# This show is starting tonight. Could be interesting



## vikingcape (Jan 3, 2013)

A furniture making show on Spike called "Framework"

Looks like it could be a fun show to draw inspiration from.


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## wormil (Nov 19, 2011)

Yep, I have my dvr set. My expectations are never high for these reality shows but once in awhile they turn out well.


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## JADobson (Aug 14, 2012)

While the premise behind the show could be good I don't have very high hopes. One of the comments below the video nailed it: (caution language)



> So basically you mix Jimmy DiResta, Marc Spagnuolo and a few other youtube woodworkers, which can be watched without ********************ty fake suspense and American Idol bull********************, and add said ********************ty fake suspense and American Idol bull******************** and… what exactly? Who's gonna pay me to watch this crap?﻿


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## richardwootton (Jan 17, 2013)

I set the DVR, but I'd rather see Roy Underhill, Chris Schwarz, and Paul Sellers as the judges.


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## dawsonbob (Aug 5, 2013)

So, basically, it's "Survivor" with furniture, right? No thanks.


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## whitebeast88 (May 27, 2012)

i'll check it out.thanks for the heads up.


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## Mahdeew (Jul 24, 2013)

Wish I had TV connection for this one.


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## BentheViking (May 19, 2011)

I set my DVr for it if for nothing else than it'll be better than most of what's on tv


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## wormil (Nov 19, 2011)

BTW, this is not woodworking but a furniture design show. Of the two judges, one specializes in concrete, the other in modern furniture. If you go in with the expectation of seeing Shaker furniture and handcut dovetails you will quickly be disappointed.

http://www.nolenniu.com/nolen_niu_products.html

http://goredesignco.com/#custom


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## tbone (Apr 24, 2008)

I watched it, and was not impressed with it. Formulaic reality TV premise. Good furniture design and fine craftsmanship cannot be achieved in a 'race to the finish' time frame. These contestants/woodworkers are set up for failure.
I know editing plays a big part in the drama, but i don't believe these contestants are capable of producing fine furniture. As Bart Simpson says, "It's craptacular!"


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## Rick Dennington (Aug 27, 2009)

To me, it sucked…...I've seen this show a long while back, and it sucked then, and it still sucks….period…!!!


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## Waldo88 (Nov 7, 2014)

Eh, I liked it. Thought hard about how I would handle that challenge.

Then again, pretty much every contestant makes modern furniture, as do the judges, so its about the kind of furniture I buy, build, and have in my home. I find most "furniture for woodworkers to appreciate" pretty lame. I love the design side of things, which is what the show is really all about.

Hopefully they don't do that sort of challenge again as it doesn't lend itself to making nice things. I'm shocked that only one person made a small laminated table, that seemed to be the safe play for the challenge (safe good work isn't being sent home week 1). Find an interesting variety of wood pieces to laminate together and something interesting to make a base out of. Keeps the reclaimed nature and you don't have to worry about design dead ends, which there was no time to deal with.

WTF were all the people making rockers thinking? You aren't making a nice rocker using a novel design in 24 hours with reclaimed materials. I don't care how good you think you are.


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## vikingcape (Jan 3, 2013)

I don't know if it is the kind of stuff I would like to make, but the design aspect of the show is what I like to see. Unfortunately it is TV, so they have to heavy up the drama and minimize the wood/metal working. Nick Offerman should have been the host though


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## wormil (Nov 19, 2011)

The editing was bad, really bad. The show came off as lacking substance even for a reality show. And for whatever reason they never showed a project for more than a split second before cutting away except for that clunky mirror thing the judges loved which looked like an easel holding a mirror with a piece of boat set in front of it. The paddle chair was okay, at least it looked like a chair. The boat bow chair was okay too although smallish for an adult. I liked the boat not-a-bar, not-a-table, not-a-counter, the two furniture judges hated although they were right about the height making it useless. The guy who made the rocking bench that broke shouldn't even be on the show, the furniture in his portfolio looks like he's been woodworking for about 30 days. I'll watch a few more episodes in hope the editing improves and the pace slows down a bit after a few people are gone.


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## JCantin (Jan 21, 2009)

The joinery in the mirror was gorgeous, spot on. Really? Why not show it and explain what makes it gorgeous then?

And could the guy who made the mirror be more obnoxious?


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## bondogaposis (Dec 18, 2011)

I watched part of it, but couldn't stand the drama part, too little substance, mostly fluff. Typical reality show, artificial drama, fake emotions. I won't watch it again.


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## wormil (Nov 19, 2011)

> The joinery in the mirror was gorgeous, spot on. Really? Why not show it and explain what makes it gorgeous then?
> - JCantin


Exactly. The piece they showed the most was the broken bench rocker. Their priorities are backwards.


