''How It's Made'' (''Comment c'est fait'' in
French) is a Canadian
documentary television series
A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite television, satellite, or cable television, cable, excluding breaking news, television adverti ...
that premiered on January 6, 2001, on the
Discovery Channel
Discovery Channel (known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery) is an American cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav. , Discovery Channe ...
in Canada and the
Science Channel
Science Channel (often simply branded as Science; abbreviated to SCI) is an American pay television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The channel features programming focusing on science related to wilderness survival, engineering, manu ...
in the United States. The program is produced in the
Canadian province
Within the geographical areas of Canada, the ten provinces and three territories are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British North ...
of Quebec by Productions MAJ, Inc. and Productions MAJ 2.
Format
The show is a
documentary showing how common, everyday items (such as
clothing
Clothing (also known as clothes, apparel, and attire) are items worn on the body. Typically, clothing is made of fabrics or textiles, but over time it has included garments made from animal skin and other thin sheets of materials and natural ...
and accessories,
food
Food is any substance consumed by an organism for nutritional support. Food is usually of plant, animal, or fungal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals. The substance is inge ...
,
industrial products,
musical instrument
A musical instrument is a device created or adapted to make musical sounds. In principle, any object that produces sound can be considered a musical instrument—it is through purpose that the object becomes a musical instrument. A person who pl ...
s, and
sporting goods
Sports equipment, sporting equipment, also called sporting goods, are the tools, materials, apparel, and gear used to compete in a sport and varies depending on the sport. The equipment ranges from balls, nets, and protective gear like helmets. ...
) are manufactured. It also features the restoration processes of old items in some episodes.
''How It's Made'' does not include explanatory texts to simplify
dubbing
Dubbing (re-recording and mixing) is a post-production process used in filmmaking and video production, often in concert with sound design, in which additional or supplementary recordings are lip-synced and "mixed" with original production sou ...
in different languages. The show also avoids having an onscreen host (after Season 1 in the Canadian version) and an interview with employees explaining the process. Instead, an off-screen narrator explains the process, often with humorous
pun
A pun, also known as paronomasia, is a form of word play that exploits multiple meanings of a term, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. These ambiguities can arise from the intentional use of homophoni ...
s.
Each episode features three or four products divided by segments, with each product getting a demonstration of approximately five minutes; exceptions are allowed in the allotted time for more complex ones. The scripts are almost identical across regional versions of the show; however, the main difference in the U.S. version is that the units of measurement are given in the
United States customary units
United States customary units form a system of measurement units commonly used in the United States and U.S. territories since being standardized and adopted in 1832. The United States customary system (USCS or USC) developed from English units ...
instead of
metric units
Metric units are units based on the metre, gram or second and decimal (power of ten) multiples or sub-multiples of these. The most widely used examples are the units of the International System of Units (SI). By extension they include units of el ...
used in the Canadian version. At one point in the U.S. run, a subtitled conversion was shown on-screen over the original narration.
The "Historical Capsule" segment, which is available until Season 5, introduces historical background information for the last featured product in each episode, showing how and where the product originated, and what people used before it. It presents a series of single-line drawings which got colored for a brief amount of time after completed.
The "Techno flash" segment briefly introduces some novelty from industry or science development. It is only available in Season 1 and 2.
In April 2007, all episodes run in the United States (on the
Discovery Channel
Discovery Channel (known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery) is an American cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav. , Discovery Channe ...
and
Science
Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe.
Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence for ...
) had the individual season openings replaced with a new opening used for every episode. Similar to most other Discovery Channel shows, the
credits now run during the last segment, with the show's website for request or feedback at the end.
Season 9, first aired in September 2007, features new opening graphic and segment's background music, both of which are different from the Canadian version. Zac Fine replaces Brooks T. Moore as the narrator. However, from Season 11, which premiered in September 2008, the show reinstates Moore as the narrator and uses the title sequence and background music to match with the Canadian version.
In June 2008, the Science Channel added ''How It's Made: Remix,'' which consists of previous segments arranged into theme installments like "Food", "Sporting Goods", and such. In 2013, it added ''How It's Made: Dream Cars'', which focused exclusively on high-performance and exotic
car
A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods.
