Hot Sets tried to follow in the successful footsteps of Face Off, but failed miserably. On the surface it had a lot going for it: two teams compete to create a movie set, sounds interesting enough. So what went wrong?
A truly boring host was one issue, but that was just an annoyance compared to the bigger problem: I could tell which team was going to win before the first commercial break. The teams tended to have radically different approaches, It was basically Team Dreamer vs. Team Git'R Done.
Team Git'R Done functioned like a real team. They put together a plan and a budget and stuck with it. When one of the judges made suggestions during a mid-build review, they would find a way to incorporate the necessary changes without totally scrapping the plan.
Team Dreamer typically had one artsy director and a few practical skilled builders. They would plan an elaborate set that would be incredibly difficultly to achieve within the time and budget restraints. Then came prop shopping. The artist would typically fall in love with a particular prop. "I must have that chair/rock/tree, it completes my vision." Other team members would object due to the design and/or budget, but the Dreamer would not yield. So back at the stage they have to completely change everything to work around The Precious with a totally depleted budget,. When the judge gave feedback during the review the Dreamer would ignore it. "They just don't see my vision." So in the end, one team had a well-designed, well-executed set, while the other had a beautiful chair/rock/tree as a centerpiece of a kludge. Guess who won?
A truly boring host was one issue, but that was just an annoyance compared to the bigger problem: I could tell which team was going to win before the first commercial break. The teams tended to have radically different approaches, It was basically Team Dreamer vs. Team Git'R Done.
Team Git'R Done functioned like a real team. They put together a plan and a budget and stuck with it. When one of the judges made suggestions during a mid-build review, they would find a way to incorporate the necessary changes without totally scrapping the plan.
Team Dreamer typically had one artsy director and a few practical skilled builders. They would plan an elaborate set that would be incredibly difficultly to achieve within the time and budget restraints. Then came prop shopping. The artist would typically fall in love with a particular prop. "I must have that chair/rock/tree, it completes my vision." Other team members would object due to the design and/or budget, but the Dreamer would not yield. So back at the stage they have to completely change everything to work around The Precious with a totally depleted budget,. When the judge gave feedback during the review the Dreamer would ignore it. "They just don't see my vision." So in the end, one team had a well-designed, well-executed set, while the other had a beautiful chair/rock/tree as a centerpiece of a kludge. Guess who won?
