Own the rights?
It's pretty obvious that the producers of this show wanted to cash in on the success of 'American Chopper' by giving us a similar show for the car/hot rod fan. What they failed to give us, however, are the things that make 'American Chopper' so watchable, e.g. the likable, highly entertaining 'characters' who work in the shop, their obvious love of what they do, the beautiful things they create and the (apparently) genuine personal and professional dramas that happen along the way. As a result, American Hot Rod is nothing but a soulless shadow of the far superior 'American Chopper', and positively painful to watch. There is NOBODY on this show who is in any way likable or entertaining (Boyd, for example, hangs over the series like a soul-sucking, humorless black cloud), no-one seems to enjoy what they do (their every day on the job is a miserable slog), the things they create take WAY too long (in terms of screen time) and are at best ordinary and unimaginative and at worst horrible to look at (the 'Alumatub'? What the heck was that? The drawing was sleek and beautiful, the finished product was an ugly, stunted lump! What happened!?) and the obviously manufactured 'dramas' are just embarrassing.Shows like 'American Chopper' and 'Overhaulin' are fun to watch, because they feature true artists (with soul, character and real passion) who obviously love doing what they do no matter what the deadline. Boyd 'Mr Misery' Cottington and 'American Hot Rod' both need a huge injection of personality to even get in the same ball park. Unfortunately, with this crew, that's never going to happen. So until this show moves to another shop, stick with the Tuttles or Chip (the man) Foose...
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