So, Dan, the difference between the programming contests you’re talking about and what I’m talking about is the difference between a symposium and a radio show. Both are recorded, both might cover the subjects in their own ways, but the styles of presentation and approach are inherently different.

The goal of this show would be to show the amazing aspects of teamwork and engineering that occur in a hothouse situation, where people are aimed towards a goal, sprinkled with the sort of fun drama that arises. ACM contests, by their nature, take on all comers and provide ways for dozens of teams to compete; this would definitely be something different.

In other words, it would probably be an a-ok creation but mostly to the people who were involved in it (I call this “yearbook syndrome”). But I don’t know if you would end up with something equally watchable to strangers.

Most of the problems that I mention would be pouring myself heart and soul into a show that, ultimately, would experience a lot of issues that I myself see no point in being part of. But the existence of these sorts of shows on television show there is an interest in the part of audiences and sponsors to glorify (even if occasionally ham-fistedly) the joy of engineering and creation. I just took a hard look and can’t currently see myself doing this.

At the core of many media projects, buried under the glitz or cross-cutting or cheap tricks, you find it’s the true humanity that keeps you interested. This is why, even when Monster House started to get really trashy about forcing events, you still saw, in the builders and contractors, that spirit of “doing the right thing” that blazed in their eyes; (same with Monster Garage; some of the people there are truly folks you could lose a month of weekends just learning from). I would enjoy bringing that out, in a different approach than an open contest would take. But the rest of it….