(aired 6/24/14):

The Series Premiere of Motor City Masters squealed its tires across your television sets on Trutv last night bringing with it a new formula for reality television based contest shows.  The premise brings some of the most talented designers from varying backgrounds together to compete for the title of being Detroit's Motor City Master as well as winning a brand new Camaro Z28 and $100,000.  The idea is simple enough: ten designers working both in group and individual teams to compete against each other and create a new car design every week.  With each episode's closing one designer will go home much in the same fashion as any show which falls under this genre.  As the series progresses there will be fewer contestants and the challenges will become tougher based on their talent subsets which they have exhibited.  What sets this series apart from others is not only the time crunch involved in each project (they are only allotted three days for each episode's build) but they are also being asked to create a brand new concept vehicle on every episode with a unique design from drawing board to actual fabrication and the finished painting of said automobile.  Given that the contestants are competing against each other as individuals and being placed into teams to work together this creates a very interesting and dramatic level of tension between the cast members.  It's a very intense show at times and ultimately this is what is going to keep the general public tuning in week after week.  The series is also speaking to niche audience members ranging from everything like gearheads all the way down to graphic designers and car customizing enthusiasts.  I think it speaks to a broad range of audiences and that is what will give this show a lasting and intriguing appeal.

With the Season premiere we are introduced to our cast of contestants and right off they are asked (in an individual challenge which is a deciding factor on each episode who leads up the teams) to draw a vehicle design which shows off their personality.  There is a wide ranging diversity of skill shown during this segment but the two winners of the individual challenge this week were Bryan Thompson and Darby Barber.  Between the two of them, Darby wins the overall challenge making her immune from elimination...at least for this episode.  The groups are then formed "playground style" by each team leader picking a member until both teams are equally full.  Darby chose Camilo Pardo, Jameson Neumann, Doc Sab and Troy Spackman for her team and Bryan chose Dawan Malik, Kevin Chun, Joann Bortles and Shane Baxley to be on his team.  The team challenge this week was for them to create a brand new future concept car for Chevy.  Each team chose a different overall color for their conceptual scheme but they both used Vintage Flatz.  Darby's design used the Flat Matte Black for all of their accent pieces and Bryan's team used it for the accents, wheels as well as utilizing Vintage Flatz Matte Clear as an overall finish on the silver basecoat of their vehicle.  The series gets off to a bumpy start as each team member struggles on both sides as individuals with working together while still being able to give the part they are assigned to complete their own personal signature.  As the episode draws to a close it is Darby's concept that is chosen as this week's winner and as unfortunate as it is Dawan Malik is the first contestant to go home.  Tune in next week to see who goes home next as the contestants are challenged to build Transformer concept cars to celebrate Chevrolet's involvement in the latest installment of Michael Bay's Transformer franchise; Transformers: Age of Extinction starting in theaters this Friday!