Dude got smart. No one suspects that the fat lazy slob behind the counter is a walking encyclopedia of sales figures and historical factoids... until it's too late.

Also, he's more cameragenic the way he is now. If you're scruffy and unattractive as a thin person, you might as well go for the Average American / middleaged football fan look.

Fo reals. He looks like at least four dads I know.

I think its just the ball cap and the facial hair that makes him look scummy. He was probably going bald and needed the hat and goatee to help him cope. I'm just saying if I were Rick and I stumbled upon this clip I'd feel really shitty for gaining so much weight.
He also needs to put some pressure on his son and Chum Lee to get in shape, cause those boys are headed for early graves.

Same rule applies for them, too. Corey might be able to trim down to Paul Junior size without screwing up the show's dynamic (they could use a young attractive guy to balance things out), but Chumlee? Being fat is his meal ticket! He's the big dumb fat kid. He needs that weight so the audience can properly identify his role.

For health's sake, sure, I agree with you. But for the sake of his TV career, sometimes people just have to bite the butter bullet and be Chris Farley.

That's certainly a pragmatic way of looking at it.

The other thing that bugs me is how they try to look tough during the intro. They're not tough! There's a difference between fatass and badass. You need a lot of muscle under your fat to be a badass.

I agree with that. The whole crossed-arms staring, low-angle shot thing just doesn't work. The Mythbusters would make more convincing "TV Intro Badasses" than them. (seriously, how awesome would that be? Tory in MMA gear? Kari on a Harley, brandishing a machete? Grant in a battlemech?)

Still, I wouldn't want to fight Chumlee. I'm a quarter his size and haven't lifted since I left bouncer college; all he'd have to do is fall on top of me and it's over.

All you'd have to do is dance around him for 30 seconds. I doubt he can move around any longer than that.

I was thinking the same..