How It's Made
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| How It`s Made | |
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| Format | Documentary / Science |
|---|---|
| Created by | Gabriel Hoss |
| Starring | Narrator: Lynne Adams (2006–present) June Wallack (2005) Lynn Herzeg (2002–2004) Mark Tewksbury (2001) Narrator (US): Brooks T. Moore (2001-2007, 2008-present) Zac Fine (2007-2008) |
| Country of origin | Canada |
| No. of episodes | 169 (List of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Running time | 30 minutes (with commercials) |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | Ztélé (Quebec) Discovery Channel Canada Discovery Channel United Stataes The Science Channel (United States) |
| Picture format | 1080i (HDTV) 480i (SDTV) |
| Original run | 1999 (Canada & France) 2001 (United States) – present |
| External links | |
| Official website | |
How It's Made (French: Comment c'est fait) is a Canadian documentary television series that premiered in 1999 in Canada[1] and France, and in 2001 on the Discovery Channel and the Science Channel in the United States. The program's format is half-hour episodes with 24 minutes of content usually in four 4:30 segments, each of which details how a different unrelated product is manufactured or made.[2] The show is produced in Quebec, Canada by Productions MAJ, Inc.
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[edit] Format
The show is a documentary program showing how common, everyday items (including foods products like bubblegum, industrial products such as motors, musical instruments such as guitars, and sporting goods such as snowboards) are manufactured, and is filmed to simplify overdubbing in different languages, for example largely avoiding showing a narrator or host onscreen, and most often also not having employees of featured companies speak on camera.
An off-screen narrator explains each process, often 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.
Additionally, in June 2008, Science Channel began airing How It's Made: Remix, consisting of previous segments arranged into themed episodes ("Food", "Sporting Goods", etc.).
As of 2009, How It's Made has run for 12 seasons.[3]
[edit] Languages
Series originally broadcast in English and subsequently translated into approx 30 additional languages.
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 The Science Channel and the Discovery Channel), the UK and Ireland (on Discovery Channel UK and Discovery Science), 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 broadcasted 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 Turkish under the title Nasıl Yapılır.
[edit] Narrators
- Lynne Adams - Season 6–12 (2006–present)
- June Wallack - Season 5 (2005)
- Lynn Herzeg - Seasons 2–4 (2002–2004)
- Mark Tewksbury - Season 1 (2001)
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 Channel) 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 Channel, 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.
[edit] Episodes
[edit] See also
- Modern Marvels
- Factory Floor with Marshall Brain
- How Do They Do It?
- Cool Stuff: How It Works
- HowStuffWorks
- Some Assembly Required
- How'd That Get On My Plate?
[edit] Notes
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