I've been doing a watch through in the background while I'm working and I have a new big admiration for How It's Made.
It's such a well-executed show that consistently stays true to itself from the cinematography, ethos, art direction, etc. It walks the balance of overly-cheesy and self-aware perfectly and it's almost like they're saying "Yeah, we know that was a terrible dad joke, but we're dads and that's what dads are supposed to do. If you roll your eyes a little bit it means I won."
The "not changing our intro or bumpers for for 32 seasons" gives mad High School Shop Teacher That's About To Retire energy, which is exactly what I want from a show like How It's Made.
It's taught me to appreciate the simple things I own and the journey it took for them to come into my life. It also pulls the curtain back into the mechanisms of capitalism a bit and you get a glimpse into engine that keeps it running. Most people don't (by design or otherwise) think "I wonder what it took to get this fake tea light candle into my hands" or "How do iPhones work?", they just take it at face value that it's there and that it works (myself included). It's helped me with that a lot too, or at least made me more mindful about it.
The flip is also true. It makes you actualize what we're taking from our planet and the ramifications that buying fake tea light candles, using it once, and throwing it away has.
It's inspiring to see what the human mind if capable of as well. I'm constantly thinking "How did someone figure out how to design that?"
This show needs to be stored in a vault so after society collapses we’ll know exactly how to make it all again.
2127
Impossible_Leg_2787Apr 6, 2026
+460
Real r/restofthefuckingowl stuff right there
460
Smythe28Apr 6, 2026
+286
“They’re then sent through the proprietary chimpus system”
**throws tape into the fire for warmth**
286
BadlossApr 6, 2026
+42
The fleeb is then repurposed for future batches
42
bjorn_pooleApr 6, 2026
+9
Imagining all the cross referencing where you watch, hear the name of a piece of equipment, then switch tapes to the how it’s made for that piece of equipment and you end up in a never ending cycle
9
BendizmApr 6, 2026
+9
Thank you for the sub recommendation I didn’t know I needed.
9
dm80x86Apr 6, 2026
+15
Imagine if there was an episode about Stonehenge or the Pyramids.
15
leoschotApr 6, 2026
+14
"The mason delivers his giant rocks to the build site using smaller rocks he collects from the previous stonework."
Just hours of rock talk.
14
[deleted]Apr 6, 2026
+31
[removed]
31
CaptainKatsuuuraApr 6, 2026
+11
Wait I love this. Some Galaxy Quest esque thing where we’re all banging on different shit post-apocalypse, trying to recreate the royalty free p*** music in order to unlock the secret to advanced civilization
11
FredasaApr 6, 2026
+81
I lament this state of affairs every few weeks, it seems like.
The golden age of documentary programming was probably the 80s, but we had a _lot_ of stuff to watch in the 90s and early 00s. What happened to it all?
I'll use my favorite example as a microcosm of the problem. _Wonders of Weather._ A mini-series popular enough to get countless reruns on TLC. Nowadays, the literal only way you can find the series is by already knowing of its existence, and even then, all you're going to find are a handful of clips on Youtube and $80 DVD copies being sold as educational programming.
Certainly nothing on Amazon.
There's no resource out there that will reveal to you the existence of _"Wonders of Weather"_ if you decide you're in the mood for some weather-related documentaries. Not even DocuWiki. Nobody curates this kind of info adequately. So even if you are a documentary enthusiast, as far as the internet is concerned, this mini-series has fallen off the face of the Earth.
Multiply that by hundreds.
81
SafetyDanceInMyPantsApr 6, 2026
+20
Over time they became like a kid doing a book report on a book he skimmed. They’d give the one fact they knew about the subject, then promise they’d have a big reveal after the next commercial break, then come back and repeat the one fact they knew about the subject, but stay tuned because we’ll finally have the big reveal after the next commercial break, and then the big reveal is that he doesn’t actually know a second fact about the subject.
20
beamoflaserApr 6, 2026
+39
best we can get now is youtubers reading wikipedia while showing you stock images
soon to be replaced by AI generated recreations with an AI-generated voice reading an AI-generated script
39
Old_Gimlet_EyeApr 6, 2026
+18
There's still a lot of good documentaries being made on PBS. Nature and Nova are both great and still going.
18
Tamara0205Apr 6, 2026
+10
TLC, in the 90s, was great. Many documentaries as you said. They played surgeries. Some of them are still seared into my brain. I saw a breast augmentation where the surgeon used belly fat, made a tunnel under the skin of the torso and shoved the fat into the breasts. Wtf? Many of their shows were pretty good, informative and not glossy or over produced. I don't know who made the decisions that turned it into whatever it is now, but it would be nice to have something like it back, it better access to the old series they ran. We didn't even know that we wanted to know how a ship stays upright in a storm, or how to enrich the soil in the garden. It was good stuff.
