‘Pawnography’ gets it while the gettin’s good

A 1935 Bally Prospector pinball machine. A 1950s-era Soviet high-altitude flight suit. World War I pilot Quentin Roosevelt’s dog tags and the flag from the side of his biplane.

They’re all part of what has to be the most eclectic pool of game-show prizes since the early days of “Wheel of Fortune,” when viewers routinely heard the phrase, “For $154, I’ll take the ceramic Dalmatian.”

“Pawnography” (10 p.m. Thursday, History) finds Rick Harrison, Corey Harrison and Austin “Chumlee” Russell of “Pawn Stars” fame competing against viewers in a three-round trivia competition.

“We were throwing so much stuff against the wall for a couple of years,” Rick Harrison says of the show’s origins. “Originally, they just wanted me to be in it, and I just thought it would just be so much funnier and so much fun with Corey and Chum in it.”

In the first round, two contestants take on the team of Corey and Chumlee, answering questions worth $100 each. In round two, they compete against Harrison with $200 questions. The contestant with the most money then challenges all three in a 10-question lightning round.

The only thing missing is Richard Harrison, aka The Old Man. Harrison says when his father was asked to participate, he uttered his standard response to any mention of more work: “I’m 73 years old. I already got a job. I don’t want another one.”

The questions, posed by host Christopher Titus, range from the easy — Edward Teach is another name for what notorious pirate? A) Bluebeard B) Blackbeard C) Redbeard D) Jamesbeard — to the juvenile — look for double entendres such as the one about “motorboating in Lake Titicaca” — to ones where actual book learnin’ would come in handy.

And, in keeping with the show’s cable home, Harrison is quick to jump in with additional historical detail about the questions and the prizes, all of which come from Gold &Silver Pawn, 713 Las Vegas Blvd. South.

Harrison says “Pawnography’s” producers worked with Gold &Silver’s CFO, Theo Spyer, to select prizes from Harrison’s warehouses.

“He gets paid on how much the company makes at the end of the year,” Harrison explains. “Basically, his thing is, ‘Rick hasn’t seen this in two years, probably doesn’t know it exists, I’m selling it.’ ”

That’s why the surprise on Harrison’s face during the reveal of each prize, one of which he describes as “one of my favorite things in the world,” is very real. As is the risk that a contestant will walk off with some of those treasures. That risk is mitigated, though, by the production company, which reimburses Harrison for them — albeit at a discount.

“That’s sort of the incentive on the whole thing,” he says. “I’m getting rid of stuff for a lot less than I should.”

Those prizes, in addition to the accumulated cash, can only be claimed if the player wins or ties the lightning round. In a nod to “Pawn Stars,” before the results of that round are revealed, Harrison will try to negotiate a deal for the contestant to give up his potential winnings and walk away. And, because players must pay taxes on those earnings, Harrison is even willing to repurchase a prize.

“One person really wanted me to buy something back, and I did. I had no problem doing that,” he says. “If you’re on the show, I want you to walk away with a positive experience.”

“Pawnography’s” first 10-episode season was filmed at Las Vegas Production Studios, 4290 Las Vegas Studio Court, so many of those contestants are Las Vegans. Harrison says if additional seasons are ordered, the venue may change, but the production won’t leave the valley.

“Oh, I’m definitely keeping it in Vegas. The fact of the matter is, if they try and film it in California, they’ll have to pay me more. A lot more.”

For starters, he doesn’t want to pay California taxes. Then there’s his sense of hometown pride, as well as the convenience. “It’s a lot easier to roll out of bed in the morning and drive down the street,” he admits.

And with a workload like Harrison’s, you take easy wherever you find it.

He still spends 40 weeks a year filming “Pawn Stars,” which debuted five years ago this month and remains among the biggest hits on cable.

“There’s always a show that pops up that does better than me for the week,” he says, mentioning “Jersey Shore” and “Duck Dynasty.” “But usually they end up going away, and I keep on staying up.”

The series is so popular, a British spinoff debuted last August and similar versions are in production in Australia and South Africa with even more on the way.

Business is still booming at his day job, Gold &Silver. “Somehow or the other, we’re still able to get four (thousand) to 5,000 people a day in my pawnshop,” he notes.

And he’s putting together a Container Park-style mix of restaurants and retail across the parking lot from Gold &Silver that he hopes to open in November.

“Pawnography” shouldn’t prove too disruptive to his ever-growing schedule. Unlike “Pawn Stars,” game shows move pretty fast, and the crew can knock out four or five episodes in an afternoon. But the new series, like many of his other ventures, can be traced to the same general theme: “Get it while the gettin’s good.”

“I’m a realist,” Harrison says, “and I realize a few years from now, people will be sitting around saying, ‘What was the name of that show? It was about four fat guys in a pawnshop?’ ”

Contact Christopher Lawrence at clawrence@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4567.