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## Waldo88 (Nov 7, 2014)

Yeah I don't get what they saw in that mirror. Who cares how well it was constructed, it was dumb. The boat bow chair was probably my favorite piece. A little small, but I thought it looked nice and was a creative solution to the challenge. It would look pretty awesome in a beachfront vacation home that has a nautical theme and overall rustic-chic design.

Rocker bench guy has to go soon, that thing was terrible, every aspect of it, conception to execution. He would have if the girl that left wasn't an utter fail.

Agree that it spent way too much time on the crap and too little on the better projects. Though most of them kinda sucked; as I said it was not a challenge that lent itself to making nice things.


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## vikingcape (Jan 3, 2013)

That fella with the cowboy hat seems like he could hold his own though. Hopefully the rest of the show doesn't suck. It seems like such a cool idea, but I've always been more of an optimist


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## handsawgeek (Jul 31, 2014)

I'll stick to Roy Underhill and Woodsmith Shop (sometimes)


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## Timberwerks (Sep 29, 2009)

Here's another one coming, looks a bit more professional: http://www.hg
tv.com/shows/ellens-design-challenge


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## wormil (Nov 19, 2011)

> Here s another one coming, looks a bit more professional:
> http://www.hgtv.com/shows/ellens-design-challenge
> 
> - Timberwerks


That looks way better, looking forward to it.


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## crank49 (Apr 7, 2010)

Sad to say I managed to sit through most of that "Framework" show.
Anyone besides me get annoyed at the bleeping of every other word in the dialogue.
Either get some participants who are not so gutter mouthed or make follow the rules.
Better yet, just leave the profanity in there.
I was way more put off by the censor bleeping than anything they could have said.

Won't be watching again. This was a total waste.


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## wormil (Nov 19, 2011)

Anyone still watching this?

The last episode was interesting in that they picked the hammock to win despite the guy not adapting or whatever the materials like the judges droned on and on about. The guy with the best adaptation was the cd-rom table, he should have won.


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## PLK (Feb 11, 2014)

Didn't catch the first episode or the second.

Fill us in Rick M, days of our lives!

;p

Paul


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## runswithscissors (Nov 8, 2012)

It's "reality" TV that gives a bad name to reality.


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## wormil (Nov 19, 2011)

Recap:
In ep3, each person got a whole bunch of something silly like forks, tennis balls, cd-roms, bungee cords, copper wire, lunch boxes, pvc pipe, chain link fence and had 24 hours (two 12 hour days) to build a piece of furniture featuring those items except it wasn't supposed to look like the whatever they were given. So fork guy built a wood chandelier with forks sticking out, it looked worse than it sounds. Copper wire guy made a hideous bench, judges rightfully criticized him for not stripping the copper wire and for using wire nuts. Lunch box woman made a hideous ottoman that looked like an armadillo run over by a Renaissance Fair. PVC pipe guy made a hideous thing that no one could classify, not even the guy who made it. Chain link fence guy made a chandelier with duct tape and fencing. Tennis ball guy wanted to make a bench with tennis ball cushions and the judges beat him up over it so he cut the tennis balls apart and tried to weave them or something and they beat him up over that. CD-ROM guy smashed and melted them down, mixed it with resin and cast a pretty neat table, the judges said it looked like alabaster. Bungee guy made a beautiful wood hammock with bungee cords weaved into netting and won. Hands down the hammock was the nicest thing built to date but the bungee cords looked like bungee cords so it was a bit hypocritical they picked him as the winner after beating everyone else up for that reason.


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## Zantar2014 (Jan 22, 2015)

Tough crowd. Yeah, I'd rather be in the shop.


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## vikingcape (Jan 3, 2013)

Yep still watching it too Rick. That fork guy needs to go. It looks like the episode is going to be much more wood heavy


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## wormil (Nov 19, 2011)

Lacey Campbell, one of the Framework contestants, was on the Drunken Woodworker a few days ago. She is the one who made the circuit board table using hot glue.


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## wormil (Nov 19, 2011)

Finally watched ep4, Hidden Innovation. Entertainment center was a good concept but the judges harped too strongly on innovation forcing the teams to build gimmicky crap. The real innovation in hiding entertainment systems will be in the technology because at this point they are still cumbersome, wire bound boxes. Whatever you build, it will be a box to hold boxes. The flip top tv table really would be a nice feature in a tiny home. The construction looked good and I liked the hollowed leg to hide wire. I didn't like the consoles/receivers being in a box but that could be fixed with a little tweaking. I didn't like the other designs.










The bar idea wasn't too bad but needed more thought.


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## Dreek (Oct 31, 2014)

Pure crap. I made the mistake of tweeting my thoughts on it, in a very abridged form (basically, "not a good show, judges are straight up crazy") Got a reply back from Brandon Gore saying they judge harshly because it "isn't tee ball, where everyone gets a trophy for participating".