10
b0n3rd1xApr 6, 2026
+5
Is this it?
https://archive.org/details/vintage-vhs-the-learning-channel-wonders-of-weather-lightning
5
FredasaApr 6, 2026
+4
It was a mini-series and had something like eight programs in total. That one on lightning happens to be my favorite, though.
Yeah, archive.org is a mystery box. Sometimes they're the only place that has something. Quality will vary wildly. You can tell they try, but the search engine in its current state just won't get you there. Search for "weather documentaries" and it's not like Google or Youtube—it's more opaque. You get a thousand hits and none of them are the item you linked.
That all being said, I'm not sure if rocking that boat would be for the best. What would happen if they managed to put together a DocuWiki-style "related programs"? Or if text searches gave results as robust as a proper search engine? I think that would make archive.org 50 times more useful... which might put it on some inconvenient radars.
4
NTP9766Apr 6, 2026
+10
I have every episode on my Plex server and both myself and my 13 year old watch it from time to time. Still one of my favorite shows ever, and so many others spun off from its general idea.
10
colemon1991Apr 6, 2026
+5
Your Plex server sounds great. I am low-key jealous.
5
Missus_MissilesApr 6, 2026
+6
"Okay, we know how they mixed the goo to make the candy bars. But hopefully there's how it's made videos on designing and programming these f****** machines...."
6
Hugh_Jass_CloudsApr 6, 2026
+5
I mean. It falls short of a lot of things. It's super high level over view of how things are made. Like how much can you really cram into a 5-10 minute segment.
5
JohnCavil01Apr 6, 2026
+2
But it never explains how to actually make a hopper which that show has taught me is evidently essential to making everything so I think we’d still be fucked.
Someone would probably forget the code to open the vault or lose the key.
1
Buscemi_D_SanjiApr 7, 2026
+1
Check out Dr Stone if you aren't against shonen anime, it's about recreating a scientific society from scratch after the entire world population is frozen in stone for 3,700 years.
1
TheGoodRobotApr 6, 2026
+392
Bonus content: [Here's a cool AMA](https://www.listnook.com/r/IAmA/comments/41kp0m/today_on_riama_i_am_brooks_moore_narrator_of_how/) the narrator (Brooks Moore) did 10 years ago
392
racinreaverApr 6, 2026
+79
How the heck did his account get banned!?!
79
JJMcGee83Apr 6, 2026
+59
Probably got hacked and some bot or whatever spammed.
59
thekevingreeneApr 6, 2026
+8
I had no idea he did an AMA! I was so bummed when an episode was anyone other than Brooks. That dude is such a legend and his AMA was such a good read. Thanks for posting!
8
shadowst17Apr 6, 2026
+5
Interesting, did they change narrators depending on the country? He was definitely not the voice I remember when watching it in the UK.
5
Massive_Percentage_6Apr 6, 2026
+10
Yeah in Canada we had a completely different set of narrators (mostly Lynne Adams).
10
bootymix96Apr 7, 2026
+3
Yep! So there are [three versions](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_It's_Made) of How it’s Made: the original Canadian version (the production company is in Canada), the US version, and the UK version, all of which have different narrators. I think they do the different versions in part because (a) the US version gives all measures in customary units, whereas the Canadian version gives all measures in metric units, and (b) all three versions give different websites to suggest future episodes based on region—the Canadian one gives the production company’s own website, the US version gives the US Science Channel’s website, and I think the UK version gives the UK Discovery Channel’s website.
The Canadian version has had 4 narrators: Olympic swimmer [Mark Tewksbury](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3FQzwNzUE4) hosted onscreen and narrated in Season 1, [Lynn Herzeg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33EhiTGgwYM) in Seasons 2-4, [June Wallack](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEImORosvSo) in Season 5, and [Lynne Adams](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TvMj6XSExGQ) from Season 6 on.
The US version has had [Brooks Moore](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7X-3DF_CbU0) for nearly the entire run, save for 2 seasons, S9 and S10, where [Zac Fine](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D42mVB3sEUg) briefly replaced him.
The UK version has had [Tony Hirst](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gh9kgA0cENA) for the entire run.
3
TheGoodRobotApr 6, 2026
+3
Yes, and they temporarily replaced him for a year or so in the US, but fans petitioned to bring him back and they did in \~2011/12 or so.
3
vortex1775Apr 6, 2026
+270
Losing Mythbusters, Daily Planet, and How It's Made in the span of 3 years is what made me finally cancel cable. Back when short form content was a few ~5 minute segments How It's Made served as a nice pallet cleanser between hour long shows.
