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This Old House: The Rare Home-Improvement Show That Spotlights Skilled Workers

theatlantic.com

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Re: This Old House: The Rare Home-Improvement Show That Spotlights Skilled Workers

#61

Post by stevekemp »

pseudolus wrote: post #2

It's a great show, sort of the housebuilding equivalent of "How It's Made". One of the problems with the various HGTV shows is that they tend entirely gloss over the nature of the work that's actually performed. Plus, you got to love those Boston/Massachusetts accents.

"How It's Made" is often fascinating to watch, and it always reminds me of a childhood favourite: "The secret life of machines":

http://www.secretlifeofmachines.com/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Secret_Life_of_Machines

Full episodes are available on Youtube, for example The Quartz Watch - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQ9_bOIj49s

Re: This Old House: The Rare Home-Improvement Show That Spotlights Skilled Workers

#62

Post by scrooched_moose »

tux1968 wrote: post #57
scrooched_moose wrote: post #42

As an aspiring woodworker and handyman, I just want to suggest This Old House Insider [1] The subscription gives you access to the entire This Old House and Ask This Old House library. They're in the process of adding all New Yankee Workshop episodes as well as PDF plans of those projects (normally $14.99 each). It's become my Sunday morning go-to now. 1) https://www.thisoldhouse.com/introducing-this-old-house-insi..…

This looks really interesting. However they don't seem to list any prices without you first giving them all your personal contact information. Would you mind sharing the price?

I believe it's $95.60 per year.

Re: This Old House: The Rare Home-Improvement Show That Spotlights Skilled Workers

#63

Post by dlanouette »

falcolas wrote: post #9

There's a YouTube channel that I feel espouses the values set forth by "This Old House" - and is as much fun to watch: Essential Craftsman I grew up on This Old House, and I relax to Essential Craftsman today. I hope someone else can find it as much fun as I do.

I just recently found Essential Craftsman, and I absolutely love it!

This video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qP1AmDRhoas) popped up on my YouTube feed about a month ago and really spoke to me. I encourage everyone to spend 13 min and watch/listen.

Great stuff!

Re: This Old House: The Rare Home-Improvement Show That Spotlights Skilled Workers

#64

Post by theklub »

falcolas wrote: post #9

There's a YouTube channel that I feel espouses the values set forth by "This Old House" - and is as much fun to watch: Essential Craftsman I grew up on This Old House, and I relax to Essential Craftsman today. I hope someone else can find it as much fun as I do.

Love that guy. I'll probably end up with an anvil someday because of him.

Re: This Old House: The Rare Home-Improvement Show That Spotlights Skilled Workers

#65

Post by werber »

I absolutely love the sub PBS channel, Create (56.3 in Detroit). It comes in over the air, plays This Old House and all of the other content is soothing, professional and drama free. If you've cut the cord, but sometimes just want to turn on tv again, it might be a good idea to pick up a 5 dollar antenna

Re: This Old House: The Rare Home-Improvement Show That Spotlights Skilled Workers

#66

Post by acomjean »

werber wrote: post #65

I absolutely love the sub PBS channel, Create (56.3 in Detroit). It comes in over the air, plays This Old House and all of the other content is soothing, professional and drama free. If you've cut the cord, but sometimes just want to turn on tv again, it might be a good idea to pick up a 5 dollar antenna

I will second create tv. In Boston it’s 44.3 They tend to have a lot of cooking shows, but there is a fair amount of woodworking/this old house.

Re: This Old House: The Rare Home-Improvement Show That Spotlights Skilled Workers

#67

Post by acomjean »

sgt101 wrote: post #17

The New Yankee Workshop https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0184144/ Just sayin'

I remember norm abrams asking someone to be allowed to measure their table. Cut to back at his workshop recreating it from his notes. Amazing woodworker

Re: This Old House: The Rare Home-Improvement Show That Spotlights Skilled Workers

#68

Post by VectorLock »

abakker wrote: post #15
Townley wrote: post #11

The intellectual successor to This Old House's take on the entertainment potential of skilled craftsmanship probably isn't drama-filled reality TV, but rather YouTube channels like that of Paul Sellers. My drama-detesting father-in-law and his grandchildren watch those videos all day long to appreciate the craftsmanship, learning opportunities, and creativity of final products. I don't feel particularly concerned by…

Agree so much with this. Frank Howarth, Abom79, This Old Tony, Welding Tips and Tricks, Jimmy DiResta, Stumpy Nubs, Stefan Gotteswinter - there's so much great content like this on youtube. TV was never a great place for craft because it has to serve a general audience. Youtube has so much niche specific content with pretty great production values.

If you like them Essential Craftsmen is also a great channel. He is a bit more no-nonsense compared to like This Old Tony (who I LOVE) without being dry.

Re: This Old House: The Rare Home-Improvement Show That Spotlights Skilled Workers

#69

Post by pnw_hazor »

schoolboard wrote: post #48
Townley wrote: post #11

The intellectual successor to This Old House's take on the entertainment potential of skilled craftsmanship probably isn't drama-filled reality TV, but rather YouTube channels like that of Paul Sellers. My drama-detesting father-in-law and his grandchildren watch those videos all day long to appreciate the craftsmanship, learning opportunities, and creativity of final products. I don't feel particularly concerned by…

Matt Risinger. My hero, although would love him to do more of an "amazing quality on a budget price" diversion.

We love Matt's work. We just watched his series on ICF construction as part of getting ready for a project we have.

We also like Anna White's construction videos since she and her husband build in cold environments whereas Matt is often talking about Texas projects.

Re: This Old House: The Rare Home-Improvement Show That Spotlights Skilled Workers

#70

Post by kevin_thibedeau »

mywittyname wrote: post #47
legitster wrote: post #6

Man, I love This Old House. Even as someone who is not terribly handy, it is so nice to see professionals at work. Even though they are all hosts, you quickly can see that they know their stuff. Contractors and handymen are so hit and miss - it's a great way to understand quality work. And again, the professionalism. These guys are all old fogeys who know their way around 100+ year old construction techniques. But th…

> But the show has a great focus on embracing new technology and weaving it in successfully. My favorite clips from This Old House is when the hosts talk about how much better the new tools and techniques are and why.

Those are mostly native ads which is the main weakness of the post-Abram series.
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