• by Adam Buckman , Featured Columnist, August 2, 2018

Here's something you rarely see on TV these days: A show that is actually pleasant to watch.

For this seemingly banal reason -- plus a few others -- I am declaring “Making It” to be the best new show of the summer TV season (since the premiere of the half-hour drama “American Women” on Paramount Network in June).

“Making It” is a competition-reality show with little or no conflict. No one erupts. No one gets angry. There were no bleeped curse words in this week's premiere episode (the show is airing for the next few weeks on Tuesdays at 10 p.m. Eastern on NBC).

On “Making It,” co-hosts Amy Poehler and Nick Offerman (former co-stars on “Parks and Recreation”) oversee a group of talented crafters and hobbyists -- some of whom have turned their talent for working with their hands into small businesses.

This show has a decidedly sunny disposition. The crafting competitions take place in a workshop out-building situated in a very attractive rural setting somewhere.

Another critic this week likened “Making It” to “The Great British Baking Show,” which is also well-known for its green, verdant setting.

On “Making It,” Poehler and Offerman make a number of jokes throughout the hour, but all are mild, and none are hurtful.

In the show, Poehler plays the role of the non-crafts person who claims to be unable to do anything with tools (about which she claims to know nothing).

Offerman, on the other hand, is reasonably well-known as a guy who likes to make things with his hands. At the opening of the premiere episode of “Making It,” for example, wood canoes were shown that were represented as having been made by him. They were beautiful indeed.

“Making It” is so nice that it might be the first American-made competition-reality show in which each week’s eliminated contestant is not summarily dismissed and asked to immediately vacate the premises.

In the premiere of “Making It,” the losing contestant was lingering on a back porch seen enjoying some laughs and a glass of wine with Poehler and Offerman.

Like other niche competition shows, “Making It” apparently aims to do business with sponsors with similar interests in the crafting world. In the premiere, in-show sponsors included Etsy and MyBluprint.com. Can Michaels be far behind?

Overnight ratings indicate that “Making It” was warmly received. The premiere drew 5.3 million viewers -- the “most-watched series premiere of the summer,” according to Variety.