270
0Rookie0Apr 6, 2026
+119
Watching TV channels go from learning about history and documentaries of important events to aliens should have been a sign at the times to come.
119
lostlittletimeonthisApr 6, 2026
+58
not just aliens, its transformed into a sort of Big Brother/Real World crossover, its people cutting trees in alaska for 20 episodes, finding gold in alaska, people going into jungles naked, jails and drugs all over the world
58
Lazerus42Apr 6, 2026
+11
it was, but it was still kinda fun then. now it's not even aliens.
11
usagizeroApr 6, 2026
+8
Channel drift is the worst. I remember when MtV2 went from airing a nice mix of shows, to nothing but Ridiculousness all day. IK read that the reason channels like History went to WW2 and then Aliens is they see what gets views, and go overboard on that, like, i get it, but it's annoying.
I also remember in the 90s or so when people were trying to cancel PBS and the reason they gave was there were channels like Discovery and "The Learning Channel". Which, yeah, started out great, but look at them now.
8
wtfduudApr 6, 2026
+41
American Chopper was the Trojan Horse that opened the gates for shitty reality TV to invade the channel.
41
ComfortableExotic646Apr 6, 2026
+19
It's sucks cause the son had a little bit of design sense. He should have just been a fabricator at a better shop, but I doubt any of those people could work with anyone other than family. And they barely worked as a family.
19
DedBirdGonnaPutItOnUApr 6, 2026
+2
The son is still in business surprisingly. The dad is deep in bankruptcy and debt and had to sell his house. The old OCC million dollar building is now a U-Stor-It.
I saw one of those TikTok "Where are they now" videos on those two just recently.
2
BarnabyButtsuckApr 6, 2026
+6
its all about short form tiktok content now with no less than 3 jump cuts per second. every human breath or pause has to be cut out when someone is speaking also. anything to make it more addicting and cater to zero attention spans
6
AuburnElvisApr 6, 2026
+280
They need more stuff to be made, then they'll be back. It's too good a concept to be gone forever.
280
BlindStarkApr 6, 2026
+45
TODAY… ON *HOW IT’S MADE: HOW IT’S MADE: HOW IT’S MADE: HOW IT’S MADE…*
*reality flickers*
[CUT TO THE NARRATOR HAVING THEIR VOCAL CHORDS ASSEMBLED]
45
ThesheriffisnearerApr 6, 2026
+9
I would watch an episode of the camera crew being interviewed filming and researching how they make an episode
9
cogit4seApr 6, 2026
+9
I’d like to watch How It’s Made: Extreme Deep Dive edition. So if something has an injection-molded plastic housing they spend 30 minutes on Yellowness Index and ASTM E313. There are hundreds of ASTM tests and all sorts of intricacies to how materials are designed to achieve balance between them. That should be good for a few thousand additional hours of content.
9
No-SpoilersApr 6, 2026
+6
There are luckily thousands of youtube videos that have filled the void of How it's Made, but HIM was so clean.
6
colemon1991Apr 6, 2026
+4
At some point, they will have to go back and update some stuff. Packaging has gotten simplified and newer technologies have definitely affected the process enough to justify a do-over. I know they've started doing those pellets for a lot of medication so that's easy one to list. And if the show has the rep I think it does, they could really get some modern big names to agree to let the crew in their plants.
4
BetterNothingmanApr 6, 2026
+62
My college days were during the era of Mythbusters, How It's Made, Dirty Jobs, and early seasons of Deadliest Catch. We also had Modern Marvels on History. How It's Made was mind blowing to my college student ass smoking a bong, haha.
I still put on Mythbusters and How It's Made sometimes to help me sleep.
62
VentureIndustriesApr 6, 2026
+11
I recently found out that Samsung tv has a channel playing Modern Marvels 24/7
11
younggreggApr 6, 2026
+3
Amazon prime does as well. Both marvels and how its made
3
indianajones64Apr 6, 2026
+2
samesies, we must be the same age. such a golden age of television to be incredibly stoned and impressionable in!
2
[deleted]Apr 6, 2026
+89
[removed]
89
AshleyAshes1984Apr 7, 2026
+6
Mayday was my first job as a VFX compositor out of college. Helped make 13 eps. :D
6
fieryone4Apr 6, 2026
+6
Those same regulations that the US is holding against us and trying to force us to drop.
6
EscapeSeventySevenApr 6, 2026
+179
Best nonfiction show ever made. I wish I could legally show it to my kids.
