American Restoration.

[VINMAN]

Anyone else watch American Restoration on the History channel? They come up with some pretty cool stuff on there. I would love to to something like that for a living.

I would kill to have that ride on toy train they fixed up the other night.

[cgarr]

Yea they do in one hour what takes me 4 years to do!

[Zeke]

They focus too much on the "story." There's no real how to do it on the show. I miss shows that showed work in progress and methods used.

I would like to see a show about restoration that is based on the "How It's Made" format.

Once Jesse James beat out a gas tank on Discovery. That was cool even though he isn't. Still, he can do stuff.

[VINMAN]

Yeah, that's a good point Milt. I'd like to see more of the actual work too.

[Joe Bob]

Pawn Stars with different dorks....

[Heel n Toe]

Originally Posted by milt

There's no real how to do it on the show. I miss shows that showed work in progress and methods used.

Is it just me, or does it perturb anyone else when house/room renovation programs show smiling, doofus homeowners merrily rolling paint on a wall that hasn't been cut in?

"It's a paint party! Isn't this fun?"

"Yes, it probably is... you skipped the part that requires patience and skill."

[Zeke]

Originally Posted by Heel n Toe

Is it just me, or does it perturb anyone else when house/room renovation programs show smiling, doofus homeowners merrily rolling paint on a wall that hasn't been cut in?

"It's a paint party! Isn't this fun?"

"Yes, it probably is... you skipped the part that requires patience and skill."

It isn't just you.

"smiling, doofus homeowners merrily rolling paint on a wall" without an extension handle standing on a chair or something.

Home improvement shows used to be really good. Sure, I'd sit there and snicker about some of the segments, but I'd take any one of them back now.

Does anyone remember far enough back when Dave Bowman who was one half of "Two Guys Garage" had a home improvement show on TNN?

[greglepore]

I'd like to like it, but the guy is an egomaniac. And repetitive.

[azasadny]

I like the show, but I would also like to see more of the "how" behind the work.

[bell]

I'm a lifelong fan of the new yankee workshop for specifically this reason........norm rules

[Fritter]

It's a cool show, but the formula is a bit contrived

1. Get crappy thing and quote price
2. Take apart, sandblast, paint, assemble
3. Talk about how hard to get parts
4. Funny hijinx with employees
5. Insert celebrity
6. Owner picks up item and is floored
7. Rick does his salespitch of "yea it cost $2k but you could sell it for $5k!!"

Cool show though.

[Talewinds]

The vintage bike forums are all abuzz about the Hopalong Cassidy bike they did a couple weeks ago.
Consensus amongst the tire kickers is that it was a total botch job!

[cbush]

It seems to be pretty standard in the entertainment industry that shows need to have drama. That is true for purely entertainment shows, but I would think there is also a market for "How to do it" shows, and unfortunately, they are hard to find or mix in an excessive amount of drama just to cover their bets. I watch some of these shows hoping for some spark of intelligence or insight into the "how to" portion but invariably get tired of the fake drama and turn them off permanently.

Sounds like I have a lot of company here.

[VINMAN]

The concept and premise of the show, I'm not thrilled with. But, I just like some of the old things they come up with. As with most of these fix-it-up show, whether its vehicles or homes, if there was no drama behind it,the audiences would be slim pickins.

[85eurocarrera]

I find the prices he quotes to be cheap, like that light post all busted up for example. Maybe it's just me. Are labor rates out there that low?

[drcoastline]

It's not just the "smiling doofus homeowners" its also the smiling doofus hosts. One of those shows was once filmed across the street from my office. They re-modeled two motel rooms. The hosts were as incompetent as the owners. There was a team of about ten people behind the senses doing the real work.