truTV Greenlights Third Season of Hit Series HARDCORE PAWN

Hot on the heels of successfully launching the second season of HARDCORE PAWN, truTV is ordering a third season of the hit series.  Produced by Zodiak USA, HARDCORE PAWN provides an inside look at one of the country's largest pawn shops and the family that runs it.  The show's second season is currently airing Tuesdays at 10 p.m. (ET/PT) on truTV, with the third season slated to begin in mid February.

truTV has ordered 13 episodes for the third season of HARDCORE PAWN, which takes viewers behind the scenes at American Jewelry and Loan in Detroit.  As customers bring in everything from alligators to prosthetic limbs, each pawn ticket has a story, and there are more than 45,000 stories in the warehouse.  At the center of American Jewelry and Loan are owner Les Gold and his staff, including his son, Seth; his daughter, Ashley; and his trusted manager, Rich.  Together, they have to be ready to deal with the unexpected and the often unbelievable.  As each episode of this fascinating series reveals, haggling over a price can quickly escalate into an all-out conflict.

HARDCORE PAWN debuted in August 2010 with truTV's biggest series launch ever and quickly became one of the network's most popular shows.  Last Tuesday, the series began its second season with back-to-back episodes, drawing 2.1 million viewers with growth of 16% among adults 18-49 and 12% among men 18-49 over the series debut.  The second-season launch also gave truTV a victory as cable's #1 entertainment network in delivery of men 18-49 for the 10 p.m. hour.

"We couldn't be more excited with the success of HARDCORE PAWN, which has become a great part of truTV's lineup," said Marc Juris, executive vice president and general manager of truTV.

HARDCORE PAWN is executive-produced by Natalka Znak, Claire O'Donohoe, Mike Gamson and Richard Dominick.  For truTV, Robyn Hutt serves as executive in charge of production, and Anthony Horn is executive producer.