Does everyone still watch "This Olde House"?

[Louis Brandt]

Hello,

Is it just me, or do others agree that the series “This Olde House” and “Ask This Olde House” have strayed from their original purposes?

When I first started watching “This Olde House”, the show was all about restoration, repairing, and fixing, all related to actual old houses. These shows illustrated woodworking techniques that were very interesting to me. For the last few years, all that I see are shows about building new (and usually very grand and expensive) houses. I can’t understand what this has to do with “old houses”.

And to me, the same thing is true of “Ask This Olde House”. When it first started, I enjoyed watching Tom Silva demonstrate woodworking techniques, etc. Now, all that I see are episodes in which Roger is pruning a shrub or Rich is fixing a leak in a toilet tank. Tom isn’t in the show very much anymore. The show seems to be more about gardening than about anything else.

Or am I just being too critical of the show?

Louis

[Bob Moyer]

I enjoyed one of the last ones they did; the brownstone in Brooklyn.

[Joe Hardesty]

I haven't watched in a long time. The similarities between the old and new shows are in name only.

I agree completely that new shows don't offer much. Then again, it seems like everyday I find less of interest on TV in general.

[Nate Carey]

I hear ya Louis. It's all about money...the show's format is dictated by the sponsors. My wife loves "This Old House" and "Ask This Old House"; the shows are tailored to appeal to women, 'cause they control the money. Correct me if I'm wrong Mr. Morash...

[Lee Schierer]

We've nicknamed the program this old Mansion becuase they don't do projects costing less than a couple of million anymore. Most of us can only dream of the luxuries they put into these houses with seemingly unlimited budgets. I understand the economics and logistics of setting up a shooting schedule and locating equipment to do the shooting if a project is only goiong to take a few weeks, but come on, their Brownstone restoration was more than 4 times the total value of my house.

Even if a lot of the service and material is donated by sponsors, the owners still have to put out a lot of cash.

[Neal Clayton]

here's a perfect example...

http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/arti...425331,00.html

an article that is tagged on the search engines as dealing with window glazing, and when you get there, you find a 3 page advertisement for plastic windows, and nothing about glazing.

and yeah they're often building a McMansion when they're not pulling a bait and switch like the above.

that's what you get when you put the marketing department of some building materials manufacturer in control of content.

[Jim O'Dell]

I still enjoy watching the shows. I really like the "What is it?" segment on Ask this Old House. Interesting items they show at times. That show may be driven by what people write in and ask about. May not have anything to do with old houses. This Old House still does some old home redos, but they also do some newer houses. But yes, most of what they do is beyond the normal publics pocket book. But some of it is still interesting to watch.
I tried to turn it on last night, but it was not on the local PBS for some reason. I do get reruns on Sat afternoon on This Old House, usually 2 weeks off from the weekly shows. But they don't have the Ask show at all on Sat.
Just another mystery in life. Jim.

[Bruce Page]

My wife is a big fan. I'll watch if I don't have anything going on.

[Stephen Tashiro]

Not to get off topic in off topic forum, but... speaking of window glazing. Can a person do their own window glazing anymore on fancy double paned, coated, tinted, etc. modern energy efficient windows? Or do you just remove a broken "module" and replace it with a new one?

[Jim Rimmer]

Hello,

Is it just me, or do others agree that the series “This Olde House” and “Ask This Olde House” have strayed from their original purposes?

When I first started watching “This Olde House”, the show was all about restoration, repairing, and fixing, all related to actual old houses. These shows illustrated woodworking techniques that were very interesting to me. For the last few years, all that I see are shows about building new (and usually very grand and expensive) houses. I can’t understand what this has to do with “old houses”.

And to me, the same thing is true of “Ask This Olde House”. When it first started, I enjoyed watching Tom Silva demonstrate woodworking techniques, etc. Now, all that I see are episodes in which Roger is pruning a shrub or Rich is fixing a leak in a toilet tank. Tom isn’t in the show very much anymore. The show seems to be more about gardening than about anything else.

Or am I just being too critical of the show?

