[tonyc56]

Just curious.

Norm Abram
Bob Vila
Steve Thomas

 

[JR Shepstone]

Just curious. Norm Abram Bob Vila Steve Thomas

Norm retired.

Bon Vila does infomercials.

Isn't Steve still there? He hosts Ask This Old House. Or is that some other guy?

 

[jlsconstruction]

They got old

 

[TRMolnar]

I heard years back that norm had nerve damge or something similar in his hands. In some of his final episodes of yankee workshop it was visible that he was experianing pain in his hands.

Its a real shame. I used to watch shows like his every weekend, while other kids were watching cartoons.

... i never really cared for bob villa or steve thomas, but Ill admit it was funny when bob vila made apperiances on Home Improvement - with Tim Allen.

 

[SticksandStones]

This Old House and New Yankee Workshop are the main reasons I do what I do! Growing up with a Dad that was "Renovationally Challenged" , I kind of looked up to Mr Abrams as a second father.

 

[480sparky]

Bob Vila.

Norm Abram.

Steve Thomas.

Damn, that was hard. :laughing:

 

[480sparky]

........Isn't Steve still there? He hosts Ask This Old House. Or is that some other guy?

Kevin O'Conner.

 

[sunkist]

Steve Thomas was not part of the original cast. He pops up on the history channel now and then. I would love to see norms blooper reel.

 

[JR Shepstone]

Kevin O'Conner.

I knew I was wrong. Thanks for the clarification.

 

[cdkyle]

I always enjoyed watching that show. I thought Norm was a true crafts man. Norm knew stuff. Bob, not so much. I thought Bob was more of a in-front-of-camera man. Bob kind of reminds me of that Holmes guy.

I think their show was the first of the kind and brought about the DIY (wanna-bees) revolution. Pioneers.

 

[EmmCeeDee]

I always thought Tom Silva and Roger Cook were the guys I would expect to bust out with some cursing on the bloopers.

 

[tedanderson]

Its a real shame. I used to watch shows like his every weekend, while other kids were watching cartoons.

I was forced to watch his show by default because cartoons went off after a certain time Saturday morning and there were no cartoons Sunday. Everything else on TV was news magazines and political discussions.

I think their show was the first of the kind and brought about the DIY (wanna-bees) revolution.

You are absolutely right. Back in the late 80's we used to talk bad about Bob on the forums like we talk about Holmes today. :laughing:

I always thought Tom Silva and Roger Cook were the guys I would expect to bust out with some cursing on the bloopers.

I thought about Tom Silva when I read the OP. He came a long way from being one of the workers with a couple of speaking parts to being a full time host.

But overall I think these guys saw the handwriting on the wall and knew their days were numbered when the Discovery channel started showing full basement tear-outs that seemingly happened in a single day. Nobody wanted to see a full renovation stretched out over 13 episodes anymore. Now everyone expects to see it inside of a 45 minute episode.

 

[mski]

You are absolutely right. Back in the late 80's we used to talk bad about Bob on the forums like we talk about Holmes today. :laughing:

Talk on forums in the 80's?
You had internet in the 80's?

Al Gore is going to be pissed if he finds out you had the internet before he "invented" it. :laughing:

 

[VinylHanger]

I was forced to watch his show by default because cartoons went off after a certain time Saturday morning and there were no cartoons Sunday. Everything else on TV was news magazines and political discussions.



You are absolutely right. Back in the late 80's we used to talk bad about Bob on the forums like we talk about Holmes today. :laughing:



I thought about Tom Silva when I read the OP. He came a long way from being one of the workers with a couple of speaking parts to being a full time host.

But overall I think these guys saw the handwriting on the wall and knew their days were numbered when the Discovery channel started showing full basement tear-outs that seemingly happened in a single day. Nobody wanted to see a full renovation stretched out over 13 episodes anymore. Now everyone expects to see it inside of a 45 minute episode.

I think this is part of the whole DIY problem. I enjoy watching it play out in a reasonable time frame. Some customers don't though. Takes me two months, but Holmes did it in 3 days, I should only charge three days. :laughing:

 

[tedanderson]

Talk on forums in the 80's?
You had internet in the 80's?

Yes we did. Those of us who had computers back then were considered to be part of a strange eclectic sub-culture that not many people knew about. Mainstream society thought we were strange. People would ask, "What the heck are you guys typing back and forth about anyway? It couldn't be anything interesting."

 

[EmmCeeDee]

Yes we did. Those of us who had computers back then were considered to be part of a strange eclectic sub-culture that not many people knew about. Mainstream society thought we were strange. People would ask, "What the heck are you guys typing back and forth about anyway? It couldn't be anything interesting."

Ha! That was the old school internet. My buddy and I used to access the BBSs on his Commodore Vic 20, back when it was done over a telephone handset modem. The long distance charges were insane, until he figured a work around....

 

[Anti-wingnut]

Just curious.

Norm Abram
Bob Vila
Steve Thomas

I think the cast the first decade was Norm and Bob, Steve came along after their corporate overlords fired Bob.

 

[fjn]

I think the cast the first decade was Norm and Bob, Steve came along after their corporate overlords fired Bob.

If memory serves,Bob was fired for promoting products that ran contrary to their sponsor (the pink fuzzy stuff) also doing stuff with Sears.

 

[tccoggs]

While the sears thing was one part of bobs demise, the season prior to his last was involving a 1700s farmhouse that the owner later sued the show because he felt pressured into doing additional work on the house for the sake of the show. Tommy appeared on a segment that season on another job and then appeared in bobs final season as the gc which was the bed and breakfast. In was in high school at the time so I want to say this was about 1989. The following season was the concord barn and was Steve Thomas first season.


There actually has been more than 1 lawsuit surrounding the show. I believe on one of Steve's seasons where they were working on Nantucket there were massive cost overruns and the family who was involved ended up having to give up on moving there and had to rent and later sell the house.

One aspect of the show that is probably over looked is that while manufacturers will typically donate expensive materials for the sake of getting them on air, the homeowner still has to pay tax on the materials as if it was income as well as any increased labor incurred. This is where I feel the show got away from its roots more recently.

 

[tedanderson]

Ha! That was the old school internet.The long distance charges were insane, until he figured a work around....

Yeah.. the good old days of phreaking, blue boxes, red boxes, diverters, loops, etc.. Those were the days when an unmarked cruiser coming into the neighborhood could make you sweat bullets! :laughing:

One aspect of the show that is probably over looked is that while manufacturers will typically donate expensive materials for the sake of getting them on air, the homeowner still has to pay tax on the materials as if it was income as well as any increased labor incurred. This is where I feel the show got away from its roots more recently.

You're right because the show was initially built on the PBS business model and I recall a couple of times when I've heard either Norm or Steve say something to the effect of "This is public television so I can't recommend this product by name but this is what it does..."