I can't watch Animal Precinct because real animals being mistreated gives me nightmares. Even, as my good friend points out, they're all fluffy and happy at the end of the show.

Whereas I can watch Intervention which involves a whole lot of human suffering, and quite frequently, the addicts involved AREN'T all fluffy and happy at the end.

Not always, unfortunately. Though I do still watch from time to time.

Huh. Personally, I can watch Animal Precinct but not Intervention.

Although a) watching Animal Precinct is why we have the Biscuit. When he showed up on our doorstep I knew he was in grave condition because he looked like some of the dogs I'd seen on tv. Most of the strays we get we tried not to feed, but then most of them weren't about to die, either. and b) since the advent of Seabiscuit, I can't watch Animal Precinct anymore, because he feels bad for the other animals and whines when they cry. It's very very sweet and also heartbreaking, so I don't put him through it anymore.

The DH and I have been avidly watching what has to be the nerdiest show not on The Weather Channel. It's called "How It's Made" and is about, well, how things are made. Each half-hour show picks three or four unrelated items (Golf balls, drawer pulls, mozzarella cheese, room dividers) and follows the manufacturing process. It's all close-ups of vats and presses while lame upbeat electronic music plays and the narrator says stuff like "The material is placed in a press for 17 seconds while heat is applied." We both really like that stuff, and always try to go on factory tours when we go on vacation, so it's right up our alley. Bonus--it's produced in Quebec, so you sometimes get cool bilingual products, like stop signs in French and English. It airs on the Science Channel.

It's called "How It's Made" and is about, well, how things are made. Each half-hour show picks three or four unrelated items (Golf balls, drawer pulls, mozzarella cheese, room dividers) and follows the manufacturing process. It's all close-ups of vats and presses while lame upbeat electronic music plays and the narrator says stuff like "The material is placed in a press for 17 seconds while heat is applied." We both really like that stuff, and always try to go on factory tours when we go on vacation, so it's right up our alley. Bonus--it's produced in Quebec, so you sometimes get cool bilingual products, like stop signs in French and English. It airs on the Science Channel.

There was a kid show in the 70s called Hot Dog that did that. But it had the added bonus of them interviewing standup comedians how things were made and they'd riff off the top of their head and come up with hilarious and nutty answers to how mozzarealla was made.

Good comedians too, like Woody Allen and Jonathan Winters.

"Yes, well, rubber balls are mined in Central Slovenia. You need a special pick axe with a scoop on the end to carve each ball out indivdiually..."

"Marshmallows, of course, are hammered into shape using raw styrofoam."

I think "How It's Made" is actually on the Discovery Channel, because it has bumped my beloved "It Takes A Thief" on weekdays.

OMG, how much do I love It Takes A Thief? So much.

I reference Jon Douglas Rainey all the time in common parlance.

ITAT: The HoYay on that show amuses me to NO end.

I know! It is slash central! And hott!

Jon will be scrambling up a wall and I'll be all, this is wrong, huh, for it to be so attractive to watch a thief! It's the competence thing, I think. Also, limber.

I love this thread! I don't care about being spoiled for non-plotty shows, and I adore Mythbusters, Ghost Hunters, Dirty Jobs, and a lot of the others you've been talking about.

Robin, ND is going to love you. He is obsessed with How It's Made and has to endure my mockery about choosing to watch shows with titles such as "Paint." (Don't tell him that I actually kind of like watching them sometimes too!)