By Kayla DeKraker
Throughout his decades-long career, Mike Rowe has highlighted those who get little recognition for their hard work. His latest show, PEOPLE YOU SHOULD KNOW, continues that mission.
“It was originally called RETURNING THE FAVOR and aired on the platform ‘Facebook Watch.’ We did 100 episodes in four years,” he revealed in an interview with The Epoch Times. “It was downloaded 450 million times; I won an Emmy, and then Facebook canceled it.”
Rowe explained that the show got caught in the crossfire of a direction change at Facebook.
“I never had issues with Facebook. They were very generous with the show, but this was at a time when [CEO Mark] Zuckerberg was trying to figure out if he wanted to compete with Netflix,” he said.
Zuckerberg had the finances and plans to move forward with several shows but decided that he didn’t want to take Facebook in that direction.
“When they pulled the plug, something happened to me I’d never seen before,” Rowe revealed. “A hit show with 2 million regular weekly viewers just ended. It was so strange; the fans never really let it go.”
Then Rowe got an idea. He would continue the show on his own.
“I told myself a couple of years ago, ‘When I get the time, I’ll bootstrap it myself, change the title, and just get it out there,’” he said.
The show started streaming earlier this year, and so far, “We’ve filmed six episodes, and now we’ll see,” he continued. “It’s a brave new world, this digital content creation space. I might be late to the party, but better late than never.
PEOPLE YOU SHOULD KNOW streams on YouTube.
“Watch my new show where my crew and I hit the road searching America for ordinary people doing extraordinary things — determined people doing whatever they can to make their community a better place. We find them, meet them, and surprise them,” Rowe’s YouTube description reads.
Related: How Mike Rowe Wants to Restore Cultural Values Through Storytelling
So far, he’s highlighted people who serve families in crisis, teach the autistic community trades and save veterans suffering from PTSD.
In a clip posted to Instagram, Rowe talked about Steve Hotz, a veteran who founded Black Horse Forge.
“It’s the story of a veteran who found a very effective way to combat PTSD, beginning with his own,” Rowe described the episode. “Steve Hotz built a forge in Fredericksburg, VA, where veterans find comfort and community by hammering scrap metal into something useful.”
Amazingly, the organization has saved thousands of lives. “Over 22,000 veterans” have gone through the program, and “there have been zero suicides.”
Rowe continues to uplift people, highlight those who work hard and use his platform for good, a breath of fresh air in today’s typically dark entertainment world.
Read Next: Mike Rowe Wants To Shine A Light On The ‘Prosperity’ Of Blue-Collar Jobs
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