Genre: Reality | Sci-Fi | Competition
Air Date/Time: Tuesdays at 10/9c
Network: Syfy
Synopsis:
From the producers of Syfy’s top-rated Face Off comes a visually stunning new competition series Hot Set. Each week, two Hollywood production designers and their teams will compete in an extreme design challenge to create original movie sets inspired by the science fiction, fantasy and horror genres. Each episode is one complete competition, with new production designers introduced each week. The episode’s winning designer will be the one who creates the ultimate movie set that is able to transport the viewer into an immersive world based on creativity, technique and overall presentation.
A member of an American movie family dynasty, radio and television personality Ben Mankiewicz hosts the series. Ben’s grandfather, Herman Mankiewicz, is an Oscar-winning screenwriter for Citizen Kane and his great uncle, Joseph Mankiewicz, is an Oscar-Winning writer and director for All About Eve and A Letter to Three Wives.
The contestants will reveal their completed sets and edited film scenes on the Hot Set sound stage to a panel of judges who are leaders in feature film production design — three-time Art Director’s Guild Award nominee Curt Beech (The Social Network, The Help, Star Trek); two-time Oscar nominee Lilly Kilvert (The Last Samurai, Legends of the Fall); and Art Director’s Guild Award nominee Barry Robison (X- Men Origins, Wedding Crashers, The Chronicles of Narnia).
The production designers will each have two team members to help them execute the daunting challenges. In the premiere episode, production designers Abra and Craig have just three days and a budget of $15,000 to conceive and build a film-quality world — a devastated alien landscape to be explored by a crash-landed astronaut. The designers draw support from their skilled team of carpenters and scenic painters, the expansive Hot Set supply room, and many of the prop and set dressing houses located in Hollywood. When time is up, the production designers have 30 minutes to shoot a scene on their original set.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylKCdzHYkNc&hd=1[/youtube]
Rats. I am now finding myself in the position of having to say that I like competition TV shows. I had been very comfortable in my snobbery against them. I started watching Work of Art because my son is an art student, then Face Off because it’s on Syfy. Now that I have seen, and really enjoyed, the latest entry, Hot Set, I guess I’ll have to admit that I like the genre. But I have standards! As I’ve mentioned elsewhere, the competition shows I enjoy are those that fall into a niche aspect of my world, and that teach me about it, and are either well-produced or unique or both.
First criteria – a niche aspect of my world. Check. Hot Set is a competition for set design, and specifically for sci-fi/horror/fantasy design. Since I spend most of my days with my head peeking into that genre world, this definitely fits that category.
Second criteria – it teaches me something about that niche. Check. I had absolutely no idea that there is a store in the L.A. area called “Dapper Cadaver”. Come one, how great is that? I won’t spoil any more than that, but in this first episode we are taught about a lot of aspects of set design in general terms, and I expect to continue to learn more during each episode.
Third criteria – well-produced or unique or both. Check. It is well-produced, though not completely slick and has some room for future smoothing. But it is definitely unique. Ever since Face Off premiered, plenty of makeup and makeup effects shows have sprung up, and of course there are many design shows out there, both competition-style and otherwise. But I don’t know of any other set design shows, and to have it premiere on Syfy means that it’s being given a good chance and a level of quality it might not have had elsewhere.
This show is also different from many other competition shows in two respects. This is not a youth-oriented competition – the youngest competitor this season is 36, the oldest, 58 – and this is not a cumulative or live-in or large-group competition. Every episode is a standalone competition between two set designers and their own personal crew. There are pluses and minuses to this setup. If you find one of the contestants particularly unlikeable, don’t worry, it’s just one episode. You won’t get the build-up of squabbling that occurs with longer competitions, nor the uncomfortable unnatural team requirements. But you also won’t establish any loyalty to any particular contestant, or have a chance to watch them develop. Still, if you’re not there for the personalities, those aspects are likely secondary to your appreciation of the show.
Of course, you’ll still get the standard commercial break before the reveal of the completed challenge, and before the winner is announced, and you’ll still get uncomfortable moments caught on camera and very specifically edited in. I roll my eyes at these conventions but understand that they’re part of the genre. They’re just not my favorite part.
The judges have excellent qualifications and give interesting critiques that are part of the education that I appreciate, though we could use a little more, and I’ve been a longtime fan of host Ben Mankiewicz through his hosting duties at TCM, Turner Classic Movies. I hope he’ll also be given a little more to do in the future, but he is obviously comfortable with the subject matter, if slightly less so with the actual script and direction.
Hot Set is a solid addition to a Syfy non-scripted lineup that is slowly, inexorably bringing me to the Dark Side, a world in which I Now Watch Competition TV.
I give Hot Set, Season 1 Episode 1 “Crash Landed Astronaut” Four Out of Five Stars.
