Country of origin United States | Original language(s) English | |
Starring Sean KellyBrandon & Lori BernierJesse McClurePapa BearT-Money No. of seasons US Series3UK Series5 (Regular) 1 (Celebrity series) (upcoming) No. of episodes US Series73UK Series50 (Regular) (10 upcoming)1 (Celebrity Special) (5 Upcoming) Location(s) United States (2011–2013)United Kingdom (2014–present) | ||
Storage Hunters is a reality television series featuring a series of storage auctions, created by and starring Sean Kelly. It originally ran in the US from 2011 to 2013 on TruTV and has been particularly successful in the UK on the digital channel Dave. A domestic British version, also featuring Kelly, started broadcasting in 2014 and has continued into 2016 with a fifth series to air from April 2016. There also has been a UK celebrity special which aired in 2015 with all the money each celebrity made going to their chosen charity. The series has also been shown on New Zealand's TV3.
Contents
It was announced in October 2016 that Dave announced that a celebrity series would take place following the huge hit of the one off special earlier in the year with five 60-minute episodes. The format will be the same, but all the money they make goes to their chosen charity. It will be followed by a sixth series of the UK regular series in January 2017.
Format
For the US series, bidders Brandon and Lori Bernier, the Taylor Brothers, Jesse McClure, Tarrell "T-Money" Wright, Ron "Papa Bear" Kirkpatrick, Kashuna, Wade, FJ, Gary "Goal Machine" Madine, Scott and Chrissy Tassone, the Alvardo Brothers, "Desert Dan," Mone Smith, Will and Nick Eastwood, Soccer Mom and the lock cutters/security guards, Will C. (Season 1), Cameron "Green Mile" Rowe (Season 2-Season 3). The series was cancelled on TruTV after Season 3 ended.
In the UK and Ireland the show has been broadcast and repeated on the digital channel Dave. In 2014, Dave commissioned a spin-off series called Storage Hunters UK, featuring Kelly reprising his role as auctioneer with a series of British bidders hunting for valuables across the UK. Dave renewed the UK version for two more series in 2015, with the second series beginning on 2 June and featuring US regulars Jesse and T-Money. Series 3 of the show premiered on 15 September 2015.
A fifth series was commissioned to air from April 2016, Kelly will return alongside regular bidders from series 4. A sixth series has been commissioned and will air in 2017 with filming taking placed during autumn 2016.
Reception
The show has been well received in Britain, with the first episode of Storage Hunters UK being watched by over 1.1 million viewers, beating ratings for several prime time television shows broadcast that week.
The Guardian's Rhik Samadder described Kelly's auctioneering style "like someone has attached electrodes to a woodpecker". Tom Eames writing in Digital Spy described it as "one of the least authentic and most fake shows you will ever see, and comes under the umbrella of 'trashy reality' programmes that the US are very good at", but adding that "somehow, it is strangely addictive and enjoyable, and has clearly become a big guilty pleasure of many UK viewers."
The success of the show has been attributed to the participants' lack of social skills, comparing it to "watching a carnival". In an interview for Digital Spy, he speculated that the strong popularity of the show in the UK may lead to a revival of the US series.