Every few weeks I set up the TiVo to record every Huell Howser-hosted program for the next thirty days, whether it’s “California’s Gold,” “Road Trip,” “Visiting,” “California’s Golden Parks,” or another show in his massive educational empire. I really can’t get enough of his visits, which usually involve historic neighborhoods, local history celebrations, out-of-the-way museums, and interesting restaurants. Huell’s shows have given us countless trips, destinations, and restaurants to put on our big ‘to-do’ list, but he may have outdone himself with the show I watched this morning: a visit to Acorn Engineering in City of Industry, makers of toilets, sinks, and showers for prisons, a.k.a. “Penal-Ware.” Wow. My favorite exchange came when Huell stepped into a gleaming stainless-steel shower.

“Boy, I want one of these in my house. What is it?”

“Ah, it’s a prison shower.”

I don’t know if we’ll be visiting the Acorn showroom anytime soon, but at least I’m now up to speed on the “prison chic” trend in bathroom design.