The year 1886 is regarded as ...
s. These were later shown on the
Velocity
Velocity is the directional speed of an object in motion as an indication of its rate of change in position as observed from a particular frame of reference and as measured by a particular standard of time (e.g. northbound). Velocity is a ...
(now
Motor Trend
''MotorTrend'' is an American automobile magazine. It first appeared in September 1949, and designated the first Car of the Year, also in 1949.
Petersen Publishing Company in Los Angeles, California, Los Angeles published ''MotorTrend'' until 19 ...
) channel.
Hosts
The show has different narrators for different regions.
In the Canadian version, it features
Mark Tewksbury
Mark Roger Tewksbury, (born February 7, 1968) is a Canadian former competitive swimmer. He is best known for winning the gold medal in the 100-metre backstroke at the 1992 Summer Olympics. He also hosted the first season of ''How It's Made'', ...
(Season 1, 2001) as the host of the show. Lynn Herzeg (Seasons 2–4, 2002–2005), June Wallack (Season 5, 2005) and Lynne Adams (Season 6 onwards, 2006–present) are the narrators.
In the U.S. version,
Brooks Moore
Brooks Turner Moore is an American television narrator who has primarily provided voiceovers for programs broadcast on the Discovery Channel and its related networks. His most prominent work is narrating ''How It's Made'' for broadcast in the Un ...
and Zac Fine (Season 9–10, 2007–2008) are the narrators.
In the United Kingdom, the rest of Europe, and in some cases in
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...
, the series is narrated by
Tony Hirst
Anthony Hirst (born 21 January 1967) is an English actor, theatre director and narrator best known for playing Mike Barnes on the soap opera ''Hollyoaks'' and in ''Coronation Street'' as Paul Kershaw, the love interest of Eileen Grimshaw. Hi ...
.
Episodes
Critical reception
Common Sense Media
Common Sense Media (CSM) is an organization that reviews and provides ratings for media and technology with the goal of providing information on their suitability for children. gave the TV show a rating of 4/5 stars, writing "Curious kids and adults will learn from the show, and some segments can really broaden your perspective". On the show's success despite its formulaic nature, Rita Mullin, the general manager of the Science Channel, said "I think what is one of the great appeals of the show as a viewer myself is how little has changed over the years". ''
The Wall Street Journal
''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
'' deemed it "TV's quietest hit".
Accolades
Parodies
The show's style is spoofed in the ''
Rick and Morty
{{Infobox television
, image = Rick and Morty title card (cropped).png
, alt =
, caption =
, genre = {{Plainlist,
* Animated sitcom
* Adult animation
* Science fiction
* Black comedy
* ...
'' episode "Interdimensional Cable 2: Tempting Fate", showing how a "Plumbus" is being made.
The
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
channel
Huggbees makes parodies of the show called "How It's Actually Made" involving a humorous narration of how the items are made. An episode called "How It's Actually Made - Bread" was accidentally featured on a newsletter of
CNN
CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...
.
See also
*
HowStuffWorks
HowStuffWorks is an American commercial infotainment website founded by professor and author Marshall Brain, to provide its target audience an insight into the way many things work. The site uses various media to explain complex concepts, termin ...
* ''
Cool Stuff: How It Works''
* ''
How Do They Do It?
''How Do They Do It?'' is a television series produced by Wag TV for Discovery Channel. Each programme explores how 2 or 3 ordinary objects are made and used. The show's slogan is "Behind the ordinary is the extraordinary." The series is broa ...
''
* ''
Modern Marvels
''Modern Marvels'' is an American worldwide television series that formerly aired on the History Channel and is currently shown on Story Television. The program focuses on how technologies affect and are used in modern society. It is History's f ...
''
* ''
Some Assembly Required''
* ''
Die Sendung mit der Maus
' (''The Show with the Mouse''), often simply ' (''The Mouse''), is a German children's television series, popular nation-wide for its educational content.Bernhard Borgeest"Von Mäusen und Machern"''Focus, official website. (March 12, 2001) Retr ...
''
Notes
References
External links
*
*
*
* {{Cite web , title = How It's Made {{! Facebook , url = https://www.facebook.com/HowItsMade , url-status=live , website =
Facebook
Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...
, ref=''How It's Made''
2001 Canadian television series debuts
2000s Canadian documentary television series
2010s Canadian documentary television series
Discovery Channel original programming
Science Channel original programming
Documentary television series about industry
English-language television shows