Is it just me or is TOH even more boring and annoying than before?
It seems to have become half building and half either history show or lifestyle show. They must have cloned the past presenter and turned up the annoying knob a bit too much. The new host (we get the show late here maybe hes not new anymore) touches everything as Steve did and follows with a ‘whats the story on this?’ or ‘whats this all about?’ gazing at a drawer as if it going to reveal the meaning of life.
The inane questions he asks the experts every time they are about to do something simple ” a hammer what do you with that” ok I exaggerate and I know its for the non handy amongst us but its turned me right off, not that they’ll miss me.
The only show that I could relate to was ‘Real Renos” with the Builder Jim Carick dealing with building and clients was at least closer to reality.
Got that off my chest now off to the building site, hmmm timber didn’t turn up, whats that all about…..
Replies
The problem is were getting old and tired. You know the cliche' been there done that got the t-shirt.
When I first started watching TOH I was a young lad and they enlightened me to a lot of great ideas. I thought of Bob Vila as a god. Now after all these years I realize Bob ain't got nothin on me. Am I a god now?
When I ponder what it would take for a new season of TOH to enlighten or inspire me, I don't believe it can happen.
A long time ago I came to an epiphany. The article in my Organic gardening magazine felt like a repeat. I had kept every issue from the previous 12 years for reference. When I went back through them sure enough they repeated the same article the same month three times over 12 years. And reworded it a couple of others. Matter of fact there was a lot of repeat articles. So, it hit me, gardening is perennial,(duh!) the things you can do in your yard is finite. Also I cancelled my subscription and just reread the old issues.
I just didn't think I would reach the end of my craft as well. Don't get me wrong there is still a lot for us old dogs to learn but they aren't going to market to us, were out of the demographic.
Yeah I guess your right about 'been there done that' but I'm always hopeful of a new idea or shortcut to make life easier, why I torture myself and my wife watching and complaining about this drivel is beyond me.
cheers Johnhttp://www.johnwalkerbuilders.com
Is it just me or is TOH even more boring and annoying than before?
This has popped up a time or two already. Still valid, too.
The banker fellow (kevin o'conner) they "found" on an episode of Ask TOH. He was just as annoying then. About the only 'good' part is when the rest of the "regulars" bust his chops a bit for having to "come up" to get to be the big dogs on the job site. Whether the "regulars" count as big dogs remains open to debate.
Why it took 20-26 episodes to build a tiny MIL project in a former barn seems inexplicable. Should have done bermuda first, then the MIL barn. But, that's just my opinion.
Bad as it is, not near as goofy as some of what's on DIY . . .
DIY and HGTV have better babes
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations.
DIY and HGTV have better babes
True enough. Yeah, that's it--see, I gots to be inside on the couch on Saturday to watch the uh, er, techniques, yeah, thas it, thechniques . . . Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)
man I be jonesin here..2 channels is all I can get..snowy, and fuzzy..get alot more done tho' w/o cable or satellite. I just may put off the dish till winter.
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations.
No damn dish here neither. The big three + Fox + PBS.
Don't want no damn dish neither.
Whaddaya need 123 channels fer when you got BT?
Blow up your TV, throw away your paper
Go to the country, build you a home
- John Prine
Knowledge is power, but only if applied in a timely fashion.
I can see three huge CBS antenna towers from my back yard....
guess what channel I get...
and no others. no cable.
Good thing CBS is the channel my wife and I like! It has the crime drama we watch on thursdays, and her god movie on fridays.
remodeler
I'm with SPHERE on that one... I cut cable off a year and a half ago... And, I haven't missed it! Want a movie... I rent it. I have found better use for the $58. a month that is the minimum they charge round here!
20 years ago, I DID learn a lot from Norm and Bob Vila... I may be getting jaded in my old age too. DYI and HGTV... are targeted to housewives & yuppie fixer-uppers to sell Home Despot & Blowe's stuff I think... Bores the sh!t outa me... (except for the babes)... :) --- BRICK
"They say that there is a fine line between genius and insanity. I like to color outside the lines...and then eat the crayons." ~ Me
I just may..just may..put up a mast..I really think I could grab a PBS station besides the 2 major networks I get (ABC,CBS)..even satellite is too much for all BS channels ya have..now If I hit the remote's "previous" button..I get the "other channel" no brainer.
