On 2009-08-23, David Nebenzahl wrote:

I do genuinely hate these specific shows: "Hometime," "This Old House"
and "The New Yankee Workshop." I hate them for one simple reason: they
make most people feel like idiots.

I don't know about that.

average Joe or Joan for the task. In the end, the show provides nothing
more than boutique shopping and showing off.

That's my bitch. Let's make a box. Here, we have my new nuclear
powered, laser guided, atomic clock timed, whiz bang hand saw........
The last episode of This Old House I watched, in disgust, a huge crane
and crew of 10 lowered pre-stressed concrete walls into the basement
of the rustic cabin, which they had apparently completely dismantled
and stored away in a climate controlled warehouse, somewheres. And
Yankee Workshop. "Today we will show you how to construct and use
this pre-Columbian horse drawn hand plane........"

That was the old PBS stuff. Today's DIY is much better. I tuned in
for the much needed "deck" episode. "Here's the old deck. Sucks,
doesn't it. Here's our crew of twenty. Look at'em go! Done. Tune
in next week" WTF!

I get more info here, in a day, than I got from years of watching
those useless shows.

What I've been looking for, and have only been teased, is a dead
simple, dirt cheap, outdoor woodfired bread/pizza oven. Apparently
the Ancients could build millions of them for centuries using only
dirt, water, spit and elbow grease, but for some reason, now it's
utterly impossible with anything short of $1500 worth of brick and
mortar and another $129 for plans. Not sure if I need the whiz bang
hand saw.

nb