This show is a nice introduction to miniature making, a world of great fun and creativity. Eleven contestants flew to Canada to build their miniature houses and compete for the championship. What's not to love about that?
1. Format (8/10)
It is very clear that Best in Miniature is hugely inspired by The Great British Bake Off. What in format originality, the show makes up for it with great execution. Throughout the competition, we get to see the contestants adding details and flairs to their miniature houses. To see their creative visions realized bit by bit is simply gratifying, which I think is very rare in an episodic reality show.
2. Contestants (10/10)
A round of applause to the casting director because they did a fantastic job! This is a very fun and eclectic cast with distinctive skillsets and personalities. There are both amateur and professional miniature artists but they are all very different stylistically. An English gentleman with his deadpan humor and a fully painted theatre, a no-nonsense elderly lady who wants to build a tower for her baby dragon, a flamboyant white gay from NY that excels in being sassy and artistic... What's not to love?
3. Host and Judges (7/10)
Aba is a great host and an amazing conversationalist! She has good chemistry with all the contestants but knows not to overshadow them. Both judges are well qualified. Micheal is an interior designer and Emma is a professional dollhouse designer. Though they do provide helpful and constructive criticisms, I can't help but feeling they are somewhat skewed towards judges' favorites. Take Emma for instance, she is very particular about the 1:12 scale, which is totally legitimate on its own, but seems to only hold it harshly against one of the contestants and let others off the hook so easily.
4. Production (7/10)
It seems that the show has a relatively lean budget compared to GBBO, but the production value does not suffer much. The editing is quite standard for competition reality TV. There are also a lost of confessionals for each contestant, while most of them do feel authentic, some just seem too scripted and homogenous.
What strikes me the most is the cinematography. It manages to capture and mimic the beauty of miniature building. Some overhead and angled shots on set and the elimination sequences for each episode are very tasteful.
Overall (8/10)
The show is clearly a labor of love. I greatly enjoy it and binged the whole season in just two days. Kudos to everyone who poured efforts on it and let's hope there's more coming!
