History Hacker, the TV show I created with JWM Productions for History is going to re-air on Wednesday November 12 at Noon and 6PM. It’s on the History website and you can program it into your tivo.

Only 300,000 people watched it the first time around. With approximately 300,000,000 people in the USA, that meas that only 1/1000 of the population has seen it. I’d really like it if 1/100 of the population would see it!

If you missed it the first time around because of the presidential debates, this is your chance to watch it! Please pass the word on to friends!

You are also invited to join the History Hacker facebook group if you like!

Last time I live twittered commentary and I’ll be doing that again! Follow me on Twitter to get the behind the scenes details!

My pilot aired on Friday and I watched with the Director and 50 of my friends at the Plan B bar in Brooklyn. It was really great to see it on screen with my friends after being totally jacked on anticipation adrenaline all week. I had just seen a rough cut of the show before it aired so watching the final cut with friends was a very exhilarating experience. J-P Balas, the director and editor, also came out to see it with us!

I had a great time live twittering the event with @bobtiki and @ianbrier. We provided a live dvd-commentary experience for everyone who follows me on twitter.

I want to give a special thanks to everyone who is sending a feedback email to the history channel. I know some of you got an error message back from them, but don’t worry, they are getting your email!

Thank you to all the folks who have been responding in the forums at the History Channel website!

I also need to send out a huge big heartfelt thank you to all the folks who blogged about the show, told friends, and helped get the word out!

Now we wait for the numbers to get counted and for the powers that be at the History Channel to make a decision. I’m not sure how long it will take, but I hope it’s soon!

Photo by Littlegreenfroggy

My show, History Hacker, will be on TV tonight! It’s is all about exploring our technological history by hacking the inventions of the past. If you can, I’d love it if you can watch it with your kids! While making it, I imagined families watching the show and enjoying it together!

I really pushed hard to make the show fresh. There are a billion jumpcuts in this show and we achieved some special split screen and in-camera effects. It’s an hour long, so I have time to get into some projects to break down some of the principles that Tesla pioneered and fought for in the war of the currents. I make a neon bulb, AC generator from a bike and muck about with an old telephone magneto. I also go check out the power plant in the basement of the New Yorker and the space systems lab at MIT to see how the principles that Tesla pioneered are being used today.

Tonight, this show is really in you and your family and friend’s hands. It’s a pilot and so it will only go forward if it gets the ratings and response from viewers like you! If you feel so moved, write an email with your feedback, ideas for future episodes, or just what you think of the show! I’ve set up an email address that goes to the people at the network who need to hear your feedback.

I’ll be posting live backchannel commentary on twitter and I’ll be reading all the twitters with the words “history hacker” and “bre” in them. I’ll also be reading all the responses in the History Hacker Facebook group. I am also going to be checking out all the photos that folks post of themselves watching the show in the History Hacker flickr group.

Tonight!!!!!
History Hacker on History
8PM and Midnight

Dan Johnson was the sound recordist on the History Hacker pilot that airs this Friday at 8pm and Midnight.

He’s a total pro. Not only does he get the sound to sound good, but he had the best jokes of anyone on the set.

In this video he shows off his gear, check it out.

I’m going through the videos I made during the filming of the pilot and I’m posting them here!

Learn more about the show and find out what you can do to help it go to season.

Hey DIY people in the world and astronauts too,

My TV show pilot called “History Hacker” airs this upcoming Friday at 8PM and Midnight on the History Channel. I’m the host of the show and I check out inventors in history and take a hands-on look at their inventions. I need your help to make the show go from a pilot to a real TV show.

The pilot is all about Nikola Tesla and the war of the currents between Tesla and Edison. In the show I learn how to blow a neon tube, explore wireless electricity and build an AC generator from a bike. I also go to Boston to visit an MIT space lab to see how the principles that Tesla pioneered are being applied to space propulsion.

The look of the show is awesome. The folks at History gave the producer, director, and director of photography permission to take my DIY style of making videos with lots of jump cuts and direct talking to the camera and push it forward into a longer format. It doesn’t look like anything else on TV.

There are four things you can do to help make the pilot a TV show.

1. Tell people. Please forward this as email, write about it on your blog and help get the buzz going.

2.. Please tune in on a Tivo if you’ve got one to help boost Nielsen ratings.

3. Once you’ve seen the show, send a feedback email telling the folks at History what you think. Email historyhackerfeedback@brepettis.com.

4. Also after the show has aired, please drop a note in the History Forums.

You can also participate on Facebook, Flickr, and Youtube

Facebook: If you enjoy the show and want to participate more I’ve set up a History Hacker facebook group that anyone can join.

