User Reviews

How wonderful to see Steampunk get to a larger audience (I just hope the aesthetic doesn't get commercialized!). The contestants all had talent and dedication to Steampunk. The show is undermined by two factors: (1) it's gender-skewed with men doing most of the heavy lifting in terms of carpentry, metal work & the like & the women consigned mostly to "costumes"; and (2) the bickering which undermined the joy I generally see amongst steampunkers and which seemed at times to be a bit staged. I challenge Ms. Mai and the show's producers to even out the female/male divide in some way and to recognize that the drama of creativity can be exciting without sandbox antics.

"Steampunk'd" is a competition show in which ten contestants, called "makers", vie for a prize of $100,000--winner take all. Each week they divide into teams and design a room that will become part of the set, which looks like a dollhouse, waiting for its installations. Teams had to design a steampunk kitchen for the first episode.

Jeannie Mai is the host. Three or so judges determine the winner of each competition.

If your understanding of the term "steampunk" is somewhat vague, you are not alone. But it centers around the design sensibilities of the Victorian era, when steam was the predominant source of power. As the show explains, there are various styles of steampunk, such as post apocalyptic and wild west. In the first episode, they were supposed to use a retro-futuristic style--a style that posits a (Victorian era) past in which the future had already occurred. Yes, some of these substyles can be confusing, even for the contestants.

There is a "punkyard" for the benefit of the makers, filled with every manner of contraption and doodad. Creativity is a steampunk designer's greatest attribute, and the makers have to envision how the materials in the punkyard can be used or modified to contribute to their vision of a room's design. In the best creations, there is a unified vision that conforms to the thematic guidelines given them.

The guidelines can include quirky specs that appeal to the imagination of every designer. In episode one, they had to include a Rube Goldberg-like device that accomplished a common kitchen task. In episode two, designs had to include an "element of surprise" with a secret function.

I thought the first episode was disjointed and showed very little of the actual fabrication. Episode two was more enjoyable. Personality conflicts are on display and they sometimes interfere with a team's best results, but this is common for shows of this genre that use teams, like "Skin Wars". I am grading the show a tepid "6" and hoping that future shows are even better.

Update 9/24/15: I am upgrading this show to "7" because it has become more interesting in recent weeks.

For all the steampunk fans out there...this show is a must see. The genre and host are great. The concept is great. Making it a competition works well too. Shame on whoever picked the contestants and the producer and director that allowed them to act childish, self centered and all in all contribute to keeping the steampunk community fractured.

Where the show failed is picking contestants that have ego's larger than planet Uranus. You can compare this failure to Gordon Ramsay's show about kid chefs...he picked kids that were so coached and brain washed by their parents ambitions that all the kids he had on his show competing were "spoiled brat monsters", talented yes but such brats and so self centered that the show was revolting.(Ramsay later corrected this and later seasons chose kids of better substance making the show a pleasure to watch the kids have fun and compete.)

So just imagine the same kind of kids now as adults and competing in "Steampunk'd". Each with ego's the size of Uranus, self centered, bitchy, arrogant etc. Pretty much ruining any cool camaraderie that holds the steampunk community together.

If this show manages to make a 2nd season, lets hope they can bounce back, learn from their mistakes and correct their selection process and choose fun, supportive, creative contestants...just like Gordon Ramsay did to correct his new seasons of kid chefs.

I had high hopes for this show, because it is a great idea and had potential.

However, the show seems to encourage and focus on the drama between the contestants more than the actual art of steampunk. I was genuinely interested in the art of steampunk and would have liked seeing that process more. Instead all we see is drama.

And it seemed like the judges only wanted to see drama too. Somehow the untalented drama filled contestants stay while some of the most talented yet drama free contestants are booted off each week. It's actually infuriating and does NOT make good TV. I don't plan on even finishing the season.

This show really failed in its attempt to embrace the artistic, aesthetic, and cultural elements of Steampunk. And the reason it failed was made pretty clear throughout the elimination events where caustic, hostile players were kept though a pretext of flimsy editing and even flimsier straw man logic. This show consistently booted talented and efficient players in order to retain tacky, argumentative elements. It was discouraging to watch and had an overall disheartening effect. While the early episodes presented the potential pleasure of seeing a myriad of different skills and projects, as the episodes dwindled, so did any pleasure, due entirely to the removal of all of the most pleasant contributors. What a waste of an excellent premise. This show was a terrible disappointment.

I'm part of the Steampunk Community. Kato and Thomas Willeford are well known in the community, especially Karianne, JW, James Neathery and Tayliss Forge. I really feel like the producers of the show ended up treating Steampunk like a joke.

I'm really offended that they trashed all of the objects and all of the sets.

They got some great makers and put them under tremendous pressure through poor materials and unrealistic time constraints. In spite of that, some really great work was created! But they tossed it in the landfill. Jeez, it could have been auctioned for charity!

I do feel some of the judges were a bit too precious about their notions about what Steampunk is. In that they failed miserably week after week to discern the best work, and in so doing eliminated the best contestant Donald Trump style. It was very hard to watch.

Since Steampunk is a new and evolving ethos they needed to set the imagination free and enhance the participants creativity. But they failed to do that and stifled a budding process of creativity leaving most of the makers enervated and traumatized. They also did not rein in Two toxic contestants who were not team players. Teamwork should have been the single most important aspect of work here, as it is so necessary for the Steampunk process. Non team players should have been voted out, not by the judges but by the participants, Survivior style. Because it was not and non team players got elevated to the final round, even winning we see the ultimate failure of SteampunkD.

