Detroit pawnbroker gets reality series

Now more than ever, Americans are turning to the unlikeliest of places to get rich quick. Shows like “Pawn Stars” and “American Pickers” have captured the imagination of thousands, leading them to believe that their junk could be worth something.

A new National Geographic reality series called “Meltdown” is taking the trend of urban treasure hunting one step further. They’ve enlisted the services of a man who has spent the past 20 years making hard bargains on the streets of Detroit to turn scraps of metal into liquid gold.

Rich Pyle and his crew go through the back alleys of junkyards to the ground floor of high tech operations in search of precious metals that can be melted down into a billion-dollar fortune. Rich’s hard-nosed, big-city Detroit attitude makes him a force to be reckoned with on the junk circuit.

You can see him in action on Thursdays at 10:00 p.m. Eastern on the National Geographic Channel, starting this Halloween.