Pawn Stars Season 20: Release Date, Cast, And New Details
Since 2009, the History Channel's "Pawn Stars" has showcased a hunt for hidden treasures in the form of historical items and antiques at Rick Harrison's Gold & Silver Pawn Shop in Las Vegas. For the past 19 seasons, three generations of the Harrison family, including grandfather Richard Harrison (who passed away in 2018), son Rick Harrison, and grandson Cory Harrison, have used their sharp skills to uncover historic treasures like "a 16th-century samurai sword, a Super Bowl ring, a Picasso painting, and a 17th-century stay of execution," per History Channel.
As Rick explained to NPR, pawn shops are one of the oldest forms of banking, having been around for thousands of years. A customer will bring in a personal item as collateral in order to receive a loan from a pawnbroker. Then, the pawnbroker will sell the item if the customer doesn't pay back that loan with interest in the agreed-upon amount of time. Though the show mostly showcases the side of the Harrison family's business in which they sell and purchase items from wealthier folks, Rick said that he has lost thousands of dollars to people who attempt to sell stolen items. "It's the cost of doing business," Rick told NPR. "That's the way I look at it ... And Las Vegas is a crazy town at times. There's a lot of high-end things I get. So you have to know about ... really large diamonds, really expensive watches ... So it's a lot different than most places."
When will the 20th season of Pawn Stars premiere?
At this point, the History Channel has yet to announce when the 20th season of "Pawn Stars" will premiere on the network. This is perhaps largely due to the fact that the 19th season of the show is still premiering on the History Channel. In December 2021, The Blast reported that Chumlee of "Pawn Stars" was spotted filming an episode of the show with legendary DJ Steve Aoki at the equally-legendary Circa Resort and Casino in Las Vegas. Does this mean that a brand new season of "Pawn Stars" is currently in the works? The answer to this question is still unclear.
For those unfamiliar with the origin story of the pawn shop featured in the show, Gold & Silver Pawn Shop, it was founded in 1989 by Rick Harrison and his father, Richard Benjamin Harrison (also referred to by his lovable nickname, "The Old Man.") When it first opened, Richard Benjamin, a former United States Navy veteran, used his interest in automobiles to his advantage by mostly selling and purchasing rare and exotic automobiles upon opening the pawn shop, according to Distractify. Unlike other businesses struggling to stay afloat during the coronavirus pandemic, the Gold & Silver Pawn Shop still maintained a steady business. "I think the pawning aspect of it is still doing really, really good because people need money right now," "Pawn Shop" star Austin Lee Russell, or "Chumlee," told Looper.
Who will appear in the 20th season of the show?
Though the original owner of the shop, Richard Benjamin Harrison, died back in 2018, several other cast members have become fan favorites since his death. In the past few years, Austin Lee Russell (better known by his nickname, "Chumlee") has become a fan favorite. Given his popularity, many have wondered if Chumlee will head his very own spinoff show in the future. "I've been on the producing side, I thought I had a show that sold that didn't work out," Chumlee told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. "People like the show as it is. I don't know where a spin-off of me would fit in on History. I don't think they want me to go anywhere. Plus, who wants to do all that work?"
Rick Harrison, the son of Richard Benjamin Harrison, is also still doing deals in current seasons of the show, despite making headlines in 2020 for being involved in a lawsuit concerning stolen melted gold, per Showbiz CheatSheet. Other cast members of "Pawn Stars" include Corey Harrison, the grandson of Richard Benjamin Harrison.
"Honestly, when I look back 13 years ago, when this all started, I though we'd be done by now," Chumlee told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. "I thought, if anything, I would be off doing some dumb show of my own. But we're still making 'Pawn Stars,' and I'm loving it. Every year is better than the year before."
A recent sports reference sparked a bit of hilarity on Twitter
In a recent episode of the 19th season of "Pawn Stars," cast member Corey Harrison was negotiating the sale of a signed Christian Pulisic jersey. According to Sports Illustrated, Pulisic is a professional soccer player for the American Premier League club, Chelsea. In a now fairly infamous clip from the show, Harrison referred to Pulisic as the "Lebron James of soccer" — despite the fact that the soccer player is not even considered to be one of the top players in the country (at least at this point in his career).
In a Twitter post that appeared to be poking fun at Harrison's misstep, the Chelsea soccer club wrote "THE LEBRON JAMES OF SOCCER" after Pulisic made a game-winning goal in the soccer club's game against Liverpool. Many seemed to miss the "Pawn Stars" reference and responded with quite a bit of venom in the comments section of the post. "Two days into 2022 and we have the most embarrassing tweet of the year already," one user responded. "What?? Do you watch any soccer? LeBron is one of the best ever in his sport. Pulisic wouldn't make the EPL all star team (if there was one) or the starting XI on a healthy Chelsea team," another Twitter user quipped.