By Mieka Strawhorn | TV | April 21, 2018 |
By Mieka Strawhorn | TV | April 21, 2018 |
Call me crazy but I love summer TV. Specifically, I love new, cheaply produced competition reality shows. When everything I love goes on hiatus, my solution is to branch out and sample whatever ill-conceived malarkey the networks have cooked up. Sure, I could take a deep dive into my Netflix backlog of acclaimed television that I never quite seem to get around to watching, but if I had adhered to that the kind of lazy, elitist consumption, I would have missed last summer’s Boy Band!
The current 2018 network summer schedule is looking a little anemic in terms of competition reality shows, but there’s one that looks promising. NBC will be premiering Making It, a crafting competition show hosted by Nick Offerman and Amy Poehler. Craft-queen Amy Sedaris hosting instead would be my preference, but Amy and Nick make a pleasing enough pair. I can’t be mad at a little late summer, mini Parks and Rec reunion.
According to NBC:
In this six-episode competition, eight of the most talented makers from across the country will take on a variety of handmade projects with the hopes of impressing Poehler, Offerman and our expert judges, Simon Doonan and Dayna Isom Johnson. Poehler and Offerman both share a love of, and passion for, craftsmanship, albeit from different perspectives. Poehler is a self-proclaimed crafting novice who has long harbored a secret appreciation for those who can imagine and execute incredible things by hand. Offerman is a New York Times best-selling author in the woodworking space and is well known for his love for making a variety of objects himself.
Here’s the promo trailer:
NBC says they are capitalizing on current “trends in crafting and DIY” (I hear macrame is poised for a comeback) and that each episode will revolve around a central theme. The challenges will be filmed outdoors (ala The Great British Bake Off) and NBC promises that Nick and Amy will offer gentle, humorous commentary and light-hearted encouragement.
Making It sounds like just the thing for those long summer days when the sun’s grown tiresome and you just want to sit in the dark and watch other people sweat it out.
Making It premieres Tuesday, July 31.