Introduction

The 'Best I Can Do Is' meme features a catchphrase popularized by Rick Harrison from the reality TV show Pawn Stars, often used as a humorous template for lowball offers.

Background

The phrase 'Best I Can Do Is' is frequently uttered by Rick Harrison on Pawn Stars after evaluating an item brought in by a customer. Following this evaluation, Rick often consults an expert for additional insights and potential pricing. When he presents his offer—often perceived as a lowball—he uses this phrase. Over time, this expression became a widely used meme format across the internet throughout the 2010s and beyond.

Meme History

Rick Harrison's catchphrase 'best I can do is X' has been featured throughout multiple seasons of Pawn Stars. Memes that reference this catchphrase typically modify the final value to something humorous. The meme's origins can be traced back to around mid-2010 when it first appeared in the Advice Animals format, featuring an image of Rick with top text describing a valuable item and bottom text displaying a comically low offer. As the Advice Animals format waned, Rick Harrison memes evolved into the 'Best I Can Do Is' format by early 2012. The earliest documented instance of this meme was shared on Know Your Meme by a user named Brad, showcasing Rick offering 0.50 cents for a dollar.

Internet Reaction

The earliest known instance of the meme remains elusive, although a record indicates it was initially uploaded by Redditor /u/Kilser to the /r/memes subreddit on April 8, 2012, garnering only five upvotes before the thread was archived. A more notable example emerged on the /r/dankmemes subreddit on August 9, 2019, posted by Redditor OverIntention, achieving 30,000 upvotes within six months.