Louis

I've pretty much lost interest in the show although I was pleasantly surprised by the magazine (I got a free offer for trial scrip).
When I moved to the Houston area in 2003, they had just taken Red Green off the PBS station here. Now that show I REALLY MISS. As far as I'm concerned they could take the money they pay for TOH and put Red Green back on. At least his projects are in my budget.

[Neal Clayton]

Not to get off topic in off topic forum, but... speaking of window glazing. Can a person do their own window glazing anymore on fancy double paned, coated, tinted, etc. modern energy efficient windows? Or do you just remove a broken "module" and replace it with a new one?

not effectively. there's some sort of vacuum seal with a different type of gas in between the two. any hint of moisture between the panes will be a problem that never goes away as well.

of course we could get into the discussion about how silly double and triple paned windows are to begin with but that would be a whole other argument .

[Lee Mitchell]

At one time I was addicted to home improvement/woodworking/gardening/crafts shows when we went from rabbit ears (PBS only) to HGTV, DIY and several other sat. networks.

Today, for the most part, the TV stays on Fox News.

The true woodworking shows have all but disappeared, except the 2 on PBS.

Got sick of seeing modest homes being destroyed in order to build McMansions that may be in forclosure today or next week. Used to cringe when I saw solid wood cabinets being busted up, only to be replaced mass produced imitations of the real thing. It was such a shame to see dumpsters full of goods and materials that could have been recycled or donated to a good cause. I HATE waste.

Have a growing dislike for the word "outdated". Often, true craftsmanship of 40-50+ years ago is trashed to make way for the latest "style". Many folks don't realize that "styles" have a way coming back into vogue. I'm not talking about that wild wallpaper of the 70's. It's things like seeing a beautiful old fireplace stripped of its character because it's "outdated".

Grew tired of the constant push of products and materials that are well beyond the budget of the average and responsible family. Without going deeply in debt, how many people can afford a $6000 stove as a part of their $50,000-$100,000 kitchen renovation? Especially, if the most used appliance in the kitchen is the microwave.

Just one example. During the justification for the renovation filming, you see a complaint that the burner doesn't work on the stove. No one bothers to explain that a trip to the hardware store for a replacement element will quickly and economically solve the problem.

On to another aspect. I grew up on a farm and have been a gardener all my life. Those "new" landscapes do look picture perfect (could be on a magazine cover). Yet, if the homeowner couldn't maintain what they already had, how in the heck are they going to maintain their lavish / lush new surroundings?

Finally, what happened to the true craft shows? Much of what's on today is paint by number on steroids. To make xyz, buy this stuff and put it together. It's like buying a TV cabinet and then putting it together. That's not woodworking. Buying the equivalent in any craft isn't crafting in the true sense of the word.

Sorry, I've stayed on this rant so long. Time to go back to watching the news.

[Dan Mages]

I agree that they have strayed from their roots and have done too many McMansions of late. They are also trying to gear it more towards the housewife by really pushing interior design as important aspect of a home remodel.

Their current project does look promising though. They are refurbing a duplex in Roxbury as part of a nonprofit effort. http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/tv/h...277827,00.html

Dan

[AL Ursich]

I watch less and less of TOH and ATOH.

I really watched Norm... Liked his input to TOH last series.

The Re Released NYWS were good, some nice Norm Stuff.

I am now in a NORM FREE ZONE as my local PBS quit showing Norm for a Outdoor Show. The other channel had Norm on in the Afternoon but 3 weekends out of 4 they are BEGGING for MONEY....

Wish I had recorded them.

I wish they would offer NYWS to watch on the website.

AL

[Matt Meiser]

I still watch, but agree its not what it used to be. But there are a lot of interesting ideas on the show still. Its typically a watch-while-I-surf show. On ATOH I saw a repeat where they Tommy replaced a skylight. Gave me enough information to know I wanted to hire my neighbor who's a roofer to do ours (two down, one non-critical to go). And there was a recent one on tree trimming where I learned a lot. But some are just plain dumb. For example, how many times do they need to install bathtub faucets?