179
DustmopperApr 6, 2026
+175
There’s a whole 24/7 free “how it’s made” channel on Pluto, I also think HBO has them streaming
Great to throw on in the background
175
chewytimeApr 6, 2026
+25
It’s one of my go to “ something in the background” shows.
25
muad_dibsApr 6, 2026
+6
I watch it every Sunday morning, while I do things.
6
[deleted]Apr 6, 2026
+6
[deleted]
6
SailnGameApr 6, 2026
+9
It's AI slop. Over the 3 minute sections it repeats the same stuff over and over. My grade 4 students called it out so quickly. It's the originals or nothing
9
EscapeSeventySevenApr 6, 2026
+7
Oh hell yeah! I was rooting around years and years ago and it seemed like the rights were up in the air.
7
jetkid30Apr 6, 2026
+13
HBO max has the entire show
13
itissnorlaxApr 6, 2026
+3
Seen episodes and livestream on YouTube also
3
phlostonsparadise123Apr 6, 2026
+6
Can confirm - HBO has the entire series streaming, something like 20+ seasons.
I remember watching this with my college roommates back in 2005. Now, 21 years later, *How it's Made* is still one of my favorite shows and probably my overall favorite comfort show.
6
fenoustApr 6, 2026
+41
The Science Channel's YouTube playlist is legal!
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL39_ud5aKSvnYDhKdB7wTDUZRiE8RaJat
I can't speak to how complete this playlist is, however.
41
samcuuApr 6, 2026
+14
What about illegally showing it to your kids?
14
villainsarebetterApr 6, 2026
+11
Not trying to advocate for streaming services, but seasons 15-32 are on Hulu
11
Top_Gun8Apr 6, 2026
+4
It’s on Tubi for free
4
-LazerFace69-Apr 6, 2026
+2
Did they remove it from HBO Max?
2
xvoyApr 6, 2026
+2
For the fellow Canadians all 32 seasons are on Crave
2
jmathews777Apr 6, 2026
+45
I can’t begin to tell you just how much I agree.
I grew up on the show. Seeing how things were made gave me a lifelong appreciation for the manufacturing / creative process.
45
04HondaCivicApr 6, 2026
+17
I can literally her the intro and see it in my head right now and then hear the voice over announcing what the episode will be about. “Today on How it’s Made…”. I don’t know how to describe it but it’s there. I loved that show and I’ll still watch episodes of it when I come across them on various streaming platforms.
17
ConstantGradStudentApr 6, 2026
+10
Doo do do doo too do-do-do-Doo!
10
DietPepsiEvenBetterApr 6, 2026
+61
There's a parody version of How It's Made on Youtube. The channel is called Huggbees. Some of the language may not be great for kids, but the videos are pretty hilarious.
61
MastasmokerApr 6, 2026
+13
How it's actually made
13
SchubertitaApr 6, 2026
+12
I still remember one of the episodes where the narrator talks about how these videos sometimes get put into autoplay for people watching the real show, and they use it to fall asleep. And then said he was gonna scream. And nobody talk about it in the comments, so the sleepy people are confused.
12
ContentsMayVaryApr 6, 2026
+3
Let's not forget ["Wow it's made"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMapmlUwerw&list=PLOSIbbQu7f2qaOebJuggcU4KC7U8LfARP)...
3
tfhermobwoaywayApr 6, 2026
+2
But the main ingredient remains the same. A mammoth.
2
Psymon_ArmourApr 6, 2026
+2
"GET THOSE BROWNIES OUTTA HERE GOD DAMNIT!"
2
BlackKnight2000Apr 6, 2026
+4
Haha this channel is awesome, thanks.
4
TsundereLoliDragonApr 6, 2026
+1
His long form episodes on comics and other random stuff are good too.
1
QuantumTechieApr 6, 2026
+25
Totally agree, it’s one of those rare shows that’s both relaxing and fascinating, and nothing else really scratches that same oddly satisfying itch.
25
MooseymaxApr 7, 2026
+1
Give japanology a go
1
apf6Apr 6, 2026
+10
My kids favorite episode was the jellybean one. “Then they add more sugar”
10
fullmoon63Apr 6, 2026
+7
It’s one of the few shows where you can half-watch it and still come away feeling like you learned something.
7
wiriuxApr 6, 2026
+1
Well you always learned something new with every south park episode as well :)
1
euchlidApr 6, 2026
+4
mark tukesbery! i love that show. yes, take me on a wild tour of the hottub liner factory in quebed.
the kids show The Polka Dot Door, used to do how it's made type clips when they looked through the polka dot. i remember seeing how raisins are made
4
MidwestTroy92Apr 6, 2026
+6
That show was weirdly perfect background tv. I'd sit down for 5 minutes and suddenly be fully locked in on how they make hinges or gummy bears.
