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Show to Feature Gadgets – and Goofs – of Maine Twin Inventors

January 05, 2010 - WATERBORO -- Clips of Geoff and Michael Howe's new reality show feature fearsome machines with big tires reminiscent of the contraptions you see at monster truck rallies or on one of those guy-friendly cable channels.

The Howes' homemade tanks and other "extreme vehicles" tear through the dirt like scissors through paper. They roar and soar over hills, and navigate through swamps with the ease of an alligator.

But the 35-year-old twin brothers, founders of Howe and Howe Technologies in Waterboro, are confident that their new show on the Discovery Channel will appeal to a wide demographic – young and old, male and female.

That's because they fought hard to make "Howe & Howe Tech," which airs weekly at 10 p.m. beginning Tuesday. It's an unscripted docudrama that chronicles the daily struggles of a family-owned business in Maine.

There will be character development in addition to cool gadgets.

"It is a completely new show," said Michael Howe. "It is a 'Jesse James Monster Garage' with a little bit of 'MythBusters,' with a little bit of 'OCC,' with a little bit of 'Kate Plus Eight.' It's kind of a new genre encompassing everything."

The Howes are perhaps best known for the Ripsaw MS1, a remote-controlled tank that has captured the interest of the military and attracted several rounds of funding in defense appropriations bills.

The vehicle made the cover of the June 2009 issue of Popular Science magazine when the publication called it "Tomorrow's Tank" and named it "Invention of the Year."

The first episode of "Howe & Howe Tech" will focus on the development of a personal assault vehicle known as "The Badger," which is listed in the 2010 edition of Guinness World Records as the world's "smallest all-terrain armored vehicle."

The Badger is so small it can maneuver into an elevator. The brothers are trying to develop a stronger armament system for The Badger so it can be used by bomb disposal units as well as SWAT teams.

The Howe brothers have been on television before, but nothing on the scale of their new series. It all started about three years ago when the Discovery Channel and the History Channel sent crews to Maine to shoot pilots for potential series. After two months of negotiations, the Howes decided to sign with the Discovery Channel, largely because it reaches 93 million households and they wanted the wider exposure for their business.

They fought efforts to turn the project into a "build show" because they wanted to do something different and "to really develop a show that shows the successes and failures of small business, and hide nothing from the cameras," Michael Howe said.

"It was a real shocker for some people to realize that we actually do fail," said Geoff Howe. "We have failures in the shows, some big failures that they were really uncomfortable with. But they're going to show them. That's part of life. That's part of success. When you do an R and D project, if you succeed 10 percent of the time, that's a good thing."

There are six episodes for the first season, and the brothers are close to signing a deal for 13 more episodes. The first season was produced from June through December, with the Howes and their employees often working 80 to 100 hours per week to accommodate the shooting schedule while juggling the core business at the same time.

"This is a risk, but it's a calculated risk that has thought behind it," Geoff Howe said. "I cross our fingers, and hopefully it goes well. But you know what the only risk in life is? It's taking no risk at all."

By MEREDITH GOAD, Staff Writer, Portland Press Herald, January 4, 2010


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Regions: Sanford


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