Netflix should remove it for that reason alone.

Every week two teams of "makers" vie to create a specific room in steampunk style. None of the contestants is particularly talented, likable, or has any sense of victoriana. Despite a "junkyard" of usable stuff, few items of interest are chosen. The "makers" focus only on individual interests and have little sense of team cooperation and cohesiveness. The end result is a boring room with one lackluster mechanical feature. Every week the judges have a hard time declaring a team winner and choosing two team captains for the upcoming week. Their options are seriously limited--rooms are flawed and no one creation is a standout. If you are trying to grasp the essence of steampunk, this show will only further confuse you.

I thought this show was very good for it's first season. The makers were quite good but there was more drama being filmed than I believe should have been. The concept was great, and the rooms turned out very well. The real thing that bothered me about the show was the host. She seemed to be more interested in the fashion roles she could perform instead of showing a general interest in the creations. That could be because of poor filming. The other comment I would make is not to try and make this seem like you are being removed from the island. That's already been done. lol

Great effort for the first season and I can't wait for the next season. Also, way to go Steampunk Eddie! I was rooting for you all the way through.

This was so upsetting. When I saw they cast the brilliant Thomas Willeford (greatest maker ever) as one of the judges, I thought, "Okay, they're doing this right. This show has potential". However, it quickly turned into every other "enhanced reality" show on television. They hit every cliché. The overly dramatic music, close-ups of people crying, and casting participants who seem more interested in being on television than crafting cool projects. Reality television, in general, has become this dumping ground for wanna be actors...which is fine I guess. However, if these are the competitors you want to entice, then call the show, "Who wants to be an actor?" Don't call a show called "Steampunk'd" and then fill it with overly dramatic casting call chasers determined to stab each other in the back because it makes for "good drama". The cruelty and backstabbing is not an accurate representation of the steampunk culture (from what I've seen). This show doesn't portray the steampunk genre in a positive light. I have many friends who are part of this community and there is not the sense of treachery. From what I've seen most steampunk aficionados are very supportive of one another and encourage creativity. At conventions, folks compare ideas and character back stories with excitement because they share a similar passion. To me, the steampunk community is a welcoming culture of artists. This aesthetic is not portrayed on the "Steampunk'd" show, which was very disappointing.

All the makers make very fascinating items. So far, everyone has impressed me on some level. I was really disappointed in who they let go in the last episode. Actually, I've been a bit disappointed with who they've booted and who they've kept in general. I'm really glad to see something like this on TV though I'd love to see each item made in more detail. I'd also love to see a zeppelin constructed! I think it would be cool to have teams compete so we aren't seeing the same people every week. All in all we have enjoyed the show. I love that they have incorporated baby steam. I feel like they could incorporate more Victorian things... with the exception of Miss Morgan, it's been oddly lacking there.

The idea for the show was full of promise. A Steampunk Maker show in the vein of Face-Off. That's where the good idea ENDED. Instead of a show committed to casting the very best of the Maker Movement (quite a few Makers declined audition requests or casting offers. One walked out during the first casting audition, saying *&^% this!), it was a show mired in the style of Jersey Shore, Housewives of ______, or Jerry Springer.

Profanity? Yes! Change the rules to keep the bad actors on, while kicking off talented Makers? Yes! Take the most talented Maker on the show and post-edit film to make him look The Villain? Yes! Drama, Drama, ad nausium, Drama? Yes! Oh and they sometimes make cool stuff.

Although there were casting changes right out of the gate to switch the pre-determined "Winner" that was planned, the "Reality Show Drama" focus made this nearly unwatchable. The highlight of the Series was the Nautical Bathroom that was Museum worthy (but ended up in a landfill instead of auctioned off for charity-IDIOTS!). The abundant talents of Ave', JW, Tayliss, James, Charles, Karianne and two others were given hardly a nod. Tragically the cameras were glued to Chain-Smoking, "My buddy is Jack Daniels", Eddie and "I was rejected for Project Runway but I will do ANYTHING and say ANYTHING to be on TV", Toxic Morgan. The production was addicted to highlighting their profane twin tantrums and eye rolls. More than one cast member still has PTSD from these two. It was that bad...

Dita von Teese said it best when she called one contestant "The Real Deal". She wasn't talking about Eddie...It was said in response to JW's exemplary work.

The three Judges did the best they could, and I give them props. All three attempted to put considerable intelligent thought, well-timed humor and brassy lipstick on this pig. They were trying to class up the amateurish camera work, absence of proper Maker supplies, complete lack of catchy theme music, absence of proper Steampunk "Feel" in the show and the Director's steadfast adherence to manufacturing fake drama, at any cost.

All this and the terrible casting of two desperate "Actor wannabes", ruined the show. They couldn't even outfit the Host correctly in Steam-Themed Garb. Her wardrobe looked plucked direct from Rue Paul's Drag Race's rejects.

It's too bad. They could have had a hit show with many quality seasons. We could have marveled each week at Real Makers with Real Talent, showing us HOW it was made. Instead, we got one rushed, sophomoric, glued-together mess, that I hope fades away into history and is erased from everyone's memory.