I'm rather surprised I'm the first to write in on this show, as it is one of my favorite Saturday treats. NYW is a show hosted by Norm Abrams, the master carpenter from "This Old House" (as well as being the "model" for the character of Al Borland of "Tool Time" -- ur, "Home Improvement" -- fame). Like TOH, it is produced by the WQED folks in Boston, and appears on various PBS stations (at differing times) as well as (currently) 7:30am ET on HGTV.
Each show is typically a weekend project that Norm builds, using his wonderful assortment of power tools and his spacious workshop that most of the viewers can only dream about having. What he does in a weekend, of course, takes most of us MONTHS to build... but even so, it is very useful for picking up different tricks, tips and techniques.
Most of the projects are furniture, very often Shaker or Quaker style as found in his area of New England. The shows I've found the most interesting are when he actually builds stuff to use in his workshop, designed for the "weekend warrior carpenters" (like me).
Mr. Abrams gets a lot of grief from other woodworkers, from his use of "shortcuts" and his "mass-marketing" of woodworking, but he has definitely gotten more people interested in the hobby and he does demonstrate that you can get very good quality results from the proper use of power tools (for example, dovetail joinery using a router and jig, rather than hand-cut with a saw).
His "acting" leaves a little to be desired, but most of the time it's really just him, doing what he loves. A little "sawdust therapy" never hurt anyone....
