Cable’s Macho Antiquing Warriors

“Antiques” and “adrenaline” don’t seem like they belong in the same sentence. But a new breed of television show makes the finding and selling of vintage items look like a life adventure.

Whether they are set in pawn shops or peer into the hitherto obscure realm of storage-unit auctions, these hugely popular series ditch the aura tweedy refinement surrounding precursor programs such PBS’ “Antiques Roadshow” and instead present antiquing as rugged, manly and all-American.