American Pickers guys are actually entertaining and their show is at least not 100% staged. My wife worked for The Discovery Channel during the height of these type shows. So they kept a close eye on their competition shows from other cable networks. The WORST is Pawn Stars. 95% of the items that people walk in "off the street" with are staged. The cool stuff is borrowed from private collections and museums for the show and then returned. All fake.
Pickers guys have been doing what they do for YEARS before their show and really have not altered much for the show, other than have a camera crew follow them around. Now, they do have more help finding locations with cool stuff. I agree that some of the stuff they focus on - like the oil cans, signs, bicycles, etc. are boring to me. But to each his own, right? All my friends think I am nuts over my love for old TVs and radios . . . so I cannot cast stones from my glass house full of vintage electronics.
You'd think that will all these types shows out there, and their popularity, that someone would find a niche for our hobby on TV somewhere? But NOT a show like American Restoration. That's another fake 'n bake staged for TV show.