I miss cable that I had before I got in the log monstrosity..it had BB for the internet..that was cool..way fast. Back to dialup..is like..well, the south in general..slow.."if we don't do it today..maybe tomorrow..if we don't do it tomorrow..hell, we just might not" LOL
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations.
Babes?
They got babes on those shows?
naw - we got the real babes here at BT!
Jencar, Darcy, Theodora, Aimless - we got the real babes.
I just knoiw I'm gonna get my head taken off for forgetting someone too...
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
my money's on bake being a babe too.
I just knoiw I'm gonna get my head taken off for forgetting someone too... You left out Softfluff...Whenever you are asked if you can do a job, tell'em "Certainly, I can!" Then get busy and find out how to do it. T. Roosevelt
Can a feminoid be a Babe?
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
My next door neighbor told me she was out drinking Mon night and ran into the Trading Spaces crew at a bar downtown. Apparently they're doing 3 projects here.
maybe the chriopracters house? {G}
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations.
"My next door neighbor told me she was out drinking Mon night and ran into the Trading Spaces crew at a bar downtown. Apparently they're doing 3 projects here"
Getting all drunked up before they start picking colors?Who Dares Wins.
You guys watch that garbage?! Don't you just want to get away from it all after doing it 50+ hours a week for the last 20 something years? Man, I wiz by those shows as fast as I can click it, that is when I watch tv anymore...maybe about 3 hours a week. A hundred and twenty three channels and there's still nothing on! It's so lame! I miss the test patterns with the picture of the American Indian and the high F# floating around the room. Or the loop of the fireplace burning the log on Christmas day. Now that was TV!
Im with Sphere... if I had cable id get nothing done.When you live out in the sticks as depressing as it sound TV becomes one of cultural outlets.And now my motorized antennae crapped out i got to go out side with a 20' stick and knock the thing around to change stations..cuts down on channel surfing real bad.As bad a s network tv is getting the dish is looming but id like to find a plan that allows seasonal shutdowns.
TOH has turned into McRemodeling. How many viewers will put 56 lite fixtures in their kitchen.Wonder what Silva Bro. going rate is?
I agree that TOH is not as good as it used to be but I still enjoy watching it.
Is there anyone who lives near Carlisle, MA and is watching the current TOH project? It's an old Greek Revival house at the intersection of Concord St & South Rd. I go by it just about every day on my way to work. Apparently the house was bought by TOH after it sat on the market for a year. A couple of weeks ago, I realized that it was a TOH project when I saw them (Tom Silva, Norm Abrams, Rich Tretheway, etc) lined up in front of the house for a group shot.
At this point, they put the barn on cribbing and knocked down the ell connecting the house to the barn. They have been digging a new foundation for the ell. It's kind of neat to drive by and watch the exterior progress.
I live in Acton, MA which is next to Carlisle. About 3 blocks away from me, there is the Acton TOH project which was done in the middle 80s. You can't really see it from the street unless you walk the old B&M railroad line (future Assabet River Rail Trail).
Somebody tell Norm to take his hands out of his pockets. All that stretching won't do any good.
I just wrapped up the frame on an addition in Acton. Gonna have to take a ride down the road to Carlisle and have me a look-see. Maybe teach 'em a thing or two if I have the time ;)
Thanks for the "heads up", I had no idea they were back this way. I guess Norm's own house is in Carlisle as well. I gotta go look. I don't care what anyone says about TOH.....Norm's the bomb! The show blows, and I'd rather watch New Yankee Workshop anyday, but he still amazes me.
"I don't care what anyone says about TOH.....Norm's the bomb! The show blows, and I'd rather watch New Yankee Workshop anyday, but he still amazes me."
