Before I talk about how strangely fascinating Storage Wars was in its first season, let me preface this by saying: Storage Wars should be unwatchable. The A&E program follows an amateur, a dolt and his more attractive, more competent wife, an older dude with street smarts and his son, and a douche bag who is great at his job as they trek through unpaid storage units hoping for the ultimate booty. At the end of the day, they are looking for a “wow factor,” but sometimes they bust and sometimes they make thousands of dollars.
It isn’t thrilling. What is compelling about Storage Wars are the over-the-top attitudes and cutthroat antics the A&E stars display as they attempt to gain what is often junk. The program is silly and it’s weird, but it’s pretty popular, and is apparently becoming even more so. On Wednesday evening, the Season 2 premiere of Storage Wars reached 5.1 million viewers. According to Deadline, the 10 p.m. premiere was the most watched program on A&E, ever. Episode 2, which followed at 10:30, also did strongly, bringing in 4.5 million total viewers.
The most gripping episodes during Season 1 were filmed on location, so if Storage Wars continues to grow in viewership, it could be motivation to spin-off Storage Wars on the road. Until then, A&E will continue to air back-to back-episodes of the show on Wednesdays at 10 and 10:30 p.m., so there will be plenty of opportunity to catch episodes on cable. Alternatively, Season 1 is available for preorder on Amazon. Just don’t admit Jarrod’s your favorite character. Those are fighting words.
