Who’s this new goober they have hosting it? What happened to the old guy, Steve Thomas?
Did Steve get fired? Why? What the hell did he ever do? Was it for financial reasons, like the ousting of TOH’s previous host, Bob Vila?
Or did he quit to move on to other shows, or another venture? And, obviously, what was the inside story with that, as I find it impossible to believe he’d quite an easy gig like that.
And finally, what on earth were they thinking in hiring a guy who just happened to write in and be featured on an episode from last year? This guy’s a tool!! He knows nothing, NOTHING!!
Why wouldn’t they give the hosting job to either Norm or the plumbing guy, who seem far more comfortable and engaging in that role than this new twit.
And why aren’t you people, who find offense in everything, almost three days behind in starting a thread on this topic!?!
Because this new guy is an affront to all that is right in this world.
Unless I was hearing something different in the background (I stopped watching the show half-way through in shear disgust, but it was on in the background as I went about other things) Steve’s gone from the second half-hour too.
Kevin O’Connor has replaced Steve on both shows. Here are the links to WGBH: Ask This Old House and The New This Old House. I can’t find anything about why Steve left, however. More searching…
< drill instructor >
WHAT IN THE FUCK IS THIS MICKEY MOUSE BULLSHIT?
WHY IS PRIVATE PYLE OUT OF HIS BUNK AFTER LIGHTS OUT?
WHY DOES PRIVATE PYLE HAVE THAT WEAPON?
WHY AREN’T YOU STAMPING PRIVATE PYLE’S GUTS OUT?
</ di >
Just kidding.
I got a kick out of the demanding tone of the OP, and I heard it in my head like the scene from Full Metal Jacket.
How incredibly disappointing. Incredibly… disappointing.
Steve had a cake walk of a job. And while he was never as good as the original founder and host, Bob Vila, he played his role admirably. You could tell he knew what he was talking about, but played ‘dumb’ to the crowd. Irritating in a sense, but alright, considering the show and the audience.
But this new guy. This new guy blows.
I sat and watched him fondle his way through two rooms adding nothing more than a periodic ‘nice… nice’ before I had to leave the room in disgust. He has no business being the host. Maybe the segment where he was featured as a questioner, but certainly not a host.
There must be an interesting story behind all this, as it seems that This Old House was caught asleep at Steve’s leaving. I mean, anything would be better than this guy.
A story in the October 2 Boston Globe said that the new host had emailed “Old House” for some help with removing layers of old paint. Work was done on his house, the producers liked his screen presence and hired him. You can find the first two paragraphs of the story by searching the archives at www.boston.com. Unfortunately, they charge for access, so the rest of the details are not available for free.
Don’t you people get This Old House Magazine? For shame! Pretty much what’s already been said. I think they liked that the guy represented the average homeowner and so he might ask the questions an average homeowner would ask, etc, and people would relate to him better. The new season has yet to air here (probably this afternoon) so I haven’t seen him yet, but TiVo is on the alert so I’ll be sure to catch it when it does air.
In other PBS news…did you know the Keno twins from Antiques Roadshow are getting their own show? It’s called Find!.
What a serious error on their part if they did. Steve wasn’t the best, I’ll admit, but wait 'til you see what they replaced him with.
I abandoned the show back when they dumped Bob Vila. The guy was at the forefront of the home improvement as-seen-on TC genre, and he rocked in that role (His spinoff never did appeal to me, for some reason). It took two years before I could watch the show again, and even then I was somewhat dissapointed at his replacement.
But hey, he was OK.
But this. This will alienate me from the show for good. The fact that they could so underestimate the audience this badly, is simply stunning if true.
Besides, the replacement is an IDIOT!
Please post your feelings after you see this new guy, as I’m curious to see what a different fan has to say on the matter.
Me? This just might get me off PBS once and for all.
What I’ve heard suggests that Steve just wanted to move on to other things. IIRC, he’s been the host for about 17 seasons or so, which might be longer than Bob Villa’s stint as host.
