The Highest-Rated Episode Of American Pickers According To IMDb

With over 300 episodes listed on IMDb, "American Pickers" provides no shortage of fun for those interested in seeing ancient American memorabilia bought and sold. However, as anyone who has gone picking or antiquing knows, you have to separate the trash from the treasure. Not every episode that chronicles Mike and Frank's hunt for "rusty gold" is as good as the next. Sometimes there is more rust than gold. Other times, the episode is gilded to the core. Thankfully, IMDb has a comprehensive list of episodes ranking the entire series according to fan ratings. Anyone wondering which episodes are worth their time can see what the "American Pickers" fanbase considers the best.

According to IMDb, the highest-rated episode of "American Pickers" came in Season 16, Episode 2. Entitled "Sgt. Picker's Lonely Hearts Club," the episode focused on longtime friends Mike Wolfe and Danielle Colby as they leave Frank Fritz at home to check out two very special locations. The first was a veritable three-story gold mine of picks. The other was a classic slice of Americana with a hidden gem that was just waiting to be found.

In this episode, Mike took Danielle on a trip down to St. Louis, Missouri. This took place in 2016, long before the traditional duo of Mike and Frank had a falling out. However, Frank's cat Arby was sick, and he took some time off to check on his feline friend. Thus, Danielle accompanied Mike on his journey to meet Mark, a man with a three-story building packed so full of amazing trinkets that some rooms had not been opened for 16 years.

Needless to say, this place was just what Mike and Danielle were looking for. Without hesitation, the two moved through the rooms (even unlocking some of its abandoned depths) to acquire a myriad of interesting items. Danielle, ever the fan of vintage fashion, acquired a 1920's flapper skirt for $75, along with an old peanut roaster and a beauty of a display case for baked goods. Meanwhile, Mike gets his hands on an aged front wheel to an old-timey high-wheel bike. All of this only scratches the surface of what the two find and buy from Mark's treasure trove, but by the end of the day, the two left as the happiest of customers. The real juicy find, however, came in location number 2, where a classic drive-in theater hid a film worth treasuring.

In the heart of Central Illinois sat a sprawling field capped off by a massive screen. It was one of the country's last drive-in theaters, called Harvest Moon (not in any way affiliated with the video game of the same name, sorry gamers). It was run by a man named Mike, and in its various buildings dotting the property laid many undiscovered gems. At first, Mike Wolfe and Danielle occupied their time buying a few items here and there.

Things changed, however, when Harvest Moon-Mike mentioned that he owned some rare footage of The Beatles that he had dug out of a dumpster many years ago. With such a famous name tied to a vintage item, Mike Wolfe and Danielle couldn't help but check it out. It turned out to be some famous newsreels of the legendary band coming off an airplane during their first trip to the United States.

An item of this caliber was out of both picker's ballpark. So, Danielle called in a vintage film expert named Larry, who informed them that they might have the only known copy of that film (in that particular film format) in existence, as most reels of this kind were returned to the distributor and destroyed. Despite its rarity, Mike Wolfe bought the item for only $400. That was just shy of its total value at $500, but that's hardly a high price to pay for a piece of rock history.