More ‘Pawn Stars’ drama as the show approaches its reboot

Rick Harrison is set up in a meeting room in the back of Gold and Silver Pawn. This is the kind of unattended office with circular soda stains on the conference table and swiveling chairs facing any direction.

Harrison, who had emergency heart surgery in September, has ducked away for a break from an afternoon meet-and-greet with “Pawn Stars” fans. The series is rebooting this week on History.

Asked how he is, the 61-year-old reality star and pawn icon says, “I’m OK, but I get tired really easily.” He then offers that his wife, Angie, has suffered a serious health scare this year.

“Angie had brain surgery in March,” Harrison says. A whole-body MRI scan found the concern. “They found a tumor the size of a golf ball. She had zero symptoms. She had surgery at UCLA Medical Center and is doing great.”

The growth was non-cancerous and not life-threatening. Angie proved as much by popping into the chat and saying hello, and reminding Harrison there was a line of fans waiting for photos.

Harrison’s surgery was a more urgent matter. He had an appointment for a stent procedure when doctors informed him that approach was not an option. “They said, ‘We have to have open-heart surgery. The next morning, they cut my chest open,” Harrison says.

”So I had three arteries that were 100% blocked, and one that was 90% blocked. I mean, I just had a week or two left.”

Life is somewhat back to routine at the “Pawn Stars” empire. The series resumes at 8 p.m. Wednesday with an episode titled “The Flight Stuff.” Harrison negotiates a window from a Boeing 747-400. Series co-founder Austin Lee Russell, “Chumlee,” reviews a World War II scooter in the reboot.

Harrison and Russell are co-starring in the series after his son, Corey Harrison, moved to Mexico in June 2024. Corey Harrison hosts his self-named podcast on his Instagram. That project is on pause after Harrison’s stepmother and Rick Harrison’s ex-wife, Tracy Harrison, died Sept. 16 in Las Vegas at age 61 after suffering from brain cancer.

Corey Harrison said the show will be back soon: “And when we return, we’ll be stronger than ever.”

The younger Harrison has consistently stated that he has no plans to return to the series. But Dad seems to know better.

Asked if Corey would be back on the show, Harrison said, “Yeah. I mean, he wants to take a couple of years off. I talk to him all the time. He wakes up in the morning, goes down the beach; he can live in Mexico for next to nothing. But I think he’s going to get bored eventually.”

The shop door is always open.

“Whenever he wants to come back, he can come back.”

The new “Pawn Stars” marks the first time the show is not represented by multiple generations of Harrisons. Richard “Old Man” Harrison, also in the original cast, died in June 2018 at age 77. The show premiered in July 2009 and has aired 662 episodes over 25 seasons.

“It’s a smaller season; we did like 12 episodes,” Harrison says. “We did 12 episodes, but it was really good. We got some really cool stuff. No road shows. We’ve been busy with so much stuff here.”

Rick is setting up for his next keg-tapping event at Hofbrauhaus Las Vegas on Saturday afternoon. This is a rite of the fall, and “Pawn Stars” is typically represented.

Harrison then hosts his 12th annual Pawn Stars Poker Run at Gold and Silver Pawn on Oct. 24. The event supports families affected by epilepsy (go to hundleyfoundation.org/events for registration and participation info). Harrison was diagnosed with the neurological disorder as a child.

Harrison and Russell also launched the “Pawn After Dark” podcast from Harrison’s home base of Gold and Silver Pawn. The show has posted 23 episodes, with guests such as headlining DJ Steve Aoki, UFC legend Chuck Liddell, and D Las Vegas, Golden Gate and Circa co-owner Derek Stevens.

The most recent “Pawn After Dark” episode, with tech entrepreneur and crypto expert Jeff “Jihoz” Zurlin, dropped on YouTube in November.

“We’re going to start that back up. We took the summer off, and then this happened,” Harrison said, pointing to the open-heart surgery scar in his chest. “We’ll probably start that back up the first of the year.”

Meanwhile, Harrison is working with his producer, Tracy Whittaker, CEO of Rick Harrison Productions, on streaming content with History and also the “Pawn Stars” YouTube channel.

Harrison also plans to return to his side gig in a few weeks as a celeb Friday night bartender at Rick’s Rollin’ Smoke at Pawn Plaza next to Gold and Silver Pawn.

The fans milling around Gold and Silver Pawn make it clear there is always some tug at Harrison’s time.

“It’s the pawn shop,” Harrison says. “It’s the gift that keeps on giving.”

John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on X, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.