6
sir-winkles2Apr 6, 2026
+7
this is random but I have also been rewatching and I liked it up and the voice over guy was originally a producer who did a demo and everyone loved his voice. what a lucky break! he had steady work for yeeeeaaars
7
thebochmanApr 6, 2026
+8
GOAT show to fall asleep to
8
flychinookApr 6, 2026
+3
100%. Interesting, yet deeply relaxing.
3
Original_betchApr 6, 2026
+2
This Old House is also pretty top tier for that
2
Hank_Scorpio_ObGynApr 6, 2026
+2
Yep.
They never raised the volume in the episodes and the theme wasn't jarring.
Like I can fall asleep to The Office but that high pitched theme always woke me up.
2
Gloryboy811Apr 6, 2026
+16
The UK voice over was the best. I used to be so upset when I saw an episode with the US guy.
16
M808VMainBattleTankApr 6, 2026
+7
Tony Hirst! The kind of voice you can never get tired of.
7
tquastApr 6, 2026
+6
I'm the complete opposite, I only watch episodes with Brooks Moore
6
Didst_thou_FartethApr 6, 2026
+4
Perfect hangover TV, easy visuals and a soothing voice over.
4
NaturalBeatsApr 6, 2026
+3
Yes! I can’t find anywhere that has all the old episodes with him narrating. The US guy isn’t bad, but Tony’s voice is so comforting.
3
yeahnorightwhatApr 6, 2026
+8
[I always wondered how plumbuses got made.](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=eMJk4y9NGvE)
8
hrbekcheatedin91Apr 6, 2026
+3
You have to stretch the fleem.
3
Apprehensive_War173Apr 6, 2026
+3
I used to have it on in the background, too, and somehow always ended up actually watching it. There’s something really calming about how consistent it is, like you always know exactly what you’re getting.
3
[deleted]Apr 6, 2026
+4
[deleted]
4
mira_poixApr 6, 2026
+2
People are addictive to social media so they want the same episodes in short form.
And to the people who put it on for background noise still would need to occasionally look over to see how...it's made. To look at the product and the methods not just hear about it. And that comes in sections.
2
GreenStreetJonnyApr 6, 2026
+2
There are 40 billion AI "how it's made " videos on YouTube. All trash. YT allows it for some reason
2
LostBoyOfNeverlandApr 6, 2026
+3
Oh dang, I remember watching that show as a kid! It was such a unique concept and unexpectedly cool to learn about how mundane things we take for granted actually come into existence.
I shouldn't be surprised that it eventually ended, but it's still kinda sad to hear...
3
JayWaWaApr 6, 2026
+3
Indeed. One of my favorite shows along with Connections with James Burke
3
ElDeguello66Apr 6, 2026
+1
Connections and The Day the Universe changed were my jam, back when those channels actually were about Learning and Discovery.
1
pikapaloozaApr 6, 2026
+3
I really enjoyed the show. It made me genuinely more curious about certain industries.
3
Lint6Apr 6, 2026
+3
I always wondered why sometimes the brand would be blurred out, and sometimes it wasn't.
Also what ever happened to the things that were made with How Its Made put on it
3
james2183Apr 6, 2026
+3
I'm honestly shocked they didn't try and continue this show on YouTube, it's the perfect show to watch.
3
horsenbuggyApr 6, 2026
+3
This is gonna sound bad, but if I ever can't sleep, this show can put me right to sleep. The sound design is so consistent from episode to episode. You see but don't hear the assembly process. And the narrator has such a soothing voice.
3
tphillips1990Apr 6, 2026
+3
I have this very weird thing where binge-watching shows always feels like a chore to me, and I can rarely commit to watching anything all the way through. Fairly certain I might have ADHD. But How It's Made was the hard exception. Once I became aware of that show's existence, I sought it out and just sat. PERFECT background sound, and had some genuinely interesting topics I've always been interested in.
3
Outrageous_Spray_196Apr 6, 2026
+3
Totally agree—*How It’s Made* is deceptively profound. It celebrates everyday ingenuity while quietly showing the human and environmental cost behind even the simplest objects. The consistency in its style, humor, and ethos gives it this “veteran shop teacher” vibe that’s oddly comforting, while still making you stop and think about how much effort and creativity goes into the things we take for granted.
3
mejyApr 6, 2026
+3
I worked retail for a while in a store with a USPS substation and used to put this on the TV for people waiting in line there whenever it was on. It was always mildly interesting enough to get people watching and thus kept them calm while waiting, but it wasn't so interesting that people refused to move up when it was their turn, lol. Very soothing.