Frankly, I thought that Kevin did pretty good for his first show. He’s obviously new to the whole hosting scene, and he hardly said anything on the first episode, but let’s give him a chance. Don’t forget that everyone hated Steve Thomas when he first came on the show. Everyone was like, “Who’s this loser who thinks that he can replace Bob Villa?” but most of us grew to like him.
Also, I understand that the producers of the show want to move away from the yuppie mansions with million-dollar budgets, and back towards the types of rennovations that normal middle-class people might do.
One thing I hope the producers do is emphasize how much the total renovations cost, with all the change orders and surprises that the average homeowner has to deal with. It’s so frustrating to see a beautiful kitchen remodelling and not know the true cost. I know that the homeowners who appear on the show get lots of things donated, but it would be nice to know how much they had to pay.
Well I saw it and think he was fine. Like Diceman said everyone had their hackles up over Steve when he first came on and now everyone is disgusted that he left, lol. (I’ve heard nothing to indicate he was fired BTW, as mentioned in Early Out’s post he has his own show on another network now, which was surely in the works well before the end of the last TOH season. I’m guessing he resigned voluntarily.)
I actually think Kevin seems more natural than some of the other regulars. Rich Trethewey seemed to sorta fumble around his lines in this episode, and the landscape guy (who just made an appearance at the end of this episode) has a tendancy to seem sorta hammy and forced.
As for Kevin mostly looking around and saying “nice, nice” – That’s exactly what Steve used to do! I used to think “Pipe down Steve, we’re trying to look at the house!” (That was some hella gaudy house, btw. It’s like if Libarace had a home in New England! How many bars – wet and full-sized! – does one place need?! I think there was like a 4:1 bar to toilet ratio. BAD IDEA!)
If anyone has to go, it’s the new “Summertime Beverages Expert”. PU! She stinks! (Did you see how stingy she was with the ice?!) How did she get that cushy job?
See? I kinda liked that house. The bars were cool. (For the sake of this thread I decided to actually watch the full episode that reran earlier tonight. Besides, there’s nothing else to do out in the friggen’ country).
I have to admit, it wasn’t as bad a second time around. He’s forcing his lines and what he should do next (It sure seems to me that someone told him, 'When you’re looking at something, to give your words added effect, caress and massage the item you’re talking about it. Feel it. Be it.")
The guy fondled every piece of furniture in sight. That wood bookcase in the corner? This guy felt it up. That automan? This guy had his way with it.
Enough with the hands!!
I’m willing to give this guy a chance, especially after the second viewing. But I swear, if he doesn’t calm down a bit, and stop groping the woodwork, I’m outta there.
And medstar, they’ve been doing that. Or at least int the ones that I’ve been seeing (And I too Tivo the hell out of TOH. The weekends are a bitch). Towards the end of the project Steve and Norm usually get together with the homeowners and talk about the expenses. They usually say something along the lines of, 'Well in the real world this would have cost two hundred thousand dollars. But with donations and all, it only came to a hundred and twenty.
They only cover it once or twice at most, and usually very quickly, but I know I’ve been hearing the real world price versus the price they paid.
I’m sorry, CnoteChris. I didn’t mean to poke fun at you - it just jumped out at me, and created a wonderful mental image:
“Now let’s take a look at the garage, which might give us room to expand the… Heeeyyy, what do we have here? [sight of young man in greasy overalls, leaning over the front fender into the engine compartment] I’d certainly like to gap his plugs! Vroom, vroom!!”
I’ll allow the more warped members of the Board complete the scenario.
i get the toh mag. and i gotta admit i was saying, “hey, what’s going on with steve?” his leaving was very quiet and under the rug.
i want to know how much that mansion is going for. the office above the bedroom was very pretty. i think my cats would love to get their little claws in the woodwork.
i remember when steve first started. steve and norm went to check out the house that was picked. steve ohhhhed and aahhhed over the beams, norm poked the beams with his swiss army knife, “grunt, dry rot.” steve oooohhhh and ahhhhed over the stone foundation, norm," hhmmp, seepage." the whole episode steve would ohhh, norm would doom.
i’ll give the newby a few episodes before i decide.
