DIY invention show gets public television premiere

The gas grill flamethrower
Engineer and MAKE:television contributor Casimir Sienkiewicz demonstrates his gas grill-inspired flamethrower.
MPR Photo/Sam Choo

A new TV show produced here in Minnesota premieres on public TV stations across the country this weekend.

MAKE:television highlights creative do-it-yourself projects that tinkers can do at home. However, one look at the show and thoughts of This Old House or Martha Stewart will quickly dissipate.

MAKE:television host John Park
MAKE:television host, John Park, on the show's set and workshop. The do-it-yourself inventor show began on the Web but will now be shown on public television as well.
MPR Photo/Sam Choo

MAKE:television is the broadcast version of Make Magazine. It teaches people how to "hack" everyday objects, re-making them into useful -- and not-so-useful -- devices. Twin Cities Public Television produces the program, which premiers at 5pm Saturday in the Twin Cities.

John Park is the face of MAKE:television. He hosts the program's "workshop" segments and he joined Tom Crann in the studio along with Casimir Sienkiewicz, a St. Paul "maker" who's featured on the show.