3
TallDankandHandsomeApr 6, 2026
+3
I was on my first week of work when they came into my job. I didn't have a uniform so they hid me, but I still go back and watch it 23 years later
3
flmhdpsychoApr 6, 2026
+5
I absolutely loved this show. Seeing different things going through their manufacturing lifecycle is fascinating. My wife doesn't really "get it" in terms of why I enjoy it so much lol
5
SiegelOverBayApr 6, 2026
+3
I loved it too, I've always been fascinated by all of the steps a product has to go through before it enters our lives. In times between jobs or while working jobs that I didn't like, I would look at things in the world and consider the chain of hands that took raw materials and processed them and processed those results and took those results and turned them into a product standing in front of me. Traffic barricades, stripes on the roadways, bags of ice at the convenience store (that's gotta be a cool job, eh? 😎), bagged chips, bottled drinks, street signs, buildings, fire extinguishers, everything everywhere was touched by so many people's hands from beginning to end. It's a fun practice to envision all the steps between raw material and finished product and try to decide where in the process I would thrive as an employee. This show reeeeally scratched that itch for me!
3
1Steelghost1Apr 6, 2026
+4
LG televisions have their 'internet channels (ip-299)' that still air it.
4
taydraisabotApr 6, 2026
+2
NOOOO, we never found out what the final thing being made was!!
2
the_duck17Apr 6, 2026
+11
The final thing were all the friends were made along the way.
11
4footgiantApr 6, 2026
+2
I never thought it should be called “How it’s Made”…it should’ve been called “How it’s Assembled”
2
blacknebulaApr 7, 2026
+2
Thank you!!!! Was I the only one that hated this show?!? When I was a kid I loved it but as I became older and became an engineer, I realized it was only showing me one random assembly process for something without ever explaining how it was made. Why half of the machines did what they did was never explained and most of the time are just process conveniences and not essential to how to make the things they're talking about
Shows like Connections were WAaaay better at explaining how it was made
2
trab_puk_cipApr 6, 2026
+2
HOW I MAD
2
GazBannoApr 6, 2026
+2
I’ve recently been watching some of the older ones and thinking to myself “I wonder if they still do it that way”? I would love them to do a “How it’s NOW made” where they compare the manufacturing processes with the original episodes.
2
FearlessDerekApr 6, 2026
+2
They should do a remake of this show but show you how simple things are made/can be made with simple tools and not huge machinery in case of a nuclear fallout or something.
2
HowardBunnyColvinApr 6, 2026
+2
That shit is actually interesting. Sad that it was taken off.
Now networks want to air low effort reality TV bullshit.
2
FunkycoldmediciApr 6, 2026
+2
I liked that they often ended with showing how pallets of the item being wrapped for shipping. Pallet-wrapping is an art that goes unappreciated.
2
nerdsnugglesApr 6, 2026
+2
My 3-year-old loves it. We'd been watching Mister Rogers, but he doesn't like the parts with the puppets in the neighborhood of make believe and kept asking to skip them. I don't live those parts either, so I'd skip ahead and each episode was lasting only like 10 minutes.
But he's enthralled by the ones where they go to a factory and see how things are made. And that's my favorite part too. So I just switched over to How It's Made and it's become one of his favorite shows. He really wants to rewatch the one where they make toilets over and over again, though.
2
chocki305Apr 6, 2026
+2
As a person who works in the manufacturing industry. That show is just frustrating. They skip over important critical details of many processes. Leaving out entire steps for simplicity sake, and misuse words which ultimately mislead the viewer.
My favorite example is they a had a cast spindle which would hold a bearing. "The part is machined to final form." And the show it spinning in an automated lathe. They then how the part with a ground finish, keyway s****, and holes drilled in the mounting plate.
No. The part is roughed out in that lathe, and a small amount of stock is left on the part. Then the diameters are ground to finish. Then the keyway is milled, not turned. And finally the mounting holes are drilled.
Many times it is like showing a bag of flour and a cup of sugar and saying "the ingredients are then mixed and out comes chocolate chips cookies."
2
GiganymApr 6, 2026
+2
I wish they did “How ‘How it’s Made’ is Made”
2
mahboilucasApr 6, 2026
+2
I forgot how obsessed I was with it.
I'm currently playing their intro sound in my head
2
A_Bungus_AmungusApr 6, 2026
+2
They made everything
2
space-glitterApr 6, 2026
+2
I’ve been swapping between this & Unwrapped/Good Eats! I have such a fondness for Marc Summers from my childhood haha.
2
invisibleotisApr 6, 2026
+3
In my 20s Id get home after nights drinking with my friends and watch how its made until I sobered up. Great show and memories.
