It seems now that the only criterion for a reality cable TV show is how punny and suggestive the title can be. A show about big-breasted women working in a bra shop would be a non-starter …until you call it Double Divas, then you have a tentpole. Would anyone watch Honey Boo Boo if it weren’t called Honey Boo Boo?
Add to that list Built. The premise: Five gorgeous male models also work as home renovators! Of course, they do both extremely well: Look hot, nail … and maybe get nailed. It’s all the same nowadays. (The show is a combination of Trading Spaces and Joe Millionaire, without the class of either.)
Still, Built is probably the worst new show I am likely to start watching right now. OK, I admit it: The clients are tasteless nouveaux riches, the projects full of faux drama, the men seem like Ken Doll narcissists (some have to be gay, though none discussed his sexuality in the pilot I screened). Built handsome guys with their shirts off is as good a reason as any to waste an afternoon watching TV.
Monday at 8 p.m. on the Style Network.
Next week also welcomes the returns Monday of Dallas on TNT and RuPaul’s Drag Race on Logo, and Project Runway Thursday on Lifetime. We’re not sure which will have more catfights.
This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition January 25, 2013.