My take, in a forum where there is more space to expound (my bad for trying to say something on stupid twitter), is this: the contestants have a near impossible task, not only from the standpoint of time allotted for execution, but also the standards applied to their concepts. Time after time, the judges hammer on the fact that they want to be wowed and to see something revolutionary. So basically you are left with a bunch of crappy creations with maybe one or two that passes for good. This formula yields: 1) extreme stress for the contestants 2) unentertaining pieces as most come out like junk, 3) an easier job for the judges, because there's usually only one passable piece produced per week and so picking the best of them is a cakewalk.

I would prefer the contestants get assigned a more reasonable task (perhaps by not making them create things from junkyard scavenged materials, for starters?) so that most of them can produce something pleasing to behold.
The best can still win, the worst can still go home, but at least the contestants and the audience can have a chance to be pleased by the resulting creations.

Oops, that probably won't happen because the judges are scared to death of having to make a call based on subtle distinctions as opposed to the obvious.


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## ChuckC (May 13, 2010)

^^ I agree 100%. They set the contestants up to fail. In this weeks episode they were supposed to make 2 beds, 1 being a bed that could be mass produced and shipped. I noticed that they "forgot" about the second bed half way through the show. How in the world can 3 people make 2 beds in 2 days and still impress the judges. Most of them needed more time just to complete the first bed.


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## MikeUT (Sep 5, 2014)

I've been watching Framework and Ellen's design challenge. If you combined them it could be really good but as it is both of them are just ok. Kaleb is right, Nick Offerman would have been the perfect host. I don't understand the choice for Common though, what was the reasoning there? They are trying too hard to make it intense and hardcore but the intro rap is embarrassing. This last episode with the beds was pretty boring, I am starting to lose interest, hopefully it picks up. I guess they have decided that drama sells but it would be much better if they focused less on the survivor mentality and more on the process and finished projects.

I think I like the design challenge more. Too bad there were only six contestants to start, that will make for a short series. That campaign desk in the first episode was beautiful. It is more of a design show rather than skill in design and execution though. I thought it was weird that they included that grumpy lady that didn't know how to build anything. She reminds me of Mrs. White from Clue.


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## wormil (Nov 19, 2011)

> I don t understand the choice for Common though, what was the reasoning there?
> - MikeUT


Read the credits 

Ellen's Design Challenge is the real deal, those folks are designers and it's obvious in what they produce. You may or may not like particular pieces but from a design standpoint they are leagues ahead of Framework.


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## bonesbr549 (Jan 1, 2010)

I just don't see it. I guess I'm fed up with this reality slam and jam shows either food, or woodworking. I don't see how slapping wood together will be worth a hoot. I'll be glad when the whole reality crap fades from the screen

Last freak'n good show on TV was David Marks.

Now Charles Neil's Web show, now ya talkin!


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## wormil (Nov 19, 2011)

Reality crap is super cheap to produce which is why you see so much of it. Unfortunately I fear it will be around for awhile for the same reason.


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## oldnovice (Mar 7, 2009)

Considering what it was touted to be I think it hit the mark … at least were they were aiming.
Some of these cabinet makers/woodworkers/carpenters do some really exceptional work even though that is not the focus of the show!

As with all these "reality" shows, *reality bites*!


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## vikingcape (Jan 3, 2013)

Well im stuck. I have to finish the show now…. I cant let a story unfinished


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## endgrainy (Mar 25, 2013)

Well…. Did you guys make it to the end of Framework?

I don't want to create a "Spoiler"', but I think they picked the appropriate top three and the best competitor overall as the winner.

I really liked the show. The judges focused on proportion, craftsmanship, and design. The builds the contestants accomplished in 2-3 days were unbelievable. I learned a lot.

For me, Framework really hit the mark for exploring the "Maker"/craftsman culture. I also liked Ellen's Design Challenge (except the ending), but it was more heavily focused on design and less on craftsmanship.


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## wormil (Nov 19, 2011)

I watched them all except for the desk episode because it wasn't marked as new so my dvr didn't record it. I did see about 15 minutes of it online but then Spike's video player stopped working. Framework really had issues beginning with the music video editing, ridiculous challenges, and judge's overuse of the word "innovative". Agree with Steve Ramsey who said it was the angriest tv show and everyone (except maybe Freddie) seemed like they hated being there. I enjoyed the last 10-15 minutes of each episode.

EDC was a better show. Like most others here I would have preferred more nuts and bolts about the design and build process but they have to make it fit for mass consumption.


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## vikingcape (Jan 3, 2013)

I made it too. Wasn't a bad watch for me. Just wish they would have had more time to complete the designs when building them. Things would have been amazing then.

Yes I agree the picked 3 of the best. Personally though I wish Curtis Michael would have been in the top three however. He is a straight ahead woodworker. Would have been nice to see him there

I think the fella who won deserved it however. He builds some amazing stuff


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