LEGO MASTERS: The road to the USA
LEGO MASTERS is about to premiere in the USA, but this is not the first series of the brick-building competition series – Brick Fanatics looks back at how LEGO MASTERS has evolved since it first arrived on screens
Three years ago, there was no guarantee that s sries all about LEGO building could be a success. Now, it is being exported worldwide. So with LEGO MASTERS premiering in the USA, Brick Fanatics is looking back over the past three years to see how the series has evolved to become the big-budget US version hosted by Will Arnett.
The very first episode of LEGO MASTERS aired in the UK on August 24, 2017. Airing on Channel 4, the series saw eight teams of builders compete in a series of challenges. In each episode, the building pairs competed in two challenges with the last place team was sent home at the end.
Melvin Odoom hosted the first iteration of LEGO MASTERS, bringing a non-LEGO eye to the proceedings so that the audience could access terms like SNOT, cheese slope and AFOL. LEGO Vice President of Design Matthew Ashton used his expertise to assess the builds, with different guest judges helping him out each week.
Steve Guinness and Nate Dias were the first LEGO MASTERS title holders, winning bragging rights and the opportunity to have their final build displayed in the LEGO House. Nicolas and Kobe came in second place.
On November 6, LEGO MASTERS Series 2 premiered in the UK, again on Channel 4. The format was similar to the previous series, with engineering enthusiast Fran Scott joining Matthew Ashton as a regular judge. Celebrity guests continued to drop by, demonstrating how far the LEGO appeal goes. Father and son team Paul Lewis Bird secured the LEGO MASTERS trophy.
LEGO MASTERS Germany
The German edition of the show first aired on November 18, following a similar format to the UK version although with four teams of two. Juliane Aufdembrinke, Senior Designer at LEGO and Paolo Tumminelli, Design Professor from Cologne judged the contestant’s creations, declaring Claus-Marc Hahn and Christoph Helfenbein the winners.
When the German version of the show returns later in 2020, there will be six teams competing and all contestants will all be adults.
The second English-speaking edition of LEGO MASTERS arrived down under on April 28, 2019, changing up the style quite a bit. Rather than the smaller, Great British Bake Off infused style of the previous versions, the builds were constructed in a huge warehouse. Dramatic moments were included in the edit and reality television hallmarks like straight-to-camera narrations were added.
Most significantly, only adults were building this time around. It meant that the builds could last longer and have more challenging aspects. This also meant that the show focused on just watching the building more, which proved to work well. Hamish Blake hosted, bringing dry comedy to the format, while LEGO Certified Professional Ryan “Brickman” McNaught judged the entries.
Henry Pinto and Cade Franklin took home the trophy and a $100,000 prize at the end of the nine episode series, with a second series slated to arrive later this year.
See all of the Brick Fanatics reviews from LEGO MASTERS Australia.
The next stop is the USA, with Will Arnett, who voiced LEGO Batman in The LEGO Movie and its sequels hosting and LEGO designer experts Jamie Berard and Amy Corbett proving judging expertise. It will feature entirely adult contestants and looks set to follow the Australian edition more closely than the British and Germany versions.
LEGO MASTERS will premiere on Fox in the USA on Wednesday, February 5 at 9.00pm ET/10.00pm PT.
More LEGO MASTERS USA coverage
LEGO MASTERS: The road to the USA
Episode reviews:
Episode 1: “Dream Park Theme Park”
Episode 2: “Space Smash Challenge”
Exit interviews:
Episode 1: No elimination
Episode 2: “Space Smash Challenge”
Meet the judges:
Jamie Berard
Amy Corbett
Meet the contestants:
Sam and Jessica
Krystle and Amie
Mel and Jermaine
Flynn and Richard
Boone and Mark
Manny and Nestor
Travis and Corey
Tyler and Amy
Jessie and Kara
Christian and Aaron
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Author Profile
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Graham was the BrickFanatics.com Editor up until November 2020. He has plenty of experience working on LEGO related projects. He has contributed to various websites and publications on topics including niche hobbies, the toy industry and education.
Follw Graham on Twitter @grahamh100.
