History Series / HowItsMade

The show is produced by MAJ Productions in association with the Sfocience 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 ScienceChannel and January 2009 on the DiscoveryChannel) he has returned.

* FollowTheLeader: One of the most blatant examples is Factory Made, another show that basically follows the same premise and airs ''on the same channel''.

* ShoutOut: In one "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_5Ob-Z4Iek Video Games]]" segment, this one must have been a shout-out to ''VideoGame/PrinceOfPersia: The Sands of Time''... 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?

Hailing from Montreal, Quebec, Canada, ''How It's Made'' (''Comment c'est fait'' in French) is a ScienceShow (well, a TechnologyShow, but we don't have that trope yet) that [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin shows how various products are made]], using video shot in actual factories and workshops; a narrator describes what's happening on screen. The show is produced in a way that allows easy redubbing for export -- factory employees do not speak on camera, and no reading skills are required. The show has been running since 2001, and so far has featured hundreds of different products, from sporting goods to food to vehicles.

So far, the series has avoided making a show about itself, however they have done a promo for the show, showing how the show is made

** This troper has actually noticed some segments having blurred logos or URLs, but it's quite uncommon. On the other hand, the end credits have a "Thanks to:" credit that lists the companies involved.

* ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: And ''[[IncrediblyLamePun how]]''.

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 ScienceChannel and January 2009 on the DiscoveryChannel) he has returned.

* ShoutOut: In one "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_5Ob-Z4Iek Video Games]]" segment, this one must have been a shout-out to ''VideoGame/PrinceOfPersia: The Sands of Time''... particularly because the guys borrowed some "behind-the-scenes" making of the game in video. And did we mention that the narrator talks about ''[[DidNotDoTheResearch modern]]'' [[DidNotDoTheResearch video games]] instead of old ones?

* DidNotDoTheResearch[=/=]ArtisticLicense: In most of the episode segments. Here are a few examples:
** ArtisticLicenseChemistry: In the "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBskjhd076o Pipe Organs]]" segment, the narrator says that [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organ_pipe organ pipes]] are "made of lead". Actually, they're made of metals such as copper, aluminum, silver, iron, and brass, but ''not'' lead.
** ArtisticLicenseHistory[=/=][[ArtisticLicenseReligion Religion]][=/=][[ArtisticLicenseLinguistics Linguistics]]: In the "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwb2uZLSLhw Butter]]" segment, the narrator says that butter was "mentioned in [[Literature/TheBible the Old Testament]]" when "Abraham offered it to angels". In the Bible itself, however, the food that Abraham offered to {{God}} and his {{angel|Unaware}}s is not butter, but ''[[BlessedAreTheCheesemakers cheese]]'', as described by the words "curds and milk", which is equivalent to cottage cheese. Since the narrator doesn't know that the Bible was written in Hebrew, the reason is that the Hebrew word that we normally translate as "curds" does ''not'' mean "butter". Ironically, in the "Cheese" episode, the narrator made no mention of the cheese in the Bible. So in other words, history and religion = fail.
*** Speaking of cheese, the narrator clearly DidNotDoTheResearch in the "Cheese" segment because he thinks that whey is "a solid object to cut up" instead of a liquid, centrifuges are "separators", pasturization is "sterilization", and the agitators are "cheese-stirrers" instead of cheese knives.
** DinosaursAreDragons: Or would that be "Dragons Are Dinosaurs"? In the "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8E8dttLuvI Mascots]]" segment, the guy is making and wearing a dragon mascot costume, yet the narrator calls it a "dinosaur mascot costume", even though it ''clearly'' looks like a winged dragon.
** CallASmeerpARabbit: Though not an animal, in the "[[http://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: And ''[[AWorldwidePunomenon how]]''.

* TakeOurWordForIt: With certain products, usually food, steps had to be skipped because the company's wouldn't let them film those parts.

* BreakingTheFourthWall: Literally during a Science Channel promotion for new episodes of the show, where the entire process of the making of said promotion up to the playing of the show back at network operations is described by Brooks Moore in the style of an episode segment.

* BetterThanItSounds: For technology-minded people, this show is like a drug. Woe to you if someone links you a YouTube video of ''How It's Made'' when you're supposed to be doing serious stuff - the "related" tab is going to kill your productivity dead.

So far, the series has avoided making a show about itself.

* ShoutOut: In one "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlX3PdZLDTw Video Games]]" segment, this one must have been a shout-out to ''VideoGame/PrinceOfPersia: The Sands of Time''... particularly because the guys borrowed some "behind-the-scenes" making of the game in video. And did we mention that the narrator talks about ''[[DidNotDoTheResearch modern]]'' [[DidNotDoTheResearch video games]] instead of old ones?

** ArtisticLicenseHistory[=/=][[ArtisticLicenseReligion Religion]][=/=][[ArtisticLicenseLinguistics Linguistics]]: In the "Butter" segment, the narrator says that butter was "mentioned in [[Literature/TheBible the Old Testament]]" when "Abraham offered it to angels". In the Bible itself, however, the food that Abraham offered to {{God}} and his {{angel|Unaware}}s is not butter, but ''[[BlessedAreTheCheesemakers cheese]]'', as described by the words "curds and milk", which is equivalent to cottage cheese. Since the narrator doesn't know that the Bible was written in Hebrew, the reason is that the Hebrew word that we normally translate as "curds" does ''not'' mean "butter". Ironically, in the "Cheese" episode, the narrator made no mention of the cheese in the Bible. So in other words, history and religion = fail.
** DinosaursAreDragons: Or would that be "Dragons Are Dinosaurs"? In the "Mascots" segment, the guy is making and wearing a dragon mascot costume, yet the narrator calls it a "dinosaur mascot costume", even though it ''clearly'' looks like a dragon.