DIY Dominator Not So Dominant, Friday, July 30

Host Chris Grundy, courtesy Scripps Networks

DIY DOMINATOR

Friendly Rating: Early elementary and up.

Safety Rating: Some language issues, including bleeping.

Quality Rating: Fun, but not great.

Series premieres tonight on DIY Network at 10 p.m.

What makes a great carpenter?  If you’re hiring one, probably the ability to get a good, sturdy job done on time, on budget and cleaned up.  However, on this show, the sturdy and on-time parts are the focus, along with a bit of design work thrown in for good measure.

This is, in some ways, a standard competition show, with three competitors, a challenge and judges (four of them, this time).  Safety issues for the audience are a fair amount of bleeped language.  Oh, and safety – the physical kind – is one of the criteria used to judge the carpenters.  It’s an important part – in the premiere, one of the carpenters shoots himself with a nail gun.

As with all of these kinds of shows, it’s the people that make the difference – and carpenters can be on the laconic side.  In fact, it’s the rowdy, mouthy guy that loses, which might be worth discussing with your kids.  The other good thing about the show is that it does show an interesting career or hobby possibility.  Admittedly, these guys are at the top of their profession (which, alas, remains largely male-dominated).

All in all, it’s not a bad show, and if it weren’t for all the other competition shows out there, might be more interesting.  Even so, it’s worth considering, especially if you’ve got a young ‘un with a yen for wood.