So wird's gemacht!

What a joy it is to walk into the living room in the morning and see the kids watching something educational, ON THEIR OWN! Not only that, but I actually enjoy sitting with them and watching too because it's so interesting. We store multiple episodes on TiVo, read the descriptions, and decide which products we'd like to learn about. In this day and age we take everything for granted but How It's Made does a great job of taking everyday products and making the story of their creation interesting. I will never take cornflakes for granted now that I know what they go through. Ditto fire extinguishers and Wellingtons. But most important, I absolutely love the fact that my kids would rather watch this than cartoons.

This show is extremely well done. The range of products showcased is broad and interesting, and the amount of detail presented for each segment strikes the right balance between thoroughness and conciseness -- particularly given the short attention span of today's TV audience. The finished product is slick and technically excellent, which is particularly remarkable given just how few people put this show together (take a moment to watch the end credits sometime -- you'll be surprised!) I was unimpressed by the work of the male narrator they used in some early episodes, but apart from that I've found little to fault and have been a devoted watcher pretty much since day one. Unreservedly suitable and entertaining for all ages, and superb for family viewing.

The wide variety of the many excellent shows give an interesting view of your everyday products from the factory to your uses, each segment gives a detailed view on how it all goes down. As one of the very popular shows on The Science Channel and Discovery Channel, many people learn about the complex techniques and processes used to produce ordinary and extraordinary products. Most segments teach everyone watching a interesting process. The music is also great, accompanying the narration , I always jam to the background, even in the most uninteresting (to me) segments, there is always something good on in How It's Made.

I was wondering how some of the things featured in this series was made. Then I found this series, and learned how they're actually made. Showing how things are made on video is ideal way to learn how it's done. The show keeps it short and sweet - just perfect for us laymen to get the information we need.

I can think of at least a dozen episodes of exact items I wanted to learn how they're made, like drill bits, sugar, salt, ham, soy sauce, tofu, rum, needles, gears, magnets, bike chains, injection molds, batteries, and coffee. There's no other series that you can pick up so much information in one place, and the producer did an excellent job of compiling, and presenting the information in an entertaining way. Some episodes gave great overview for the kind of manufacturing that needs to be setup for a new business, which the information would have been difficult to obtain otherwise.

I rate this one of the best educational series on television along with Anthony Boudain's "No Reservations". I'm eternally grateful to the producers of this show for producing such an informative show.

Who would think a show about making bicycles or ice cream could be so captivating? No matter what the subject matter is, I'm glued to the TV. Maybe it's subliminal messages or hypnosis, or maybe it's just brilliant programming. Watch for yourself and decide.