 "Pawn Stars" began with Brent Montgomery and Colby Gaines of Leftfield Pictures, who were struck by the array of eclectic and somewhat seedy pawn shops in Las Vegas during a 2008 weekend visit to the city.Thinking such shops might contain unique characters, they searched for a family-run shop on which to center a TV series until they found the Gold & Silver Pawn Shop less than two miles from the Las Vegas Strip.It had been the subject of a 2001 PBS documentary, and the manager and part-owner, Rick Harrison, had been trying unsuccessfully to pitch a show based on his shop for four years.