3
PsycheHoSocialApr 6, 2026
+3
"it starts by entering into a gigantic complicated machine that we never explain how it was created" - real helpful
3
Amazing-Record-2232Apr 6, 2026
+1
u/PsycheHoSocial can you check your dm please
1
tacocattacocat1Apr 6, 2026
+2
My wildest conspiracy theory is that how it's made is propaganda to promote consumerism. Stay with me lol
I used to looooove watching How's It's Made as a kid. Pencils, bouncy balls, you name it. All made by funky machines and conveyer belts. People are hardly shown and it's usually like a hand or an arm or something. So watching this all the time as a kid, I kind started not to connect that everything is made by *people*. It's a lot easier to practice mindless consumption when you think the item was made by a cool machine and not a miserable, poorly paid worker. How It's Made had us all psychologically disconnecting from the human labor cost of all the products we have.
That's all I got 💁🏼♀️
2
ClintSluntApr 6, 2026
+7
I don’t think it’s as nefarious as you think.
There’s no onscreen host either. A show made out of b-roll is c**** to produce (camera and sound people hired locally, maybe a producer or director type flies between locations to ensure consistency) and easy to internationalize (change out the Narrator to the target language).
7
HanifsefuApr 6, 2026
+5
That and they would have had to pay people to be on camera. And do background checks on those people and hope there was nothing about them that would hurt the show's reputation.
Imagine how hard it already was to find the unicorn case that could make it to tv. You had to find a factory who didn't care about their process being filmed. Then you had to hope they were doing things to code because you can't be filming OSHA violations. Then you had to hope they could clean the place up enough to be presentable on tv because seeing a dusty, dirty factory would have turned so many people away. Then you'd have to find the one factory boss that wasn't actively a PoS.
5
aMgWellApr 6, 2026
+2
It’s not over until their final episode is called That’s How “That’s How It’s Made” Is Made
2
0Rookie0Apr 6, 2026
+1
It's M.I.A., not K.I.A. Spartans never die.
1
yasoXRApr 6, 2026
+1
Great show, I used to enjoy Build it bigger.
1
DarkflowNZApr 6, 2026
+1
One of the few things I used to catch on discovery that I'd watch no question
1
AstroRikerApr 6, 2026
+1
What are the best episodes of this show?
1
wiriuxApr 6, 2026
+5
Yes
5
CupcakeVikingApr 6, 2026
+1
One of the female narrators (June Wallack, season 5) was hired frequently by a call center I worked for 10+ years ago. She would record the greetings that customers heard when they dialed our phone number and I got to work with her a few times when new campaigns were launched. It always tickled me as a big How It’s Made fan.
1
Aishas_StarApr 6, 2026
+1
It’s not quite the same but there’s also the Aussie version that has 2 seasons. Get yourself a VPN and use an Australian server and watch “Dr Karl’s How Things Work” on the ABC.
1
JoeGideonApr 6, 2026
+1
A worker
1
HSCTigersharks4EVAApr 6, 2026
+1
Maybe the finale will be "Why it was cancelled"
1
favorite_time_of_dayApr 6, 2026
+1
There's [a youtube channel](https://www.youtube.com/@Evidz/videos) which is following in this same vein.
It's hard to compete with How It's Made though. You're right that it is, was, wonderful. I'm surprised it was cancelled, seemed like the sort of thing which could potentially go forever.
1
nayhem_jrApr 6, 2026
+1
Did they ever get around to a self-referential episode I’m sure everyone asked for?
1
GregDravenApr 6, 2026
+1
It always made me chuckle that one of the series titles only displayed some of the title letters during the montage.
And during that montage what was spelled was "HOW I MAD".
1
StarkvilleApr 6, 2026
+1
That used to be my comfort show. I’d always fall asleep to it.
1
Jackbuddy78Apr 6, 2026
+1
Favorite thing for me to watch on the weekend when I was bored
1
EricEstradaApr 6, 2026
+1
look for "the secret life of..."
1
ice-eightApr 6, 2026
+1
I used to binge that show all the time when it was on cable in the early 00's. It's why I decided to be an industrial engineer.
1
TheOximeApr 6, 2026
+1
There's tons of youtube channels that are doing basically the exact same format
1
ItinerantSoldierApr 6, 2026
+1
It's kinda funny how the title sequence changed just *once* from a very simple blueprint-style intro to a CGI-styled one later in the series. But the segment formulas never changed. Always with some very simple intro about each product straight into the process.
This comes up every now and then but there's a Japanese Youtube channel called [ProcessX](https://www.youtube.com/@processx) that has english subtitles to their videos and is kind of in the same thread. Good stuff there.
