Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Swap Shop’ On Netflix, Where A Tennessee Radio Show Spurs People To Find Hidden Gems

“World Famous Swap Shop” has been a staple on Rogersville, TN radio station WRGS since 1954. The idea is simple: People call in and talk about items they’re looking to sell and/or swap. It’s up to the listeners to go to the seller and negotiate a deal. That’s the basis for the reality series Swap Shop. On the show, nine different pairs of bargain hunters will act on listings they hear on the radio show. They go to where the seller is, negotiate the price, and if they come away with the item(s) they want, we may end up seeing them restore and sell them to one of their customers.

SWAP SHOP: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: Scenes of people fishing. “Everyone’s kinda laid back here in East Tennessee,” says a voice.

The Gist: In the first episode, Tori, who owns West Main Antiques in Johnson City, and her store manager Larry hear about a sale of all the contents a farmer has stored in his barn over the years. But on their way to that, they find a yard sale that has a bunch of interesting finds, like bar stools that need some restoration. At first Larry thinks Tori is wasting time that will let other sellers get to the barn, but when she finds a religious statue — one of Larry’s specialties — he gets interested. The homeowner lets them have at it in her attic, where they find an Our Sister of Guadalupe statue, which Larry has been looking for for 3 years.

Jason and Bob are an interesting team: Jason owns an auction shop that sells fine furniture and curios, while Bob owns “The BobMart,” which essentially sells whatever he can pick up. They hear about a grain scale for sale, and Jason is convinced he can get it for $500, not the $1500 the seller wants. He tells Bob about negotiating steps like “the flinch,” and bets him that $500 to buy whatever he likes if he can’t get the scale for that much.

Dale and Scott own Kyker’s Extreme Automotive, and they hear about a 1968 Mustang for sale; Dale wants to get it and restore it for one of their friendlier — but budget challenged — customers. When they get to the collector who owns it, they find that it’s mainly a body and some wheels; no drivetrain, and seats that look like they’ve been eaten by rodents. Dale agrees to take it for $5000, over Scott’s objections.

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? The show is a bit of a cross between Pawn Stars, Storage Wars, and American Pickers. There’s a randomness that we’re supposed to buy into with Swap Shop, but we’ve “seen too much” to make that leap with the show.

Our Take: Why do we say we’ve “seen too much” when it comes to Swap Shop? It’s because we know that the finds these pairs of bargain hunters look for aren’t spontaneous at all. In fact, it feels so set up that giving the pretense of the radio show is almost superfluous. But that doesn’t mean we didn’t enjoy the show.

It comes down to the personalities, and all of the pairs we saw in the first episode had a laid-back chemistry with each other, giving each other the business and also working together to make sure the items they find can really be turned for a profit. The items that they look at are also interesting, albeit the segments are somewhat light on descriptions and why they’re so valuable.

But let’s be real here: If the radio show wasn’t a part of this, the show could still exist just fine. For all the praise the radio show gets in the first few minutes of the first episode, it’s just there as a delivery system for these set-up situations. We don’t even see the show’s host, or get any identifying information about the show, other than the fact that it’s on six days a week at 9:30 AM. It’s not even all that far off to speculate that the “radio show” we’re hearing not only isn’t an actual over-the-air broadcast but doesn’t even sound like the real World Famous Swap Shop.

That’s the most disappointing part; the show has been on the air for 67 years. You’d think just the show’s endurance alone would be a good topic for a reality series, showing the program’s hosts and regular callers, and then talking to people who do the buys and swaps. But, for the most part, the radio show this whole thing is based on is given short shrift in favor of the pairs of buyers it features.

Sex and Skin: None, unless you like seeing a man with a long beard get orgasmic over religious statuary.

Parting Shot: In Netflix’s continuing effort to keep people watching between episodes, we see Larry and Tori look at each other and say that they think they’re going to be on the next episode.

Sleeper Star: Seriously, how does anyone not want to get in their car right now and visit The BobMart in Rocky Top, TN?

Most Pilot-y Line: The way the show calculates profit is pretty simplistic. The bar stools Tori gets, for instance, may sell for $300 after she buys them for $30, but the time, labor and materials needed to restore them will eat into those profits. But the show would rather just do a simplistic calculation.

Our Call: STREAM IT. Despite our misgivings about the format, the pairs of buyers on Swap Shop are funny and full of personality. We just wish the radio show itself was utilized as more than just background noise.

Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.

Stream Swap Shop On Netflix