The New Yankee Workshop by Norm Abrams is going off the air

Norm Abrams

I just read a post by Zach over at Eaton County Woodworker, that The New Yankee Workshop is not going to produce any more new episodes.  The reason I didn’t learn about this sooner was because I vacation with my wife in France and Spain.

This is horrible news!  One of my main inspirations for woodworking has always been norm.  For 20+ years (or as long as I was able to turn on a power tool) Norm, has inspired, educated, and cautioned me to “always wear these, safety glasses”.  And who doesn’t remember the first time they saw a laser line on a chop saw on the program.  I know I do.

According to the Fine Woodworking website, the New Yankee Website will continue, as well as the store where you can order back episodes of TNYW on DVD, as well as participate in a Q&A section.

Norm will also continue to be a host on This Old House, so if you need your fix of beards and plaid, you can always tune in and watch on your local PBS station, or Create.TV .

I sincerely hope that this isn’t a sign of the times.  I just started this woodworking blog, and while looking a bit deeper into some of my favorite how-to blogs I discovered this sad bit of info. It seems like the internet is changing the horizon of media.  Instead of tuning in on a weekend morning to watch the home improvement shows (which I Tivo every weekend) on Public TV, you can now turn to your laptop and do a quick search for whatever project you might be interested in building, crafting, or tackling.  You can find videos, detailed step-by step descriptions, reviews of products and tools, and all kinds of other stuff.

Let’s just hope that Norm is re-organizing, and instead of working on too many different things he is consolidating and spending more time with his family.  Best of luck you you, Norm.  Maybe now you can reveal the secret hidden location of the best woodshop in the world.