1
ucancallmevickyApr 6, 2026
+1
most/many/all? of the old ones are on youtube
1
sofahkingsickApr 6, 2026
+1
I watch this with my two year old all the time we both get excited about how stuff gets made.
1
Dankas12Apr 6, 2026
+1
What do you do for your job? Why don’t you go into industrial automation etc if you enjoy it
1
DrSpaceman575Apr 6, 2026
+1
Love How it’s Made, it’s one of the shows we put on every night to fall asleep too. That said, I get it. It’s one of those things there’s so much short form content by a million accounts doing to same type of content that it would just be lost in the competition today.
1
tfhermobwoaywayApr 6, 2026
+1
Without it, how can we learn how they turn a DeLorean into a ReStorean?
1
brokenmessiahApr 6, 2026
+1
Its the perfect show to watch while in a waiting room. It even worked great to strike up conversation with strangers over.
1
Brak710Apr 6, 2026
+1
I think YouTube killed the TV market for shows like this.
You can watch 24/7 "How It's Made" content and then spiral even farther into more obscure and detailed versions of the same tours.
Loss for the value of TV, but the content is better than ever elsewhere.
1
schmearcampainApr 6, 2026
+1
IMO, it's one of the best stoner shows of all time.
1
CloudinterpreterApr 6, 2026
+1
What!?!?!?!
1
Kevin-WApr 6, 2026
+1
I loved watching this show and seeing the behind the scenes of how everything was made and put together and I wish it would come back
1
indianajones64Apr 6, 2026
+1
i just want to say this is my fave show ever and i've been watching a lot recently but had a revelation that in fact probably 100% of the processes it shows are now outdated. they treat CAD like a gd space age marvel. i want a new version but nobody would probably allow their bullshit 'proprietary processes' to be filmed nowadays
1
KiltedMusicianApr 6, 2026
+1
Well you might like watching the How it’s Actually Made series on YouTube by Huggbees.
1
harrisarahApr 6, 2026
+1
"Inside the Factory" is still going in the UK with Paddy and crew! It's even better imo
1
EufradesApr 6, 2026
+1
The came through the plant that I worked at. It was interesting to see how much they got wrong, and how much they mixed footage of one process area into a totally unrelated area for effect.
1
snorlzApr 6, 2026
+1
luckily there are many Youtubers trying to fill that gap now
1
ipainttreesandstuffApr 6, 2026
+1
How it's really made is much more informative.
1
brainspl0adApr 6, 2026
+1
This was like 'Picture Picture' from Mister Rogers Neighborhood, but full scale.
1
CheezTipsApr 7, 2026
+1
I love that show! Having it on during a lazy Saturday is one of my favorite things.
My favorite intro was tofu. They had a block of tofu on that little spinning plinth, it was so cute.
1
adblinkApr 7, 2026
+1
Is food factory still on? That was a great spin off from how it's made (and Ive been working in food plants for the past 15 years and still find it interesting)
1
silkIggyApr 7, 2026
+1
I looked forward to watching how it’s made & unwrapped every time I saw it airing!! I’ve recently found myself watching a few of the episodes from time to time as a nice enjoyable yet both relaxing & educational background to my chores, crafting & doom scrolling
1
DDRDieselApr 7, 2026
+1
There's a creator on Instagram that makes very similar content. I can't remember the specific name, something like "Scott's curious world" or something to that effect, but he makes short-form videos that are like a mash-up of the basic factual delivery of *How It's Made* and the wonder of *Mr Roger's Neighborhood*. I highly recommend looking it up when you've got the time
1
Columbus43219Apr 7, 2026
+1
Ya know, we never got a special on how they made this show.
1
I_Implore_YouApr 7, 2026
+1
Such a good show I watched as a kid and when I got older and smoked weed it was awesome haha.
1
littlebabyskeeApr 7, 2026
+1
NO WAY!!!
When?
1
gojohandjobApr 7, 2026
+1
Sell forklifts for a living and you get to see how it’s made in real life all the time. I loved that show and chose my career with it in mind. I get to see different manufacturing facilities around the country.
1
mechanizzmApr 7, 2026
+1
They don’t want to show how most things are made now…
1
lynnsher16Apr 8, 2026
+1
What! When? Love that show
1
Any_Ring_3818Apr 9, 2026
+1
My 10 year old and I just finished a full watch through of How It's Made. When you were born in 2015 like my son, apparently the show is more like a history documentary than a science and manufacturing documentary.
1
PreferenceAnxious449Apr 10, 2026
+1
Bro I still sometimes go 'I wonder how *that* is made' then look for a How It's Made video. Nothing else comes close.
189 Comments