I do hafta give Norm credit... He has probably been responsible for more power tools being sold than anyone else on earth! I do like the guy. He makes it seem possible for anyone to build their own furniture, house... whatever. His plans are good (and cheap). He single handidly brought plad shirts back into fashion... I like plad shirts. His workshop is damn cool. He has more routers than me... and I have 22!
(I hate to change router bits)
--- BRICK
"They say that there is a fine line between genius and insanity. I like to color outside the lines...and then eat the crayons." ~ Me
Edited 6/8/2004 8:44 pm ET by Brick
I've got an easy solution to the TV dilemna... I don't have one.
Alma
Good one Alma.
The biggest reason I wouldn't watch Breaktime, and this goes way back, is because of the guy's accent, it's very grating. He says 'ruff' for roof.
Hey GT Mountain Biker, It's Dusty. That's my old territory your assumptions are correct. Came into town blazing guns, tried to do construction with an excavation permit and my close friend the building inspector had to shut them down, read stop work. It's been about a month now. Norm should have known better-no building pemit? ??? cheers, Dusty
>>"Wonder what Silva Bro. going rate is?"<<
I worked with a guy last summer who subbed some work from the Silva Bro's. He said they charge around $400.00 s/f.
J.P.
You guys watch that garbage?!
Only preventively (good for inducing a Saturday afternoon nap). Customer says "I saw this on [insert show name here]. How much will it cost?"Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)
Personally, I cringe when someone refers to one of those TV shows and asks for an estimate. It usually takes a lot of time to explain that;
Even superman couldn't do that stuff in 30 minutes
Norm Abrams always makes a prototype. (I wonder what they do with those?)
Even though Norm seems to work alone, there's actually a supporting cast.
Norm only mentions "setting up the sawr", but the setup time is never mentioned.
Whatever item the customer is talking about was on an episode from several years ago and they really don't remember much about it.
A variation on #5 is that they want something just like that.........but different.
Oh well - lol
they want something just like that.........but different
It's always "just like this" [show/point/cite an example] and "only for our house . . . " That part, I'm used to (the kiva oven/fireplace with the french colonial moulding in the modernist loft detailed in farm-style 'cottage' . . . )
Just have to smile.Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)
A photo for everyones wallet. :c)
View Image
I always liked Hometime better. It was more about the project than the various diversions in the surrounding region. And they had those strange entertaining Minnesota accents, as opposed to the normal way they talk on TOH.
Plus, the Hometime guy had three wifes, and they could all build stuff!
I don't think the FHB crowd is the TOH target market, at least not anymore...
> Plus, the Hometime guy had three wifes, and they could all build stuff!
He was also not particularly good at talking on camera. So they hired professional actresses to play the wife. Whenever there were a lot of words to be memorized and said, they gave it to the wife.
-- J.S.
"Plus, the Hometime guy had three wifes, and they could all build stuff!"
Yeah... Now that he dumped Robin Hartl... I WANT HER!!! Christ... an 'ol lady that can build would be COOL! ...LOL --- BRICK
"They say that there is a fine line between genius and insanity. I like to color outside the lines...and then eat the crayons." ~ Me
I don't think Robin's off the show - she wasn't in the last few episodes of this last season but she still shows up on the Hometime website.
I'm a fan of Hometime, partly because they do the show here in Minnesota and partly because of the female co-host. ;-) I met her once, she is a real cutie. She's married, though...oh, well.
As far as Dean's accent goes, I dunno...he sounds just like all the rest of us here in the midwest. Those guys on This Old House, now THEY have accents.
You guys in the upper midwest have an accent also . Not like the guys on TOH though.
I also met Robin and I would be happy to have her on my job. She could answer any question put to her . Ashe looks a lot better in real life than on the TV.
I'm a fan of Hometime, partly because they do the show here in Minnesota and partly because of the female co-host. ;-) I met her once, she is a real cutie. She's married, though...oh, well.
Sigh, ... another dream dashed .. ;)
TOH, NYW, even Trading Spaces: all examples of building and furniture making excellence, when you compare them to the worst "home improvement" show in TV:
The DIY channel's Warehouse Warriors ?! 'never seen anything on that show (as I've channel-surfed right on by), that didn't deserve to be dropped right in the dumpster. The host speaks authoritively about things he know virtually nothing about.
