‘Pawn Stars’ is on hiatus

“Pawn Stars,” as we have known it for the past 16 years, is on indefinite pause.

Series star Rick Harrison said the show is no longer under contract with the History Channel, where it has been an international phenomenon since its premiere on July 19, 2009.

“However, we’re waiting to see when we might resume filming or what will come next on the horizon,” he said. “Here’s to ‘Pawn Stars 2.0.”’

The shooting schedule is officially on hiatus, with no plans to resume. The current season ends in April.

Whatever the “Pawn Stars 2.0” project turns out to be, it almost certainly will proceed without Corey Harrison, Rick Harrison’s son who has appeared as “Big Hoss” on the show since its inception.

Corey Harrison said he is mapping a future that doesn’t include returning to the show. He moved to Tulum, Mexico, about three months after “Pawn Stars” finished filming in June. He says he not in any contract renewal talks.

“At this stage of the game, we’re all playing a character on ‘Pawn Stars,”’ he said. “I can’t play another season of 41-year-old me pretending to be 23.”

Harrison has found solace in Tulum, a popular vacation on the Caribbean coastline of Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula. The destination spot is famous for its beaches and well-preserved ruins of an ancient Mayan city.

“I’ve gotten to be friends with the mayor of Tulum, Diego,” Harrison said, referring to Mayor Diego Castañón Trejo. “The police come by once or twice a day to check on things, get photos with me. I never thought I’d be hanging out with cops and politicians in Mexico. I figured my life would always go a different way.”

Harrison also is developing a “barbecue joint,” called Big Hoss’ Smokin’ Joint (read into the reference what you will).

As Harrison left Las Vegas, his father and Austin “Chumlee” Russell launched the offshoot “Pawn After Dark” podcast. The show premiered in January and has no formal affiliation with the “Pawn Stars” series. The younger Harrison has no involvement.

“They told me what they are doing, and I said, ‘All right, cool. I’ll pack it up. I’m moving to Mexico. You guys have a fun time out here and do what you want to do,”’ Harrison said.

“Pawn Stars” has filmed about 700 episodes. The series has been broadcast in 150 countries and dubbed in 38 languages. The show originally co-starred the late Richard “Old Man” Harrison, Rick’s father, a gruff-but-endearing Navy veteran who was the show’s craggy voice of reason.

It expanded to the offshoot road series “Pawn Stars Do America” in 2022. The franchise also has generated spinoffs, “American Restoration” and “Counting Cars.”

The show’s timeless format is forever captured in what Harrison calls “the bubble” of Gold & Silver Pawn.

“At some point, you’ve got to prepare for the end. I’d be stupid not to be prepared,” Harrison said. “I’ve loved filming the show, being on the show, but the past few years have been rough. I’m ready to move on.”