The latest issue of Fine Wood Working came in the mail today and was eagerly awaiting my return home.  After scarfing down supper I was skimming through it and came across an ad  towards the back. It was for Rough Cut Woodworking  with a new host Tom Mclaughlin from New Hampshire. I knew Tommy MacDonald had left the show  after the last season was wrapped and that he had washed his hands of PBS and was moving in some new direction.  I have met both these craftsmen and they are both really nice guys. Some of my favorite episodes of RC were the ones when Tom Mclaughlin was a guest. Hopefully the two are still on good terms personally. It seems kind of cheap on WGBH's part to simply recast the host of the show. Why couldn't they come up with a new show title?  That said I will tune in this spring when the new episodes air to see what direction the show goes in.  Tom was an instructor at both of the Weekend With Wood events I attended and he did an excellent job on his seminars. He offered some great advice to me on a project that I was working on at the time and was a big help.  

I will be looking forward to it as well. Mclaughlin has a very smooth TV personality, so it should be interesting to watch. It's my understanding that Charles Neil is working on a PBS woodworking show (saw minimal info about it on LJ) so maybe there will be a couple of things to watch for.

2 hours ago, Fred W. Hargis Jr said:

I will be looking forward to it as well. Mclaughlin has a very smooth TV personality, so it should be interesting to watch. It's my understanding that Charles Neil is working on a PBS woodworking show (saw minimal info about it on LJ) so maybe there will be a couple of things to watch for.

Charles Neil has some good information, but is s.o....s.l.o.w......and....w.e.l.l......p.a.u.s.i.n.g....y.o.u....k.n.o.w....      I just don't want to spend 20 minutes to get 7 minutes of information.

Some scripting, editing and directing would improve a lot.   I found I can watch him if I put the player or 1.5x or 2.0x playback speed.

Charles wanders a bit but, I do enjoy watching him. In the evening, I'll sit with a glass of scotch and watch him. Usually, when the glass is done, so is he.

I'm afraid it would be more then a one Scotch drink for me. Really a very knowledgeable person, but you're right, soooooooooooooooo slow!

I'm a sipper. 

got straw???

IV???

11 hours ago, Gene Howe said:

I'll sit with a glass of scotch and watch him. Usually, when the glass is done, so is he.

Get a bigger glass...

 or maybe

 

Trade one Tommy Mac in for another?

Even before we cut the cord, our PBS affiliate quit showing Rough Cut or any other WW episodes. No big loss. Tommy never got my juices flowing anyway. 

http://www.finewoodworking.com/2017/12/06/fine-woodworking-brings-rough-cut

 

Sorry for a late update but I saw something that relates to this the other day on FaceBook. It seems that Tommy MacDonald has been trying to get some closure to an old family tragedy. Tommy is the youngest of several children and his oldest sister was was murdered when he was very young.  It is still an open case but had not been reviewed for several years. Recent funding from the federal government and modern technology are now being used to hopefully solve the case.  Tommy posted a video a week or so back (sorry I have no idea how to set up a link to it) where he told the story. It was heart breaking to hear all the details he shared not only about his sisters murder but the impact it had on his family and Tommy's perspective on life. He shared some scary statistics regarding the number of murders that take place every day and how many of those go unsolved. Statistically speaking it is very possible that we all know someone that has committed murder and has gotten away with it. At first I scoffed at the concept but then I started to think about the number of people I know and deal with on a regular basis, it's not too far fetched. One of the networks is doing a show about unsolved murders that are being reopened and the story of Tommy's sister is one they are featuring. When I find out the network and show title I will pass it along.  Perhaps his association with another network could have been the issue with him continuing on ROUGH CUT.