History Series / HowItsMade

** Here's another blink-and-you-miss-it moment in the voice actors scene. Notice the dark brown short-haired voice actor in the background speaking through a microphone? That voice actor is Creator/YuriLowenthal, who is the voice of the Prince at the time the segment was filmed.

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: The first season was narrated by Canadian former swimmer Mark Tewksbury, who also appeared onscreen. After he was dropped, his successors were limited to narration duties.

* BrandX: Downplayed in this case. In the narration, all products are referred to by generic names (presumably as a result of Canadian laws against product placements), but at the same time no effort is made to hide logos and brand names on the featured products. One example is at the very beginning of the "Video Games" segment, where the boxes for video games are shown, all published by Creator/UbiSoft (''Alex Ferguson's Player Manager 2001'', ''VideoGame/BatmanVengeance'', ''VideoGame/MystIIIExile'', and ''[[WesternAnimation/{{Tarzan}} Disney's Tarzan: Untamed]]''). Another is the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clark_Bar Clark Bars]], which are called "chocolate peanut butter bars" in one segment.

* BrandX: Played straight and subverted at the same time. In the narration, all products are referred to by generic names (presumably as a result of Canadian laws against product placements), but at the same time no effort is made to hide logos and brand names on the featured products. One example is at the very beginning of the "Video Games" segment, where the boxes for video games are shown, all published by Creator/UbiSoft (''Alex Ferguson's Player Manager 2001'', ''VideoGame/BatmanVengeance'', ''VideoGame/MystIIIExile'', and ''[[WesternAnimation/{{Tarzan}} Disney's Tarzan: Untamed]]''). Another is the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clark_Bar Clark Bars]], which are called "chocolate peanut butter bars" in one segment.

The show is produced by MAJ Productions in association with the Science Channel (which airs it in the US) and Discovery Channel Canada. The US version is narrated by Brooks Moore; he was replaced for one season, but as of the new season (which started in fall 2008 on the Science Channel and January 2009 on the Creator/DiscoveryChannel) he has returned.

** One episode bumped it "UpToEleven" when they did a grand slam and ''all four products'' being examined had a pun: "Today on How ''It's Made''...Steel wool. When it comes to cleaning, it can be your best alloy. [Steel] Ranges... We have all the elements of this manufacturing process. Carved candles... Making them is a whole new ball of wax. Slot machines... We '''bet''' you'll love this story!"

* SpiritualSuccessor: To the "Picture Picture" segments from ''Series/MisterRogersNeighborhood''.

* TakeOurWordForIt: With certain products, usually food, steps had to be skipped because the company's wouldn't let them film those parts, or for obvious things such as the most graphic parts of meat processing, would not make for good viewing for the queasy..

* BrandX: Played straight and subverted at the same time. In the narration, all products are referred to by generic names (presumably as a result of Canadian laws against product placements,) but at the same time no effort is made to hide logos and brand names on the featured products. One example is at the very beginning of the "Video Games" segment, where the boxes for video games are shown, all published by Creator/UbiSoft (''Alex Ferguson's Player Manager 2001'', ''VideoGame/BatmanVengeance'', ''VideoGame/MystIIIExile'', and ''[[WesternAnimation/{{Tarzan}} Disney's Tarzan: Untamed]]'').

* BrandX: Played straight and subverted at the same time. In the narration, all products are referred to by generic names (presumably as a result of Canadian laws against product placements,) but at the same time no effort is made to hide logos and brand names on the featured products. One example is at the very beginning of the "Video Games" segment, where the boxes for video games are shown, all published by Creator/UbiSoft (''Alex Ferguson's Player Manager 2001'', ''VideoGame/BatmanVengeance'', ''VideoGame/MystIIIExile'', and ''[[Disney/{{Tarzan}} Disney's Tarzan: Untamed]]'').

** Here's another blink-and-you-miss-it moment in the voice actors scene. Notice the dark brown short-haired voice actor in the background speaking through a microphone? That voice actor is thirty to thirty-two-year-old Creator/YuriLowenthal, who is the voice of the Prince at the time the segment was filmed. What a rare celebrity moment.

* OurLawyersAdvisedThisTrope: Certain details about products are intentionally omitted as "trade secrets". When this happens it means that the companies being filmed asked the show not to include them. For instance, in the episode on ketchup, the show detailed the ingredients in one company's ketchup, but intentionally left out how much of any one ingredient was used and how long the ketchup was cooked for.

* SlowMotion: Typically industrial work machines are dizzyingly fast, and it's really hard to understand what exactly they're doing - all you see is a blur. The show goes to great pains to slow this down so the viewer can see every step: either the machine is slowed down or the video is {{overcrank}}ed. Occasionally the slowed-down machines have jerky movements hinting they're being moved by hand, as they probably can't go that slowly by themselves. When they're done explaining they usually show you how the machine looks when it's ''not'' slowed down.