I like the BBC shows
sometimes they use these things to cut wood by hand, neat-o
interesting when they open the paint cans, looks 2x as think as the stuff here.
they're running a series now called Design Rules, talking about the different aspects of design like light and colour.bobl Volo, non valeo
I like the BBC shows
Ditto that. Changing Rooms is so much better a show than TS. They are not afraid to make people cry (sometimes, it's like they want and unhappy responce). Only one that I really didn't like is/was Homefront in the Garden. Yeah, with a budget in the tens of thousands of pounds, I could "make a statement" in my garden, too . . . (still watched, though). "Tommy Walsh DIY" is slightly pushing the TS/DIY network envelope, though (almost a brit version of "Gimme Shelter II").Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)
sometimes they use these things to cut wood by hand, neat-o
I worked for a while with an Englisher who claimed to have worked on the restoration of Will Shakespear's house. I claimed to never have heard of this Shakespear fellow. Anyway, this guy liked to rip plywood with a handsaw. He got real piszed off when it didn't quite fit after he had 20 mins invested in one rip.
The fellow who built my folks house back in 1960 was an old cabinet maker who only used hand tools. Given that I can't begin to cut even a 2x4 with a handsaw without it looking like I chewed it off at an odd angle, I couldn't believe how he cut perfectly square ends on 1x12 stock for cabinets with nothing more than a handsaw and a pencil line.
Nothing to it , but a properly sharpened saw .
You're right about properly sharpened. I keep all those good hand tools nearby.
Many times, for a single cut or maybe a few, it is quicker to cut by hand than to do the whole setup with a corded electric tool.
I've a good crosscut saw, a ripper, and small and large Japanese saws.
"I always liked Hometime better."
Really? I always wondered how many times they could show how to grout tile. Seems like every other episode was all about tiling a bathroom.
Hometime has out a syndicated series, that is new not reruns.
In most of them they are working with the HO doing projects. Type of stuff that the typical "middle class" person would want and many serious DIY's have done on their own or by subing part of it out.
That include things like basement laundry room, attic finish, and bathroom redo. From what you see on TV it appears that the HO is doing anywhere from 25 to 75% of the work.
Those bathroom tile jobs were always in between hanging kitchen cabinets.
It isn't "ruff" for roof, it's more complex than that. In the upper midwest, we don't say the ooh sound in some of our words as it would be in boot. Rather it's like it would be in soot or hoof. The words said this way include root and roof.
Edited 6/11/2004 4:06 pm ET by BARMIL48
I grew up in Western NY on the Great Lakes and we have some of those accented words as well. Ours is known more for the famous flat 'a' sound, (the word 'that' is 'thee-at'), and the 'r' sound is very hard. There's a very nasal quality to about everything, and it has to be right up there as one the most irritating of American accents. I worked very hard to lose it, however it comes through when I'm tired. Ah well...you live with it. Do you say 'crik' for creek?
There was a survey of regional dialects done by Harvard a while back. Creek seems to win out over crick by a much wider margin than I would have guessed.
http://www.hcs.harvard.edu/~golder/dialect/maps.php
There was also a web response survey as to what name is applied to soft drinks in their area. When I grew up, we called it "soda pop", but that one wasn't listed. I guess our area was just out of it...
http://www.popvssoda.com/
We just called it 'pop'. Orange pop, grape pop, clear pop (club soda), cola was pepsi or coke.
are u guys talking about tonic?bobl Volo, non valeo
Tonic is for hair, silly. I don't use tonic. I don't need to. Turtle Wax would look better on my head.
Have'nt heard of Hometime,so nowones seen 'Real renos'? it was a Canadian show
http://www.johnwalkerbuilders.com
Edited 6/11/2004 7:53 pm ET by JOHNAWALKER
Real Renos is pretty good, 'bout as "real" as I can see it getting with
a camera on site. It's not another building "how to" show, more of a
"how am I gonna get my final payment from pr*ck client" kinda show.
Thought it was just a local Canadian HGTV program for us
Canucks.
regards