I’m really enjoying this show so far. Rob is so respectful and working hard with the Amish. I like seeing aspects of their life. Rob helped deliver a calf (with a come-along) in the second episode.
The Amish he’s living with and working for are a little more modern. They use power tools in their construction business. At home there’s no electricity and they travel by horse and buggy. Some of their customers are non-Amish that want top quality work.
Rob helped renovate a Amish couple’s kitchen in the first episode. All the lighting was natural gas lighting. Then in the second episode he designed and helped build a really nice backyard entertainment area for a non-Amish couple. The work is very high quality. They did a stamped concrete patio that looked like a dark wood deck.
I’m surprised they got these Amish to appear on camera, but it’s a great way of seeing how they live. Rob seems very interested in getting to know them and their customs. He mentioned being a vegetarian. I guess his meals will be hard to get, because the Amish eat a plain meat & potatoes type diet.
Looking forward to the rest of this season on DIY channel.
I have not seen this show, but I think I’ll have to look at at least one episode. That show title seems like the most bizarre madlibs vomit ever, I cannot believe this is a thing that exists.
It airs on Sat nights, 10pm Eastern/9 Central. DIY channel runs repeats on other days too. The Vanilla Ice Project must get good ratings because it repeats a lot. Vanilla Ice Goes Amish is his newest show.
Rob seems like a very down to earth, hard working guy. Doesn’t seem to mind getting his hands dirty. I guess he saves the rock “Vanilla Ice” persona for his rap tours.
I’ve been kind of impressed by Mr. Van Winkle ever since his stint on the Surreal World. He seems to roll with his 90s rap career being kind of a joke and he’s not postured and putting on the persona from back then. I’m pretty sure the whole “Vanilla Ice Goes Blahblahblah” he’s been using as the title and concept of his shows (he’s had a construction show before this, too) is purely a publicity draw instead of any kind of ego about that era.
The Vanilla Ice Project caught my attention and I figured I would watch an episode and make fun of it the whole time. DIY has aired a lot of very entertaining B-rated flops. However, I really liked it. Rob is always super positive and he seems fairly knowledgable and he has good ideas and always has a good group of guys working for him.
When I saw the ads for Vanilla Ice Goes Amish I felt a little sad; I figured his original show had tanked and he was going to ride the shitty pseudoreality Amish show wave down the drain (Amish mafia, breaking Amish, etc.) but so far I like the show. I’m skeptical that a real Amish family would have such an expensive kitchen with such a flashy marble countertop, but I understand that there’s really no central leadership of anabaptist congregations and standards vary widely from community to community and even street to street.
I liked the contemporary basement he designed for the Mennonite lady. Big difference with the white stone on the fireplace and the new floor tiles. I didn’t care too much for the ladder thing he put in front of the stairs. It looked incomplete. Might have looked better with some kind of translucent fabric or canvas on it. Basically making a scrim.
This has been the best season yet. Rob is really getting in there and doing the work. He seems serious about learning some construction tips from these craftsman.
They wrapped up the season with an Amish barn raising. Rob flew in his Florida crew to help out.
The best part of this short series was getting to know the Amish. Seeing them relaxed, cracking jokes, and working. It’s the first glimpse I’ve seen of their private lives. These Amish are a bit more modern but they still used buggies and didn’t have electricity.