The show is produced by MAJ Productions in association with the Science Channel (which airs it in the US) and Discovery Channel Canada. The US version is narrated by Brooks Moore; he was replaced for one season, but as of the new season (which started in fall 2008 on the Creator/ScienceChannel and January 2009 on the Creator/DiscoveryChannel) he has returned.

* ScienceShow: As mentioned, more like "Technology Show", but it fits under "science"[[note]]industrial science[[/note]].

* SoundtrackDissonance: In one "Chicken Hatchery" segment, some happy/creepy music plays while the baby chicks hatch and get tossed around in a {{conveyor belt|ODoom}} and some machines! That's just so {{squick}}y!

* TechnologyPorn: The episodes dealing with factory production (most of them, really) show exquisite details of all sorts of machinery, both computer-operated and not. They often slow down the machine (or the video) in order to show you precisely how things work.

-->''(from the ending of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DePRyZE5sn4 "Doughnuts"]])'' "[Bismark donuts] are just one of the many delicious varieties that make devouring a doughnut a [[{{Pun}} hole-y]] wonderful experience. ''(beat)'' [[FoodPorn Sorry, I'm hungry now, gotta go.]]\\
''(from the ending of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAOX1ekylnQ "Bowling Balls"]], [[CameraAbuse as one is rolling straight towards the camera]])'' "Watch the lens, watch the lens! Move the camera, for goodness sake!"

** One episode bumped it "UpToEleven" when they did a grand slam and ''all four products'' being examined had a pun: "Today on HowItsMade...Steel wool. When it comes to cleaning, it can be your best alloy. [Steel] Ranges... We have all the elements of this manufacturing process. Carved candles... Making them is a whole new ball of wax. Slot machines... We '''bet''' you'll love this story!"

* CallASmeerpARabbit: Though not an animal, in the "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7uvSSBQ8xYQ Gas tanks]]" section, the narrator calls propane gas tanks "barbecue tanks" instead of propane gas tanks!
** Probably because propane tanks are most associated with propane barbecue grills, thus it's a probably name for it.

* ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: "How It's Made" is about how things are made, though occasionally a segment is about "How It's Applied/Acquired/Designed/Done/Performed/Packaged/Repaired/etc.", such as the ones about special effects makeup and mining aluminum.
** When How It's Made aired its episode on mail, the narrator mentioned this in the intro: "You know how it's made, we'll show you how it's sorted."

* ShoutOut: In one "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VuwiZ5pPLA Video Games]]" segment, this one must have been a shout-out to ''VideoGame/PrinceOfPersiaTheSandsOfTime''... particularly because the guys borrowed some "behind-the-scenes" making of the game in video. And did we mention that the narrator talks about ''modern'' video games instead of old ones?

* TheCameo: In the "Video Games" segment, the scenes are entire blink-and-you-miss-it moments, but you have to keep an eye on the video game development team of Creator/UbiSoft Montreal (namely, producer Yannis Mallat, lead camera designer Philippe Morin, creative director Patrice Desilets, animator Alex Drouin, AI programmer Richard Dumas, lead programmer Claude Langlais, art director Raphael Lacoste, lead level designer David Chateauneuf, and the rest) who inspired the development of ''VideoGame/PrinceOfPersiaTheSandsOfTime''.

* ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: "How It's Made" is about how things are made, though occasionally a segment is about "How It's Applied" or "How It's Acquired", such as the ones about special effects makeup and mining aluminum.

* Sequel: One episode showed the making of polyester yarn from recycled materials (like soda bottles and milk jugs, among other things) into polyester thread that is wound into large spools of polyester yarn. A later episode shows the making of polyester fleece, which begins with... large spools of polyester yarn.

* ProductPlacement: Inverted, thanks to Canada's product placement laws. That said, they make no effort to censor any logos when filming the packaging department, resulting in scenes like where the narrator speaks of a "personal transporter" while the screen shows a logo that clearly says "Segway." Many businesses in and around Montreal and Quebec City have been getting unexpected publicity from the series, along with businesses in Europe (European products are seen when an American or Canadian equivalent of a product cannot be found).

* ProductPlacement: Inverted, thanks to Canada's product placement laws. That said, they make no effort to censor any logos when filming the packaging department, and many businesses in and around Montreal and Quebec City have been getting unexpected publicity from the series, along with businesses in Europe (European products are seen when an American or Canadian equivalent of a product cannot be found).

* AndSomeOtherStuff: A harmless, non-explosive variety. The show sometimes notes that they cannot reveal certain ingredients of some food or chemical products, due to them being trade secrets. The best (and most amusing) example of this trope is perhaps the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KY1rE_Ncasc segment on marshmallow cookies]]; eventually the narrator just has to crack a joke about how much of the process they aren't allowed to explain because the company won't let them.

* TakeOurWordForIt: With certain products, usually food, steps had to be skipped because the company's wouldn't let them film those parts, or for obvious things such as the most graphic parts of meat processing, would not make for good viewing for the queasy.
* TechnologyMarchesOn: The "Computer And Microchips" segment is incredibly outdated, depicting a Boxy Mac with Windows '98.