I Heart Amy Poehler

Amy Poehler and Nick Offerman were interviewed by The Hollywood Reporter to discuss their reality show ‘Making It‘. They talk about how the idea for the show came about, why they only wanted to be hosts and not judges, what did they learn from season 1 and much more. You can read the entire interview in our press library.

Amy Poehler and Nick Offerman were first seen onscreen together on NBC’s Parks and Recreation, but they met many years earlier, in 1996 in Chicago, where they were both fixtures on the comedy scene. In July 2018, they debuted their newest collaboration, Making It, NBC’s reality competition about crafters competing for a $100,000 prize. Poehler’s (who produces the show through her Paper Kite Productions) and Offerman’s hosting duties include interviewing the contestants as they create ambitious works ranging from Halloween costumes to handmade forts; the pair also performs interstitial comedic bits ranging from pun-offs to a running gag about how they don’t want to send any contestants home, ever.

Emmy-nominated for outstanding host (they’re competing against RuPaul Charles, James Corden, Ellen DeGeneres and Marie Kondo), Poehler and Offerman spoke to The Hollywood Reporter about making a nice reality competition show, why they aren’t judges and what they learned from the first season.

How did the idea for this show come about?

NICK OFFERMAN I’m going to defer credit to Amy and her gang of powerful lady producers. They are the brains behind the operation. They came up with the idea, and I think truly it came from Amy, the sensibility of, “I don’t want to make anyone cry.”

AMY POEHLER I had been asked to host things in the past, but I don’t like a lot of tension in my unscripted series. Even stuff where it’s like a race for money or are they going to make a million dollars — it’s just too stressful for me in these times. [Executive producer] Nicolle Yaron had this idea of taking advantage of what the creative process looked like and celebrating it. It’s really where Making It came from. Immediately I thought, “Well, I have to do this with Nick.” He’s pretty much the only actor I know who I would turn to when the shit goes down. He knows how to make a canoe — he really spends all day making things.