And she and David McKillop, senior vice president of development and programming, at the popular television station believe they have a winner in American Pickers, making its debut at 9 p.m. (est) Monday, Jan. 18.

The show centers on Mike Wolfe and Frank Fritz, a pair of affable pickers who travel the back roads of Americana, picking through old barns, chicken houses, store fronts and, even people’s back yards and gardens. Using tiny Le Claire, Iowa, (a stone’s throw from the mighty Mississippi), as a home base, the pair travel throughout the United States in search of the old and the weird. Or as Wolfe succinctly put it in an April AntiqueWeek story, they’re “kind of like Indiana Jones meets Sanford and Son.”

And that, in great part, is what caught the interest of History Channel “pickers” Werbe and McKillop.

The pair had seen a professionally done “taster tape,” 10 or 15 minutes of Wolfe and Fritz digging through a barn in upper state New York. They won’t say how many taster tapes they look through each month (“that’s a trade secret,” McKillop says) but after consideration (“which is a very, very vigorous process,” Werbe adds), they thought Wolfe and Fritz had the potential to be a prime time History Channel hit.

“We always look at the strength of character,” McKillop says. “And they have that, there’s a natural camaraderie (they’ve been friends since the eighth grade). They’re two dynamic characters who are very committed, very enthusiastic, about what they’re doing. On top of that, they’re deeply rooted in history. They’re going back to original history – the original sources of their finds.”

The chemistry between the two is undeniable. Wolfe, with sharp almost chiseled features, speaks in a machine-gun staccato voice, often reaching levels of intense decibels as his excitement increases. In contract, Fritz, with softer more rounded features, is often the calm voice of reason. The filming crew has already dubbed Fritz “the bearded charmer”

And, the History Channel crew has been amazed at the pair’s picking proficiency.

“The crew can’t believe the places we’ve gotten into,” Fritz says. “They’re looking around, ’asking there’s still places like this that exist?’ They can’t believe that’s there’s still the 88-year-old guy on a back country road that has a barn full of stuff he – or his family – have never thrown away.”

And, it’s all on the back roads of America where, as Wolfe says, “we lose ourselves into the landscape.”

While losing themselves into America, the American Pickers offer a dose of reality that many of the other antique shows have lacked in recent years. They’re using their own money to bankroll their expeditions, they’re tallying the buys and sales, and essentially their making the expedition work on knowledge (and sometimes, sheer instinct).

After 20 years of picking, the pair has a cadre of interior designers, art directors, photographers, collectors and antique dealers to sell to. And, more often than not, they’ll sell a piece a few miles down the road to keep gas in the van, eat or buy more antiques.

“This is real stuff, not fantasy,” Wolfe says. “I mean, the Antique Roadshow, or Cash in the Attic, they’re great shows and all – but let’s get real – we’re finding real stuff out here. We’re not going to find a Faberge egg or a 16th century cuckoo clock worth hundreds of thousands of dollars … and you’re going to know what we have actually sold the stuff for … we may pick up something for $75, sell it down the road for $150 … or maybe $125 – it’s reality picking, there’s going to be some meat left on the bone for the next seller.

“I mean, we’re two regular dudes from Iowa just trying to make a living. If we make a bad deal, we don’t eat for a day or two … I think that’s what the viewers will see. I think it will appeal to a younger crowd. They’ll see that this stuff just doesn’t one day appear in the Moon Tree Antique Store.”

So far, there are nearly eight episodes “in the can” (as they say in the entertainment business), of the 10-part series. Whether the series will continue beyond the original 10 parts depends upon the interest generated in the show, according to the History Channel “pickers” Werbe and McKillop.

Much akin to the American Pickers, they understand that sometimes they walk away from the excursion with a profitable find; sometimes not. But, in the end, antiques always tell a story about man, his desires, his foibles and even his achievements.

Contact: (212) 210-9760

www.history.com

Eric C. Rodenberg