On the House | Marking two decades of no-frills home how-to

By Al Heavens

Inquirer Columnist


I'd always assumed that Dean Johnson's TV persona was the same as his
real-life personality: the knowledgeable next-door neighbor who helps
you drywall the family room and will accept nothing more than a beer
for his work.

And after spending part of a day with the Hometime host, including
dinner at which we had to forgo the beer for a couple of glasses of
wine, my assumption proved more than correct.

Come January, it will be 20 years that Johnson, 53, has been hosting
the show, a coproduction of his company, Hometime Video, and WHYY-TV
(Channel 12). Its ratings have never approached those of This Old
House in that show's heyday. Neither has Johnson succumbed to the
screaming-meemie syndrome of such shows as Trading Spaces and Extreme
Makeover: Home Edition.

Instead, Hometime has preferred to stay just below the radar, sticking
mostly to its home base of Minneapolis-St. Paul; staying away, for the
most part, from This Old House's multimillion-dollar makeovers; and
regularly participating in Habitat for Humanity projects instead of
sobby giveaways designed to boost ratings.

But Johnson is too nice a guy to criticize the other shows.

"Russ Morash [This Old House's producer emeritus] always maintained
that his was not a how-to show," Johnson said.

Hometime is a how-to show, however. Like the 24-hour convenience
store, it's there when you need it.

"I know most people haven't been watching us every week for the last
20 years," Johnson said. "But we do know that when they are interested
in what we are doing, they tune in."

Then there are the Hometime videos, which Johnson acknowledges are
very popular. I learned to tile from one of them, watched many, many
times.

Of course, as Johnson also acknowledges, these videos deal with
standard situations. When I had to install and grout tile under an
impossible-to-move cast-iron tub, I was pretty much on my own.

"I'll have to look at that video again," Johnson said, "just to see if
it has to be updated."

Of course, he was saying this as he laid 12-by-12 tiles in a Habitat
kitchen in North Philadelphia, his notched trowel creating perfect
swirls of adhesive, and every tile perfectly spaced.

(The aforementioned bathroom-tiling project was my first, and
noticeably flawed. My next project was the bathroom at my
brother-in-law's house, and it looked so good that his general
contractor offered me a couple of other jobs. My brother-in-law would
have had to come, too, however, to stand over me and tell me whether
the tile was straight.)

I learned to drywall by watching a show called Do It Yourself, which I
thought Johnson also had been involved in.

"Wow, what a memory!" he exclaimed. He added that he was not in the
show - it was Avian Rogers, who was briefly his Hometime cohost when
the show began in 1986.

Was Rogers the first of his TV "wives?"

"We now refer to them as partners," Johnson said.

The latest is Miriam Johnson (no relation). The others were, in order,
Peggy Knapp, JoAnne Liebeler, Susanne Egli and Robin Hartl.

As we sat in an Old City restaurant, his real wife, Kathi, was seated
across the table from us. She's probably used to the "wives" stuff, so
I didn't ask her about it.

"JoAnne [Liebeler] can be really exuberant early in the morning," I
said.

"How do you know this?" Johnson asked, a puzzled look on his face.

I quickly explained that she had hosted a 7:30 a.m. function at the
International Builders Show a few years back and didn't really need
the microphone.

He laughed.

"JoJo is a lot of fun," he said.

Liebeler and the rest of the Hometime cohosts had been featured in a
five-minute bloopers clip earlier in the evening at Channel 12.

"We've sold some to NBC for its 'Bloopers' show," Johnson said, adding
that a lot of the outtakes on other shows and at the end of movies
look contrived. "Even after 20 years, we don't have enough for an
entire show."

Will there be a big 20th anniversary Hometime celebration in January?

"We're not planning one," Johnson said, sort of surprised that anyone
would suggest it. "We're just going to continue doing what we've been
doing."

Which, I guess, is celebration enough.

On the House | ONLINE EXTRA

Alan J. Heavens answers questions about real estate and home
improvement in an online forum at http://go.philly.com/askheavens.
Join him for a live discussion at 3 p.m. Tuesdays on the PhillyTalk
link at philly.com.



http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/c...e/13294187.htm



Tom Watson - WoodDorker
tjwatson1ATcomcastDOTnet (email)
http://home.comcast.net/~tjwatson1/ (website)

Tom Watson wrote:
On the House | Marking two decades of no-frills home how-to

By Al Heavens

Inquirer Columnist


Was Rogers the first of his TV "wives?"

"We now refer to them as partners," Johnson said.

The latest is Miriam Johnson (no relation). The others were, in order,
Peggy Knapp, JoAnne Liebeler, Susanne Egli and Robin Hartl.

As we sat in an Old City restaurant, his real wife, Kathi, was seated
across the table from us. She's probably used to the "wives" stuff, so
I didn't ask her about it.


