An amiable anomaly returns tonight (Dec. 2).
“Making It” is a low-cost, low-stress show about ordinary – well, semi-ordinary – people who make things. They use wood … or balloons or noodles or electrical wires or whatever.
This show could easily be ignored, tucked in the cable crevices where how-to shows belong. Instead, it gets a prime spot – 10 p.m. Dec. 2-5 and 8-9, then 9-11 p.m. Dec. 10 – on NBC
Yes.the network that has gave us “Seinfeld,” “ER” an.d “West Wing” is giving eight primetime hours to a show that includes the artistic use of noodles. And somehow, that makes sense
There are occasional flaws. The second episode has clumsy product promos and a contrived bit involving letters from home. But those are minor compared to the show’s advantages.
There are the hosts, former “Parks and Recreation” colleagues Amy Poehler and Nick Offerman. He’s a craft expert, she’s not; they produce this and provide a mixture of dry wit and silly puns.
And there are the contestants, covering a broad swath.
At one extreme, there’s a scientist and there’s a software engineer. Her day job is to help design bombers; only in recent years has she started doing crafts.
At the other is a likable 19-year-old (shown here). Growing up in Meridian (an East Mississippi city of 41,000), he had eight siblings and a persona that, he says, never quite fit in. Bullied in school, he dropped out.
Mostly, he makes things – Halloween costumes for all his siblings … and now a fancy mailbox on TV.
It’s a good one, fun and imaginative. Then again, so are the ones the other contestants made. In its low-ball way, this is a fun sho