I really enjoy the metal working but the manufactured drama is very off-putting.
I'm only on season 2 but haven't noticed any real drama between the contestants. They typically will have some sort of blade issue that increases the time crunch but seeing how they deal with that is one of the interesting things.
So far this show has had some of the best contestants for attitude that I've seen on any show.
Plus I really like the judges. "It will kill"
In general I like the show but there is too much project redundancy. How many times has the first round been a camp chopper/Bowie/BFK?
That is an issue, with the limited time they have in the first challenge the knives have to be somewhat basic. Trying something more complex can lead to the risk of going home when your's isn't as finished when the clock runs out. Plus the test tend to make big solid knives a better design choice. The varied materials and construction requirements can add at least some variety to it.
I haven't watched this show, but I don't really mind arbitrary time limits set on reality "competition" shows, as long as they're not doing it for some obviously made-up reason (no one tries to get a show car built in a few weeks, for instance). If they're just saying "we want to see if you can do this in the time allowed," fine.
I agree, when it is a preset time limit as a contest it may not end up showing what the best knife maker can do without a time crunch but I do think your skill level has to be higher to produce a quality product in a shorter time. And I also agree, it doesn't bother me like the "We have to build this for a 'real' customer and we only have 1 week" that so many reality shows do.
oh reality show, no thanks.
I put reality competition shows in a different group from regular reality shows. Especially competition shows where the people don't live together and interact for long periods (top shot crosses into regular reality TV a lot). If the cameras are just following the people in what is supposed to be their regular day hoping to find drama then it is really a lightly scripted show where most everything that happens is planned and setup ahead of time. And then edited to increase the drama and control the story.
On competition reality shows they aren't pretending that the camera's aren't there or that "Oh, this customer just came in with this for me out of the blue"
On this show you get to see some incredibly talented artist/craftsmen make impressive knives in a short amount of time. Sure, there is 'drama' when they run into an issue in the process but I haven't seen an episode yet where the drama was between the contestants themselves. It has always been between the contestant and the metal.
Yes, contestants get sent home as the show progresses but who would watch sports if nobody lost? Football with no score keeping? Nascar with no finish line? Downhill skiing without a timer?
Sure, the better knife maker may go home because they ran into an issue that the other guy didn't but every competition and every sport has those.
Technically any sports event is a 'reality show'. People watch them to see how the contestants do and how they handle what comes along. Sure, we don't see every moment of the contest (It would be cool if they'd put that online sometimes) so things get left out that could affect who we root for but I haven't seen any sniping between contestants here where the producers could guide the end product to show one as being in the right when they weren't. I've seen good natured ribbing, compliments and even help between contestants though.
