Dog days of summer got you down? In serious need of an Amy Poehler fix? NBC has what the doctor ordered.
On July 31, Poehler will be joined by her former "Parks and Recreation" co-star Nick Offerman in "Making It," NBC’s six-episode competition series where eight talented craft makers from across the country take on a series of handmade projects they must complete in their own unique way.
As the competition goes on, the challenges become increasingly difficult, and the least successful maker is eliminated each week. The show culminates in a final craft-off between the last two makers. Poehler and Offerman will be joined by trend experts, Dayna Isom Johnson and Simon Doonan.
Johnson is a trend expert at Etsy, a global market place for unique and creative goods. Doonan serves as a creative ambassador for Barney’s.
"I’m very excited for everyone at home to make and hopefully get some ideas about activities to do with family and friends," said Johnson. Johnson said she heard about the new reality show while doing segments for the "Today" and learned they wanted to do something with Etsy. She immediately applied to be a part of the cast. "They liked what they saw and I was so excited to be a part of the team," she said.
Doonan, who has been involved in the world of window display his entire career has experimented with all kinds of crafts from paper maché to woodwork. He was invited to be a part of the show for his multiple skills and knowledge of crafts.
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"One of the really funny bits in the show is Amy’s sort of unfamiliarity with crafts," said Doonan. "When the show wrapped we got a thank you card from her, and it was this old piece of corrugated card, and she goes ‘is this crafty? I’m doing my best!’ It was so funny I treasure it."
Each episode will be dedicated to a particular theme that draws inspiration to nationwide trends and will consist of two projects. The “faster-craft,” a timed challenge that will test the makers ability to work quickly in a certain amount of time, and the “master craft collection”, a theme challenge where makers will use their expertise to fit the established theme.
“Making it” also hopes to stand out from other competition shows for its light-hearted nature, “It is not very dramatic, there is no heavy cattiness in it," said Johnson. "Our show was meant to be inspiring and I think in a lot of shows people can’t really recreate what they see whereas in ours they can feel inspired and make something similar to what they see. It's a feel good show.”
"Making It" premieres July 31 at 10/9c on NBC.