# Stuck With Hackett
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuck-with-hackett/595056
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [September 3, 2011, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuck-with-hackett/595056 "2011-09-03T14:36:45Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2011, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuck-with-hackett/595056/1 "2011-09-03T14:36:45Z")
This show (on the Science Channel) is far more boring than it should be. Yet I watched an entire episode trying to figure out if Hackett is black or just a really dirty, dreaded white guy. Anyone know?
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### Author:  [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2011, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuck-with-hackett/595056/2 "2011-09-03T19:31:09Z")
Never heard of this, but found this video:
[![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oj3d0zFoNT4)
looks like a black guy to me.
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### Author:  [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2011, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuck-with-hackett/595056/3 "2011-09-03T20:16:02Z")
I don’t know. But he appears to me to be at least part black.
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### Author:  [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2011, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuck-with-hackett/595056/4 "2011-09-03T22:32:40Z")
Mixed, I figure.
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### Author:  [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)
#### Post date: [September 4, 2011, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuck-with-hackett/595056/5 "2011-09-04T19:28:00Z")
> [@Biggirl](#):
>
> dirty, dreaded white guy
band name!
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### Author:  [@Hackett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hackett)
#### Post date: [September 7, 2011, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuck-with-hackett/595056/6 "2011-09-07T03:45:57Z")
Half Haitian, half Irish (Irish-American. New York Irish. You know what I mean.)
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### Author:  [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)
#### Post date: [September 7, 2011, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuck-with-hackett/595056/7 "2011-09-07T05:08:04Z")
I mean the show should be a lot more interesting and less boring.
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### Author:  [@Hackett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hackett)
#### Post date: [September 7, 2011, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuck-with-hackett/595056/8 "2011-09-07T06:46:15Z")
Insightful analysis like that will help us improve the show.
So: like, more dinosaurs? Car chases? Sex scenes that blur the boundaries between artistic expression and just plain filth? Me, with a Welsh accent, fighting, then befriending a bear? Help me out here- I am going to the trouble of checking out forums that pop up in my Google alert, just to get feedback and see what people think, so if you have some input, lay it out.
Thanks again, and if you are a Nielsen family, watch it twice.
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### Author:  [@FlyingDragonFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlyingDragonFan)
#### Post date: [September 7, 2011, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuck-with-hackett/595056/9 "2011-09-07T18:43:55Z")
I’ve only caught the train yard/gassifier episode so far, but I thought it was fascinating. I know almost nothing about engineering/mechanics, so it’s all new info to me, and therefore interesting. I also like the “obtainium” aspect of it. I suspect Hackett will be a useful guy to have around after the zombie apocalypse.
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### Author:  [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)
#### Post date: [September 7, 2011, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuck-with-hackett/595056/10 "2011-09-07T18:49:15Z")
> [@Hackett](#):
>
> Insightful analysis like that will help us improve the show.
> So: like, more dinosaurs? Car chases? Sex scenes that blur the boundaries between artistic expression and just plain filth? Me, with a Welsh accent, fighting, then befriending a bear? Help me out here- I am going to the trouble of checking out forums that pop up in my Google alert, just to get feedback and see what people think, so if you have some input, lay it out.
> Thanks again, and if you are a Nielsen family, watch it twice.
I’m sorry if I hurt your feelings but I wasn’t offering up any deep analysis. I just wanted to know if the dude was black or white.
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### Author:  [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)
#### Post date: [September 7, 2011, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuck-with-hackett/595056/11 "2011-09-07T18:51:15Z")
Damn, never even heard of this show, but I’ll definitely check it out.
My suggestion (having never seen it) - a homemade bamboo cannon, like Kirk used against the Gorn.
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### Author:  [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)
#### Post date: [September 7, 2011, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuck-with-hackett/595056/12 "2011-09-07T18:51:41Z")
I like it, if only for them not milking out a half-hour of content into a padded rehash and repeat for every commercial monstrosity like Mythbusters. To catch you up, before my last period we observed how the show was actually only a half-hour instead of a full hour. We’ll tell you what that means after this commercial.
Hackett has a bit of an annoying hipsterer-than-thou delivery, but he cludges up some very cool Mad Max style contraptions.
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### Author:  [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)
#### Post date: [September 7, 2011, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuck-with-hackett/595056/13 "2011-09-07T18:53:46Z")
> [@Hackett](#):
>
> Insightful analysis like that will help us improve the show.
> So: like, more dinosaurs? Car chases? Sex scenes that blur the boundaries between artistic expression and just plain filth? Me, with a Welsh accent, fighting, then befriending a bear? Help me out here- I am going to the trouble of checking out forums that pop up in my Google alert, just to get feedback and see what people think, so if you have some input, lay it out.
> Thanks again, and if you are a Nielsen family, watch it twice.
Hey, if that’s really you, welcome to the board! I’ve seen one of your shows, and I found it entertaining enough. I’ve been meaning to catch more episodes… maybe I’ll program the DVR.
If I was all alone in a post-apocalyptic world, I’d want you on my team! You seem like you’d be more fun to hang out with than MacGyver, anyway… 😃
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### Author:  [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)
#### Post date: [September 7, 2011, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuck-with-hackett/595056/14 "2011-09-07T19:14:48Z")
One thing I’ll add is to ask Science Channel to quit advertising your show in the same spots with those junkyard hillbillies. Makes your show look more like theirs, instead of creative engineering/building.