Flickr: I’m also really curious about the people watching my show so i set up a History Hacker flickr group. Please take a picture of yourself watching the show and upload it to the group at. It will be really cool to see who’s watching the show!

Youtube: I’ve posted a History Hacker video teaser on youtube that gives you a feel for what the show will look like. (It’s the video up at the top of this post.)

Thanks! I can’t wait to see it on Television and I hope you get a chance to tune in!

For History Hacker, my fellow resistor Raphael Abrams helped prototype some projects with me. We were at NYCR working on making an AC Generator out of a bike when Adam had the bright idea to hook the two ends of the coil to a speaker to listen to the sound of music. Bonus points for anyone who comments with a cunning and subtle reference to that movie, the sound of music.

My show is coming in a week! If people watch the pilot and the Nielsen ratings are good, I’ll be able to make a whole season of History Hacker and get to investigate inventions and inventors in history and show you how to make them!

History Hacker
Friday September 26th
8PM and Midnight
History Channel
(Right before and right after the first presidential debate)

You can join the History Hacker facebook group where folks are discussing their favorite inventors of yesteryear and I set up a History Hacker flickr group because I’d actually like to see the people who are watching my show as they are watching the show with me on the tv. (I think it will be cool to see who is watching the show!)

The show will live or die based on ratings and feedback from folks.

The history channel has message boards to talk about the show. They are tracking what is said there.

And if you feel so moved to write a message to them, I’ve set up an email for History Hacker feedback that forwards to the people at the History Channel who need to know.

They changed the History Hacker show time and added another showing since History Hacker will play the same night as the presidential elections, I’m really glad they made this change so that folks will be able to watch it!. Even though it’s a hassle for everyone to reschedule their dvrs, this is good news.

The new times are September 26th at 8pm and Midnight.

Showtimes on the history channel website.

Update: Because the 26th is the first presidential debate, the show will be shown at two times on the 26th. Once at 8pm and once at Midnight. Even though this time change means folks have to change the settings on their DVRs, it’s a very good development!

I’m really excited.  I just found out that my TV show pilot, called History Hacker is going to air on the History Channel at New  Friday, September 26th at 8PM and Midnight. This photograph, which is also the current header of my blog was shot during filming of the show. I’m on set in my infinity workshop and that’s a decent sized Tesla coil.

Over the course of the show I learn about the inventors and inventions of the past and then hack the inventions together out of stuff in my closet.

Tesla - Just chilling with a lot of electricity flying around.

The first pilot episode is all about Nikola Tesla who is an amazing character. He’s the man responsible for the current that comes out of your wall sockets. He battled Thomas Edison in the war of currents and won.  He had over 300 patents and besides figuring out AC power, he came up with radio control and mucked about with electricity more than anybody.

In the show, I blow a glass tube from molten silica with Kevin at Scanlan Glass and then fill it neon gas with Dave of Tecnolux. I made an AC generator with my pal Raphael of NYCResistor. It got enough pedal power going to power a neon tube!

I visited a space lab at MIT to check out what they are doing with some of Tesla’s principles and inventions.

Besides being a lot of fun to make the show, i’m really satisfied with the look of the show.  The director J.P. Balas and director of photography Scott Carrithers basically took my jumpcut style of making videos and pushed it forward into territory that traditional tv shows have never seen before.  The look of the show is freaking awesome and the design principles that went into it make for a really fresh look. When folks are couch surfing, I predict they’ll have to stop and watch this show because it just looks that different.

A lot of folks made this show happen. I really appreciate all the hard work by the wonderful and creative team that put this together, shot it, and edited it and will be bringing it to air.

I’m really excited that my show will be airing, but I’m a bit nervous because the show basically will live or die based on Nielsen ratings. Nielsen is a company that tries to figure out how many people are watching a show and if they like it. They do this by compiling numbers from Tivo, installing Nielsen “go-boxes” in some family homes which document viewing habits, and choosing some households to document their tv views in a little journal. If Nielsen gives a good report, it’s more likely that the show will go to season and I’ll get to make more.

So here’s where you come in. Please watch it! If you don’t watch it, it may be the only one in the series. Have friends watch it too, especially if they have a Tivo! Watching it and getting other folks to watch it will really help this fun, educational, and wonderful show get off the ground!

Here’s what to put on your calendar or program into your Tivo.

History Hacker
Friday, September 26, 2008
8PM and Midnight (New Times)
The History Channel