Some Assembly Required | |
---|---|
Starring | Brian Unger Lou Bloomfield (season 1) |
Country of origin | United States |
No. of seasons | 2 |
No. of episodes | 15 |
Production | |
Camera setup | Multi-camera |
Running time | 60 mins (season 1) 30 mins (season 2) |
Original release | |
Network | Discovery Channel Discovery HD Discovery On Demand |
Release | December 27, 2007 – August 28, 2008 |
Some Assembly Required is a Discovery Channel television series which premiered in the United States on December 27, 2007 and originally aired in 2007 and 2008. Hosts Brian Unger and physicist Lou Bloomfield explain how various things are manufactured and participate in the manufacturing process. The show is also titled as How Stuff's Made in the UK.[ citation needed ]
Episode # | Item 1 | Item 2 | Item 3 | Original Air Date |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Magic Jump | Zamboni | Plate-glass windows that can withstand hurricane-force winds. | December 27, 2007 |
2 | Les Paul electric guitar | Batesville Casket Company | Burt's Bees lip balm | January 8, 2008 |
3 | Ebonite bowling ball factory | Jelly Bellies | Environmentally compliant toilet | January 15, 2008 |
4 | Cheddar Cheese Factory | New Balance running shoes | Steinway piano | January 22, 2008 |
5 | Perfect steel knife | John Deere lawnmowers | Country's oldest chocolate factory in San Francisco | January 29, 2008 |
6 | High-tech golf clubs | Redesigned BMW diesel engine | Salt mines | February 5, 2008 |
7 | Jack Daniels whiskey barrels | Cat's eye marbles | Double-hulled Boston Whaler motor boat. | February 12, 2008 |
Episode # | Item 1 | Item 2 | Original Air Date |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Crash-test dummies | Old-fashioned kettle chips | August 7, 2008 |
2 | Sutphen fire engines | Refined sugar | August 7, 2008 |
3 | Leatherman Skeletool, Portland, Oregon | Simmons Beautyrest, Charlotte, North Carolina | August 14, 2008 |
4 | BowTech compound bow | Ludwig drums | August 14, 2008 |
5 | Washable crayons, | Pipe organs | August 21, 2008 |
6 | Cast-iron cookware | Watercraft | August 21, 2008 |
7 | The Tennessean newspaper, Nashville, Tennessee | Olhausen billiard table, Portland, Tennessee | August 28, 2008 |
8 | Peterbilt Model 387 semi-trailer truck, Denton, Texas | Ithaca featherlight shotgun, Ithaca, New York | August 28, 2008 |
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While the series is very informative, it lacks some of the spark needed to make it fun viewing for kids who don't already get a kick out of science. Its focus on almost every step of the product-assembly process sometimes makes it a little tedious. But the uncomplicated scientific explanations give interested tweens and teens a real chance to learn the physics behind how the products we use every day actually work.
A bowling ball. A Gibson electric guitar neck. Hundreds of jelly beans. The nifty souvenirs are one of the best perks of Louis Bloomfield's new gig - co-host of the Discovery Channel's upcoming show "Some Assembly Required." ... Bloomfield, a popular UVa professor who teaches physics to non-science majors, will debut Dec. 26 as the science expert on "Some Assembly Required" alongside co-host Brian Unger, a former Daily Show correspondent. ... During each one-hour episode, Bloomfield and Unger visit three manufacturing operations around the country, including the factories where workers make Gibson guitars, Jelly Belly jelly beans, New Balance sneakers, Steinway pianos, coffins, sushi knives, bowling balls and more.
Bloomfield is the co-host of the Discovery Channel's "Some Assembly Required," a show that travels to factories and plants—like the Gibson plant in Tennessee—to take a closer look at just how everyday things, most of which we take for granted, work. ... From guitars to Wisconsin cheddar cheese to ice-making Zambonies, "Some Assembly Required" has taken Bloomfield across the country in search of the not-so-obvious hidden in everyday objects that have surprising scientific and technological beauty. ... Bloomfield landed the Discovery Channel gig when a former student auditioned for the role of the show's host. He didn't get it—it went to Brian Unger of "The Daily Show" fame—but while there, he recommended Bloomfield for the co-host spot. The show's producers contacted Bloomfield, who is a natural fit.
Discovery: In this series, hosts Brian Unger and Lou Bloomfield visit factories across America and join workers in manufacturing the products about which we wonder "How do they do that?" — from acoustic guitars to Zamboni machines and even cat's-eye marbles.
Louis A. Bloomfield, University of Virginia physics professor, adds Louis A. Bloomfield, TV host, to his résumé at 10 tonight when the Discovery Channel previews its new "Some Assembly Required." The hourlong series looks at items ranging from high-tech to mundane in its quest to unravel the process of assembly. Bloomfield, author of a textbook ("How Things Work") and a trade book ("How Everything Works"), is joined by humorist Brian Unger, a former "Daily Show" correspondent, as co-host. We recently asked Bloomfield to tell us about his debut as a TV host, and what makes "Some Assembly Required" work.
Old Town Canoe and its parent company, Johnson Outdoors, received national attention this week from Outside magazine and the Discovery Channel program "Some Assembly Required." A film crew of seven from "Some Assembly Required" enjoyed an afternoon of sunshine Thursday on the Penobscot River as they filmed an episode on the making and use of the firm's canoes and kayaks. Director and producer Emily Hodges said Old Town Canoe's long history of canoe making was what appealed to the show's research team.