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### Author:  [@PacifistPorcupine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PacifistPorcupine)
#### Post date: [September 7, 2011, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuck-with-hackett/595056/15 "2011-09-07T19:28:28Z")
I tried watching the first episode. At the 12th mention of “obtanium” (so, about 5 minutes into the show) I changed channels.
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### Author:  [@Death\_of\_Rats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Death_of_Rats)
#### Post date: [September 7, 2011, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuck-with-hackett/595056/16 "2011-09-07T19:38:57Z")
> [@Hackett](#):
>
> Insightful analysis like that will help us improve the show.
> So: like, more dinosaurs? Car chases? Sex scenes that blur the boundaries between artistic expression and just plain filth? Me, with a Welsh accent, fighting, then befriending a bear? Help me out here- I am going to the trouble of checking out forums that pop up in my Google alert, just to get feedback and see what people think, so if you have some input, lay it out.
> Thanks again, and if you are a Nielsen family, watch it twice.
I haven’t seen the show yet, but all of the above would work for me! In fact, don’t even blur the boundaries, feel free to cross right over and leave them in the dust.
Just not with the bear. 😃
Seriously, I may have to check this show out.
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### Author:  [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)
#### Post date: [September 7, 2011, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuck-with-hackett/595056/17 "2011-09-07T19:52:27Z")
> [@Hackett](#):
>
> Half Haitian, half Irish (Irish-American. New York Irish. You know what I mean.)
Does this mean that the answer to the OP is “Yes”?
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### Author:  [@Hackett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hackett)
#### Post date: [September 7, 2011, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuck-with-hackett/595056/18 "2011-09-07T20:15:40Z")
Thanks to those of you that like it. Actually, thanks to all who watch it, like it or not, because the more people that watch it the better it seems to advertisers, and the show (like most shows) is just a life support system for commercials.
With that said, I was trying to get as much good information across as possible- the realities of turning four days of shooting into a 21 minute, four act program chopped and screwed some of the info, removing some context or important steps. I am going to make an effort to blog the useful techniques and skills (remember to print them out before the Apocalypse). The first attempt, welding with car batteries (with an essay on how bad-ass and useful welding is), is up on Make magazine online and on the show’s blog.
Those interested in post-apocalypse thriving should check out tomorrow’s show, where I build a few kinds of electrical power systems from obtainium (I use the term in day-to-day-life- the term was, um, obtained, from Survival Research Labs, who are intense and great and much better at building Awesome than me. Or you. Check them out)(also, my producer-mandated overuse of the term has led to a drinking game that makes my show all the more entertaining). I sincerely think power generation using the debris of society would be the trump card in living well after everything collapses. (This is rooted in some deep thinking, learning, and planning I did after reading The Road, but that is a long story that is a little too off-topic, even by my standards.) I will put up some how-tos on that at a later date.
@GargoyleWB: I kind of think the show should be longer, and am pretty sure we shoot enough content for a good, solid hour (~42 minutes). But, the show is made in the editing, so what do I know. If you think I am annoying on the show, you should see me in real life. Even more annoying, and a lot sweatier.
@Biggirl: Feelings not hurt. I crave criticism, but I want it to be useful.
@voltaire: thanks. Do DVR it- apparently that stuff is tracked, and included in the ratings numbers.
@ Anyone else who wants to watch it, but does not have a teevee/cable/Science channel: I have seen it up on bit torrent. Not telling you to bootleg the show- that would hurt some vague corporate entity that does not care if you live or die. Just saying that pretty well seeded torrents have been sighted on the Pirate Bay and Demonoid.
Links to stuff mentioned above:
Survival Research Labs : [srl.org](http://srl.org)
Show Blog: [http://stuckwithhackett.wordpress.com/](http://stuckwithhackett.wordpress.com/)
Make article: [http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2011/09/how-to-car-battery-welding.html](http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2011/09/how-to-car-battery-welding.html)
Hackett
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### Author:  [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)
#### Post date: [September 7, 2011, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuck-with-hackett/595056/19 "2011-09-07T21:40:39Z")
> [@Hackett](#):
>
> …@GargoyleWB: I kind of think the show should be longer, and am pretty sure we shoot enough content for a good, solid hour (~42 minutes). But, the show is made in the editing, so what do I know. If you think I am annoying on the show, you should see me in real life. Even more annoying, and a lot sweatier.
I would love more content, as long as it isn’t the aforementioned padding. Keep your editors fearful, remind them that the hydrogen torch is invisible…😉
Just watched the hospital light episode, I’m a lighting engineer and loved every moment of it.
On the annoyance factor, I think you being alone as a single presenter can make you prone to folks focusing too much on your mannerisms (I’m easily annoyed and pick up on people’s tics). Maybe introducing a few post-apocalyptic cohorts that can provide a bit of banter and balance?
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### Author:  [@FlyingDragonFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlyingDragonFan)
#### Post date: [September 7, 2011, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuck-with-hackett/595056/20 "2011-09-07T21:57:20Z")
> [@GargoyleWB](#):
>
> On the annoyance factor, I think you being alone as a single presenter can make you prone to folks focusing too much on your mannerisms (I’m easily annoyed and pick up on people’s tics). Maybe introducing a few post-apocalyptic cohorts that can provide a bit of banter and balance?
I’d agree, except that I actually kind of enjoy the solitary style of what he’s doing. Watching him try to lever that big barrel up for the gassifier was fun, and really brought home how much work something like that could be.
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