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‘Pawn Stars’ One Of The Top Trending Reality Shows Of 2016 #YearInSearch

By Georgia Makitalo
Published on: 01:07 PST, Dec 25, 2016

According to their website, Pawn Stars has been one of the most searched shows on Google in 2016. The stars of Pawn Stars include Rick Harrison, the owner of the World Famous Gold and Silver Pawn Shop, his father Richard “Old Man” Harrison, Rick’s son Corey and Corey’s childhood friend Chumlee make up the quartet that buy unusual historical treasures on their show. What could possibly be some of the top stories that made this popular History Channel show so highly searched?

Perhaps the most shocking news to come from Pawn Stars in 2016 was Chumlee’s arrest. Back on March 9, the police found about a dozen weapons, many that were not registered to Austin Lee Russell, Chumlee’s real name, a stash of drugs and drug paraphernalia that were described as “characteristic of a drug dealer.” The police originally had an arrest warrant on suspicions of a sexual assault and found all of the weapons and drugs during this search.

All during this time, the Harrison family stuck by Chumlee. Rick Harrison had emailed the local press to let them know that they were there for Chumlee and stated “we are here to help.” The patriarch of the Pawn Stars family, Corey’s father, was there for Chumlee from the beginning of this ordeal. Corey himself posted a message on his Instagram that told fans not to believe everything you read.

Chumlee was under a great deal of scrutiny. He even had to delete his original Instagram page because too many people left “RIP Chumlee” comments. During this time, Chumlee stayed quiet. There was a lot of questions on whether he would remain on Pawn Stars. There was no formal announcement on his status by Rick Harrison nor the History Channel.

In May, there was a plea deal struck and Chumlee was free with three years of probation. No charges were made regarding the initial sexual assault claims. Since that time, Chumlee has admitted that he has stuck closer to his family. When he is not hanging with his dogs or his family, he is spending a lot of time promoting charitable causes. Later in the summer, Chumlee did a big interview discussing these charities and working in the shop. Chumlee is obviously grateful for his job and the support of the Harrisons and the love and support of his many fans.

https://youtu.be/Cm8steiiEyo

Another possible reason that Pawn Stars was searched on Google so often was because of politics. Rick Harrison, patriarch and owner of the Wold Famous Gold and Silver Pawn Shop, has taken some time away from his pawn shop to stump for Trump. Although Inquisitr reported Harrison had publicly spoken that he lost business the previous year after he stumped for Republican Florida Senator Marco Rubio, he did go all out and stump for Donald Trump. Harrison gave an old famous quote by former New York Mayer Ed Koch as to why he chose to vote for the President-elect despite previously stating that he did not feel that Trump related to normal guys like him.

“It’s like what Ed Koch said when he was mayor of New York. ‘If you agree with me on nine out of 12 issues, vote for me. If you agree with me on 12 out of 12 issues, have your head examined.'”

Stumping for Trump has paid off. Rick Harrison is headed to the Trump inauguration in January.

Lifelong best friends Chumlee and Corey have lost close to 300 pounds and have shared their weight loss tips with fans seeking to lose weight. Both have lost weight, but in different ways. Corey chose to have the lap band surgery. What made Corey go in this direction is that he had gone to his doctor who told him that he needed to take diabetes medication. Corey drove straight to make an appointment and had the surgery. Chumlee went on a more Paleo Diet to lose weight. As many dieters know, keeping weight off is tough and Chumlee has put back a few of these pounds. He is working on losing that weight again and we are bound to see a svelter Chumlee in 2017.

Recently, there was an announcement of a Pawn Stars tour that included visiting the World Famous Gold and Silver Pawn Shop where the show is filmed, as well as the sites of other Las Vegas businesses such as the History Channel’s Counting Cars, Restoration Garage and the Animal Planet show Tanked. Although those on the tour are promised to avoid lines and an exclusive tour backstage at each of these venues, there are no guarantees that fans will meet any of the reality stars. Yet, the opportunity to get to see how these businesses operate is incredible.

Another possible reason that Pawn Stars has been trending on Google in 2016 is that the shop sold the Wayne’s World car for a record amount of money at the Barrett-Jackson Las Vegas auction. In a previous episode of Pawn Stars, Rick was visiting in Florida and was able to personally see the robin’s egg blue, 1976 AMC Pacer, complete with flames up for sale. The car has been restored, but there is no information on the restoration nor who completed the restoration. Fans are wondering if this restoration will be on a future episode of Pawn Stars, or if it was restored at Count’s Kustoms and would be shown on Counting Cars. This story is sure to be continued in 2017.

Earlier in the year, Jerry Beverland, a Lincoln collector and his wife Wanda, revealed what everyone wants to know: what it is really like to be on Pawn Stars? Beverland had initially written to the show describing his two Lincoln artifacts, along with accompanying documents and the show’s producer replied and invited him to be on the show.

“We look for an item that is not something you see every day, and (the Beverlands) had fantastic items. So if someone has a chair that could have belonged to Lincoln, that is definitely of interest to us, but the better you can provide paper work that links the sale or links back to the original (owner), in this case Abraham Lincoln, then that’s even more fantastic.”

In discussing his experience, Beverland answered the age-old question, is Pawn Stars real? He revealed that they use a small back area for filming the show.

“When we first got there, I was surprised by the size of the pawn shop. It looked so small. I thought, ‘You got to be kidding me,’ but we learned that there were two rooms. One is for customers and one is for filming.

Although Beverland did not reveal whether they met Chumlee, he enjoyed his interaction with “the beard of knowledge,” Mark Hall-Patton, although he did not agree with what the expert said about his treasured artifacts. His story of being on Pawn Stars really explained how the show is real, but with a few small alterations to accommodate filming.

Ever since his arrest, fans have wondered if Chumlee will return to Pawn Stars. He was confirmed to be returning and the next season of Pawns Stars should include a lot of solo Chum. The big surprise is that Richard Harrison, better known as the “old man” will not be returning to Pawn Stars in full capacity. Instead, he will be shown in small cameos. There was no further explanation as to why his presence on the show will be more limited and Chumlee will take on a larger role. Again, more to look forward to in 2017.

Lastly, there was a lot of public hoopla over Pawn Plaza, Rick Harrison’s one-year old business complex adjacent to the World Famous Gold and Silver Pawn Shop where Pawn Stars is filmed. Several of the businesses renting from Harrison have since closed and accused Harrison of being a bad landlord. Harrison set the record straight and denied any of these accusations.

“I am the landlord and I really tried to help promote them. In the end, you have to do your own marketing, When times are good, you advertise; when times are bad, you must advertise.”

Did you look up Pawn Stars in 2016 and why? Was it one of the reasons listed here or did you have another unique reason to investigate this reality series?

[Featured Image by Ethan Miller/Getty Images]

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