WHAT??!!!!!!!!
ALL OF THIS TIME I'VE BEEN IDOLIZING A LIAR??!!!!!
MAN, I'VE WASTED HALF OF MY LIFE TRYING TO BE LIKE DEAN!!!
HOW CAN I EVER EXPLAIN THIS TO MY OLD SWEETHEART? THE ONE I WOULD HAVE
MARRIED LONG AGO, if I hadn't been trying to emulate my idol and keep
one chick or another coming around to jobsites and telling me all of
the things I was doing wrong and acting like she was helping but really
just distracting my attention from the jobs at hand.
So now I guess I'm just supposed to drop everything and start my life
over and settle for one woman who will stay at home or at her job all
day and leave me alone while I get my jobs done without distraction.
Right?
WELL,, BRING IT ON!!!!! Imagine how much quicker I'll be without having
to explain myself or what I',m doing every 5 minutes! Or having some
one who looks like Robin Hartl walk by in a tool belt. O.K. I will miss
that, but that alone has costed me thousands of hours of sitting on the
floor just trying to keep from drooling all over the place.


"We've sold some to NBC for its 'Bloopers' show," Johnson said, adding
that a lot of the outtakes on other shows and at the end of movies
look contrived. "Even after 20 years, we don't have enough for an
entire show."


Oh, BALONEY!!!
A guy like Dean must have_hours_of bloopers laying around! He must
just not be letting them go. If you came on one of my jobs and
video-taped my guys for just a few hours. You could fill an hour long
bloopers show before lunch.

..02 from a new guy

"Tom Watson" wrote in message
...
On the House | Marking two decades of no-frills home how-to

By Al Heavens

Inquirer Columnist


I'd always assumed that Dean Johnson's TV persona was the same as his
real-life personality: the knowledgeable next-door neighbor who helps
you drywall the family room and will accept nothing more than a beer
for his work.

The level of expertise on that show, from the few I've seen, is about the
same as having your next-door neighbor help you. They do the work but never
seem to know what they're doing or the professional, efficient way to do it.
Have his "wives" stayed about the same age over the 20 years?

(snip) The level of expertise on that show, from the few I've seen, is about
the
same as having your next-door neighbor help you. They do the work but
never seem to know what they're doing or the professional, efficient way
to do it.

That statement applies to most all home improvement shows on the
ir. --dave







"ATP*" wrote in message
...

"Tom Watson" wrote in message
...
On the House | Marking two decades of no-frills home how-to

By Al Heavens

Inquirer Columnist


I'd always assumed that Dean Johnson's TV persona was the same as his
real-life personality: the knowledgeable next-door neighbor who helps
you drywall the family room and will accept nothing more than a beer
for his work.

In article .com,
wrote:

A guy like Dean must have_hours_of bloopers laying around!

They're from Minnesota. Humor is illegal there.

On Mon, 05 Dec 2005 13:06:15 -0600, Kevin Craig wrote:

In article .com,
wrote:

A guy like Dean must have_hours_of bloopers laying around!

They're from Minnesota. Humor is illegal there.

Hey! That's not funny! ;-)

[No, I'm not from Minnesota, but I have friends from Minnesota :-) ]



+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

If you're gonna be dumb, you better be tough

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

Kevin Craig wrote:
In article .com,
wrote:


A guy like Dean must have_hours_of bloopers laying around!


They're from Minnesota. Humor is illegal there.
Hey hey bubbie. I was born there. If you insist on impugning my sense
of humor, I'm gonna send Mark and Juanita over to beat you up.
humph,
jo4hn

In article , jo4hn
wrote:

Kevin Craig wrote:
In article .com,
wrote:


A guy like Dean must have_hours_of bloopers laying around!


They're from Minnesota. Humor is illegal there.
Hey hey bubbie. I was born there. If you insist on impugning my sense
of humor, I'm gonna send Mark and Juanita over to beat you up.

Why don't you send Robin Hartl instead? G

Kevin Craig wrote:
In article , jo4hn
wrote:

Kevin Craig wrote:
In article .com,
wrote:


A guy like Dean must have_hours_of bloopers laying around!


They're from Minnesota. Humor is illegal there.
Hey hey bubbie. I was born there. If you insist on impugning my sense
of humor, I'm gonna send Mark and Juanita over to beat you up.

Why don't you send Robin Hartl instead? G

YEAH!!!, Send her to my place too!! I neeeeeed an attitude adjustment.

On Tue, 06 Dec 2005 01:18:32 -0600, with neither quill nor qualm,
Kevin Craig quickly quoth:

In article , jo4hn
wrote:

Kevin Craig wrote:
In article .com,
wrote:


A guy like Dean must have_hours_of bloopers laying around!


They're from Minnesota. Humor is illegal there.
Hey hey bubbie. I was born there. If you insist on impugning my sense
of humor, I'm gonna send Mark and Juanita over to beat you up.

Why don't you send Robin Hartl instead? G

HER BUTT'S - M I N E - !!!


----------------------------------------------------
Thesaurus: Ancient reptile with excellent vocabulary
http://diversify.com Dynamic Website Applications
================================================== ==

In article , Larry Jaques
wrote:

Why don't you send Robin Hartl instead? G

HER BUTT'S - M I N E - !!!

