| How It's Made | |
|---|---|
| Format | Documentary Science |
| Created by | Gabriel Hoss |
| Starring | Lynne Adams (2006–present) June Wallack (2005) Lynn Herzeg (2002–2004) Mark Tewksbury (2001) |
| Country of origin | Canada United States |
| No. of seasons | 18 |
| No. of episodes | 234 (List of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Running time | 30 minutes (including commercials) |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | Ztélé (Quebec) Discovery Channel Canada Science (United States) |
| Picture format | 1080i (HDTV) 480i (SDTV) |
| Original run | 2001 – present |
| External links | |
| Website | |
How It's Made is a documentary television series that premiered in 2001 on Science in the U.S., and Discovery Channel Canada in Canada. The program is produced in the Canadian province of Quebec by Productions MAJ, Inc. and Productions MAJ 2.[1] In the UK it is broadcast on Discovery Channel
Contents |
The show is a documentary program showing how common, everyday items (including foodstuffs like bubblegum, industrial products such as motors, musical instruments such as guitars, and sporting goods such as snowboards) are manufactured. It is filmed to simplify overdubbing in different languages. For example, the show avoids showing a narrator or host onscreen, does not often have employees of featured companies speak on camera, and keeps human interaction with the manufacturing process to a bare minimum. An offscreen narrator explains each process, sometimes making use of puns. Each half hour show usually has three or four main segments, with each product getting a demonstration of about five minutes, with exceptions for more complex products. Usually every show has at least 1 product with a 'History bite' before it, showing how and where the product originated, and what people used before it. The history bite is shown through different cartoon animations actually being 'drawn' on-screen by a computer program.
Additionally, in June 2008, Science Channel began airing How It's Made: Remix, consisting of previous segments arranged into theme episodes ("Food", "Sporting Goods", etc.).
It is broadcast in English on Discovery Channel Canada and Discovery Civilization Channel, and in French on Ztélé. The program is also broadcast abroad, for example, in the United States (on Science and, now rarely, on the Discovery Channel), the UK (on Discovery Channel UK, Discovery Science and Quest), Italy on Discovery Science I, Norway (translated into Norwegian on Discovery Channel and Discovery Science), and Poland (translated into Polish on Discovery Channel Polska and Discovery Science Channel Polska). In Germany it is broadcast on DMAX in German under the title So wird's gemacht. The show is also broadcast under various titles: in Portuguese under the title O Segredo das Coisas, in Spanish under the title Así se hace, in French under the title Comment c'est fait, in Polish under the title Jak to jest zrobione, in Hungarian under the title Hogyan készült, in Romanian under the title Cum se fabrică, in Italian under the title Come è fatto, in Russian under the title Как это работает, Norwegian under the title Hvordan den lages in Finnish under the title Miten se tehtiin? and in Czech Republic under the title Jak se to dělá.
Additionally, a different voice-over track is recorded for U.S. audiences by Brooks T. Moore (Seasons 1-8, 2001–2007, 2008–present) or Zac Fine (2007–2008). The main difference in the versions is that the U.S. host gives units of measurement in United States customary units instead of metric units. At one point in the U.S. run, a subtitled conversion was shown on-screen over the original narration instead.
In April 2007, all episodes run in the United States (on the Discovery Channel and Science) had the individual season openings replaced with a new opening used for every episode. Additionally, similar to most other Discovery Channel shows, the credits now run during the last segment, with only a blue screen and the request for feedback (and the website) at the end.
In September 2007, the 9th season began airing on Science, along with new openings, graphics, and soundtracks. In addition, Zac Fine replaced Moore as the narrator. However, the eleventh season, which started airing in September 2008, reinstated Moore as the narrator and reverted to a previous title sequence and soundtrack.
In the UK, rest of Europe and (in some cases) Southeast Asia, the series is narrated by Tony Hirst. All episodes have been shown in the UK on the UK Discovery Channel, Quest (TV channel) and the UK Discovery Science channel.