This Old House 40 Year Anniversary

[Cian]

Origins of This Old House and the spawning of The New Yankee Workshop

[Philip1231]

Pure Gold!(more characters so that it will let me post this).

[Tapper]

Cian,

Thanks a bunch for posting this. Brought back some great memories!

Doug

[GaryMc]

Cian,

Thanks a bunch for posting this. Brought back some great memories!

Doug

Ah, memories!  In the mid-'90s I started a branch office in Savannah, SC to service a contract with the local Corps of Engineers office.  After one visit (1996, I think) on boarding the plane there was none other than Norm in his classic plaid shirt with rolled-up sleeves, talking to his seat mate who I did not recognize and may have been one of the production staff.  As I walked by I caught Norm's eye, gave him a salute, and said "Must be something going on in Savannah."  He said, "Yes, seven episodes starting soon."

On a subsequent visit I made it a point to go by the old Italianate house they had restored. 

Over the years I got a lot of ideas from NYW, putting on my own spin rather than using the available "measured drawerings."

[museumguy]

Awesome. I've watched it from the very first episode.

[Cian]

Norm was one of the primary reasons (along with my Dad and middle school Industrial Arts teacher) why I have a woodshop and its specific tool assortment today.  Back in the day, I had attempted to record to VHS (and sometime later to my DVR) anytime a NYW episode would air.  What is so great about the internet age is that we can now watch the NYW episodes on-demand (!!) at either of these two links:
https://www.newyankee.com/
https://www.youtube.com/@newyankeeworkshop/videos

Oh how far we have come. 

[EdL]

That was great, thanks.

One huge thing......no drama. Todays shows think they have to have it, I call BS.

Ed

[arthropod98]

That was great, thanks.

One huge thing......no drama. Todays shows think they have to have it, I call BS.

Ed

yeah, and they seem to think everyone just cares about DEMO.  so many slow-mos and focus on that.  

[Handplanesandmore]

As Ed said, no BS stuff with their production. No gimmicks, just what down to earth woodworking needs to be.

Simon

[AHill]

This Old House is one of my favorite PBS shows. I've learned a lot from watching these guys. And, for the part, what you see on TOH is the right way to do something - unlike some of the unregulated and unsafe garbage you see on YouTube. (I do take exception to all the job site saws where you see them not using a guard or fence or any other safety equipment except safety glasses.)

I agree that Kevin O'Connor has been the best host. Bob Vila never really got his hands dirty and I think he was more interested in building himself up vs. making the show better. Steve Thomas to me always seemed to be reading from a script and uncomfortable on set. Even in the session with Bob, Steve, and Kevin, Bob and Steve come off as trying to play father figures to Kevin - who has almost double the experience on TOH than either Bob or Steve. My only complaint about Kevin is that sometimes they make him come off as a dufus asking questions of the tradesmen.

I wish they would have included some testimonials or references about other craftsmen that were featured, but have since passed away. Joe Ferrante, the tile guy was one of them. Before Heath, I thought there was a different electrician, but I can't remember his name. There was another recent episode where they interviewed some of the current cast members on their memories. I remember Richard Trethewey tearing up as he talked about his father, who was also in the trades.