It does present a certain "spankability", doesn't it? MMMmmmmmmm....

ROBIN !!!!,,,, I'M THE ONE WHO LOVES YOU !!!!!!
Pleeeeeeeeeeeease!

wrote:

ROBIN !!!!,,,, I'M THE ONE WHO LOVES YOU !!!!!!
Pleeeeeeeeeeeease!

Hey guys, leave Robin alone. He's got a store to run.
:-)
jo4hn

Kevin Craig wrote:
In article .com,
wrote:

A guy like Dean must have_hours_of bloopers laying around!

They're from Minnesota. Humor is illegal there.

Tell it to Ole and Lena. Sam
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&q=ole+and+lena

"jo4hn" wrote in message

ROBIN !!!!,,,, I'M THE ONE WHO LOVES YOU !!!!!!
Pleeeeeeeeeeeease!

Hey guys, leave Robin alone. He's got a store to run.

Hah! He's probably trying find a place to hide in his store right now.

On Tue, 06 Dec 2005 14:07:54 -0600, with neither quill nor qualm,
Kevin Craig quickly quoth:

In article , Larry Jaques
wrote:

Why don't you send Robin Hartl instead? G

HER BUTT'S - M I N E - !!!

It does present a certain "spankability", doesn't it? MMMmmmmmmm....

Ayup, and as an old Southern gent (friend of mine) used to say

"I'd bite her on the butt."



--
The Smart Person learns from his mistakes.
The Wise Person learns from the mistakes of others.
And then there are all the rest of us...
-----------------------------------------------------
www.diversify.com -- Wisearse Website Design

Bite her on the butt? If she's really a guy , I'll not be biting. Maybe
I should reconsider JoAnne. She was really doing all of the work when
she was on Hometime, wasn't she?

Tom in KY, wishing you guys had told me earlier that Robin might be a
guy!

On 8 Dec 2005 08:29:21 -0800, with neither quill nor qualm,
quickly quoth:

Bite her on the butt? If she's really a guy , I'll not be biting. Maybe
I should reconsider JoAnne. She was really doing all of the work when
she was on Hometime, wasn't she?

Tom in KY, wishing you guys had told me earlier that Robin might be a
guy!

Tom, Robin Hartl is a very feminine woman who can handle a tool as
well as any of us. Robin Lee is a guy who runs Lee Valley Tools.
I wouldn't bite Robin Lee on the butt even if he promised me a year's
shopping spree at LVT.






Hmmmm, wait a minute...







================================================== =======
The Titanic. The Hindenburg. + http://www.diversify.com
The Clintons. + Website & Graphic Design
================================================== =======

Larry Jaques said:

On 8 Dec 2005 08:29:21 -0800, with neither quill nor qualm,
quickly quoth:

Bite her on the butt? If she's really a guy , I'll not be biting. Maybe
I should reconsider JoAnne. She was really doing all of the work when
she was on Hometime, wasn't she?

Tom in KY, wishing you guys had told me earlier that Robin might be a
guy!

Tom, Robin Hartl is a very feminine woman who can handle a tool as
well as any of us. Robin Lee is a guy who runs Lee Valley Tools.
I wouldn't bite Robin Lee on the butt even if he promised me a year's
shopping spree at LVT.


Hmmmm, wait a minute...

LMAO. You guys...


Greg G.

In this age with cross dressing,sexually confused, morally bankrupt,
against the system yo-yo's running around everywhere, and where a man
has to be careful to not be confused with the wrong crowd. I'd just
like to say.

ROBIN_HARTYL_!!!! YOU KNOW I'M THE ONE WHO LOVES YOU!!!!
PLEEEEEEEEEEEEASE!!!

Tom in KY wishing I was following that gal with the tool-belt that
frames that perfect,,, jewel!

In article ,
Kevin Craig wrote:
In article , jo4hn
wrote:

Kevin Craig wrote:
In article .com,
wrote:


A guy like Dean must have_hours_of bloopers laying around!


They're from Minnesota. Humor is illegal there.
Hey hey bubbie. I was born there. If you insist on impugning my sense
of humor, I'm gonna send Mark and Juanita over to beat you up.

Why don't you send Robin Hartl instead? G

Because he is cruel *and* Hartl-less. *groan*

Thank you for just accusing me of cruelty, did you see whay they were
trying to say about Robin's gender? Sheesh!

Tom in KY, Hart-less.

In article ,
Larry Jaques wrote:

Hmmmm, wait a minute...

that's more like it...

On Thu, 15 Dec 2005 23:55:37 -0500, with neither quill nor qualm,
Robatoy quickly quoth:

In article ,
Larry Jaques wrote:

Hmmmm, wait a minute...

that's more like it...

The things we'd do for tools... sigh

--
Vidi, Vici, Veni
---
http://diversify.com Comprehensive Website Development

In article .com,
wrote:

Tom in KY, Hart-less.

Just go to Horse Cave. That's Hart County. ;-)