KINDA LIKE CRAVING “JIMMY OLSEN” SUPERPOWERS

The Home Shopping Network is touting a new line of tools for do-it-yourself wannabes, but their choice of spokesman seems odd to these cynical eyes. Starting Oct. 6 & 7, HSN will begin selling the new line of Bob Vila Tools. Vila, long a staple of such TV shows as This Old House and Bob Vila’s Home Again, says his experience “motivated me to create a line of tools that would help take some of the mystery out of home improvement and allow the consumer to get better results.” That’s all well and good, but we seem to recall that when Vila was on This Old House, it was Master Carpenter Norm Abram who did the bulk of the cutting, fitting, hammering and building, while Bob kinda did the supervising and made the verbal observations. (”So, that rotted wood has to be replaced, right?” “That’s right, Bob.”) Not to take anything away from Vila and his new line, but if we were having work done in OUR house, we’d be happier to see Norm pull up in the truck. Just for the record…