Good Lordy! Who let Burnham in here? What does he know?
The "sticks" I've intentionally cut the hinge through are specifically trees wherein they're of such small consequence that I don't want to spend any more time on them than I already have, and they're small/green/light enough that they won't break their own hinge, and I'd have to pop the hinge with the tree on the ground. I'm talking about a 40' baby fir or an 8" dbh wild cherry in a stand of second growth.
The tree the guy did in the show is one I'd think would call for a good sound bit of holding wood all the way down, and it's size would for sure break it's own hinge. But my standards and that of a professional timber faller in the bush are different things. Maybe he's comfortable letting that one roll off, or maybe he accidently cut it through.