guttierez artwork that aired in December and was valued at a whopping $300,000.
The show also appeared to take a sly poke at Hester’s claims during the segment of the show where each cast member searches through their lockers to find items to take for appraisal. As is standard to the show’s format, they check in with each cast member during this process. Barry has won a vault with a desk inside and he proceeded to rifle through several drawers looking for something unique and potentially valuable, as Barry is well known for loving collectibles and vintage items, sometimes even refusing to sell items that he wins. Suddenly Barry seems excited and after finding nuts inside the middle drawer of the desk. He appears thrilled and proceeds to alert the audience to exactly what he has found. He claims that they are “Brazilian prophylacanuts” and that they are extremely rare and get their name from the contents inside. He then smashes one of the nuts to reveal a contraceptive device. I would be lying if I said I didn’t giggle out loud when I watched.
After a beat, Barry reveals that he brought the nuts himself to liven up the last locker of 100 that the two shows covered. While Barry has always been a cut up, this specific gag pertaining to finding something “rare” and strange inside a locker did seem like it could be A&E’s clever way of addressing the recent Hester lawsuit, by using lovable, prankster Barry to address the situation without actually addressing the situation; using sight gags and props and avoiding giving the news any further traction or allowing it to become part of the focus/conversation of the show.
Since the second season of the show, new bidders have been introduced and have popped up periodically to spice up the show and ruffle the feathers of the other bidders, including Nabila Haniss, the late Mark Balelo, and much maligned Jeff Jarrod. In the two episodes I watched, Mark was present, as well as someone who was new to me, Ivy and a team of auction hunters, Herb and Mike who I’d also never seen before. Like with all present and past cast members, each of these periphery characters have distinctive personalities that help them stand out and make for great reality television programming. Ivy was much more in the vein of Hester and Sheets, while Mike and Herb were like two glorious spotlight hogs, taken to chewing the scenery whenever possible, and reminding me of Chris and Tad in the New York version of the show.
Initially, I felt like the show had jumped the shark a bit by getting rid of Hester, especially when Mike and Herb got an appraisal on beauty crowns from a child who looked like she could have been on Toddlers and Tiaras and just ended up at the wrong taping. But then I recall all of Barry’s shenanigans through the years, and it doesn’t seem so outlandish for the tone of the show.
While the cast may be a bit more media savvy these days, and it is a bit more difficult to follow them as believable everyday joe blows, it is good to know that some things never change and that the show continues to entertain and follow the same tried and true format that has made it so popular. Previous to Barry’s gag at the end of the second episode, during the first episode he unearthed some pretty impressive vinagarettes from the 17th and 18th century. Every object has a story and a purpose and a history, which is what makes Storage Wars so cool and interesting. While the drama amongst the bidders tend to draw a lot of attention on the show, I for one, remain more excited about all the unique items that the show creates a platform for and am always amazed by just what people will put in storage.
I hadn’t had a chance to watch the show since the news of Dave Hester’s lawsuit broke last winter and he stopped filming. I was curious to see what the show would be like without Hester and his infamous, “Yuuup!”
As I’ve stated before on the blog, previous to this job I had never been a fan of the show, but immediately watched everything I could get my hands on to familiarize myself with the world of storage hunting and the cast and all their various bidding methods, and the tips and tricks they sprinkle throughout the show. I was instantly hooked when I did begin watching. I quickly made my way through the first few seasons of the show and then started to watch the Texas episodes as well as catching the first few episodes of the New York spinoff. I was a huge fan of New York, and found Texas to have its own unique flair as well.
A few things struck me as I watched the latest installments. For one thing, the cast seems to be much more self-aware than they were in the early episodes. For example, Darrell actually mentions that he wants to buy a vault that appears like it may contain artwork, because he’s now known as the art guy. While it is true that he is speaking to his status within the ranks of the cast within the setting of the show, he is also clearly drawing on his public persona and the media surrounding his purchase of a unit full of original Frank Guttierez artwork that aired in December and was valued at a whopping $300,000.
The show also appeared to take a sly poke at Hester’s claims during the segment of the show where each cast member searches through their lockers to find items to take for appraisal. As is standard to the show’s format, they check in with each cast member during this process. Barry has won a vault with a desk inside and he proceeded to rifle through several drawers looking for something unique and potentially valuable, as Barry is well known for loving collectibles and vintage items, sometimes even refusing to sell items that he wins. Suddenly Barry seems excited and after finding nuts inside the middle drawer of the desk. He appears thrilled and proceeds to alert the audience to exactly what he has found. He claims that they are “Brazilian prophylacanuts” and that they are extremely rare and get their name from the contents inside. He then smashes one of the nuts to reveal a contraceptive device. I would be lying if I said I didn’t giggle out loud when I watched.
After a beat, Barry reveals that he brought the nuts himself to liven up the last locker of 100 that the two shows covered. While Barry has always been a cut up, this specific gag pertaining to finding something “rare” and strange inside a locker did seem like it could be A&E’s clever way of addressing the recent Hester lawsuit, by using lovable, prankster Barry to address the situation without actually addressing the situation; using sight gags and props and avoiding giving the news any further traction or allowing it to become part of the focus/conversation of the show.
Since the second season of the show, new bidders have been introduced and have popped up periodically to spice up the show and ruffle the feathers of the other bidders, including Nabila Haniss, the late Mark Balelo, and much maligned Jeff Jarrod. In the two episodes I watched, Mark was present, as well as someone who was new to me, Ivy and a team of auction hunters, Herb and Mike who I’d also never seen before. Like with all present and past cast members, each of these periphery characters have distinctive personalities that help them stand out and make for great reality television programming. Ivy was much more in the vein of Hester and Sheets, while Mike and Herb were like two glorious spotlight hogs, taken to chewing the scenery whenever possible, and reminding me of Chris and Tad in the New York version of the show.
Initially, I felt like the show had jumped the shark a bit by getting rid of Hester, especially when Mike and Herb got an appraisal on beauty crowns from a child who looked like she could have been on Toddlers and Tiaras and just ended up at the wrong taping. But then I recall all of Barry’s shenanigans through the years, and it doesn’t seem so outlandish for the tone of the show.
While the cast may be a bit more media savvy these days, and it is a bit more difficult to follow them as believable everyday joe blows, it is good to know that some things never change and that the show continues to entertain and follow the same tried and true format that has made it so popular. Previous to Barry’s gag at the end of the second episode, during the first episode he unearthed some pretty impressive vinagarettes from the 17th and 18th century. Every object has a story and a purpose and a history, which is what makes Storage Wars so cool and interesting. While the drama amongst the bidders tend to draw a lot of attention on the show, I for one, remain more excited about all the unique items that the show creates a platform for and am always amazed by just what people will put in storage.
RSS Feed