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‘American Pickers’ Actually Had a Canadian Version of the Show, Here’s Why It Got Canceled

American Pickers is huge here in the states. Thousands of people tune in every week to see Mike Wolfe and whoever happens to be with him hunt for rusty gold. Until the last episodes of season 21, Wolfe traveled the country with Frank Fritz. They found, discussed, and purchased countless artifacts of American history. The show’s popularity has lasted for over a decade. That popularity is the result of a combination of a stellar concept and spot-on execution.

American Pickers inspired many people to get out there and hunt for forgotten relics. However, a few took things a step further. For instance, Sheldon Smithens and Scott Cozens came together to start Canadian Pickers which was also called Cash Cowboys.

After all, America isn’t the only country that holds relics of the past. As a result, these Canadian cowboys decided to try to recreate American Pickers’ success. However, the Canadian show couldn’t match the momentum of the American originators.

Just because Canadian Pickers didn’t match its American counterpart in popularity doesn’t mean it was an outright failure. In fact, the show ran for about two and a half years. During that time, they aired four seasons with a total of 39 episodes, according to IMDb.

Why Did American Pickers’ Canadian Counterpart Get Canceled?

According to Looper, Shaw Media, the show’s production company, didn’t say exactly why Canadian Pickers came to an end. However, one can assume that they weren’t able to compete with American Pickers. After all, Mike Wolfe and his team created a whole new genre of television. As a result, they own that niche. Anyone who wants to step into that lane needs to have something truly special.

Additionally, Canadian Pickers didn’t get the same widespread exposure as its American counterpart. When the show was still active, it aired on DTour TV as well as Historia. The latter is the Canadian French-language counterpart to The History Channel. The show aired on the main History Channel and the National Geographic Channel after it was canceled. Currently, the show doesn’t seem to be airing anywhere nor is it on any American streaming platforms.

As far as international takes on the American Pickers formula go, Canadian Pickers didn’t do too bad. In fact, they did better than Aussie Pickers, the Australian version of the show. Aussie Pickers ran for two seasons in a little under two years. It premiered in May of 2013 and the final episode aired in September of 2014, according to IMDb. The series produced a grand total of sixteen episodes.

American Pickers, however, is still going strong after more than a decade. It has retained its popularity despite some serious behind-the-scenes problems that led to Frank Fritz’s departure from the show.