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Veteran emcee Common has been known for making some noise on both the big and small screens. He’s appeared in movies such as American Gangster and was a part of the main cast of Hell On Wheels (AMC) for three consecutive seasons. Now, he’s getting ready to flex his hosting chops in a whole new territory. He’s joining the world of competitive reality television courtesy of Spike TV.
He will be the host of their new furniture designed based competition series. The series has been dubbed Framework. The show is the first ever of it’s kind. The premise will follow 13 contestants who make furniture for a living over the course of ten weeks as they take part in a wide assortment of challenges. They will be striving to win a $100,000 cash prize and to have their pieces sold by a major furniture manufacturer. The network states that the participants will be: working with unusual materials, rethinking traditional pieces, and illustrating their knack for furniture creation through various techniques & disciplines. Each week, a judging panel will select one contestant to be eliminated from the program.
The judges will include furniture icons Nolen Niu and Brandon Gore. Nolen Niu is an award winning designer who has had his work featured in over 300 publications worldwide. His client list includes entities like MGM Mirage properties and Esquire Magazine. He will be specifically dissecting the contestants’ design work. Brandon Gore is a widely known craftsman who specializes in the innovative use of concrete in furniture. His has also been featured in numerous publications and he too has even won awards for his work. His focus will be the more technical aspect of the challenges.
Common is also going to be rocking a judge’s hat as well. Common was reportedly chosen as a host and judge due to his sense of style, ability to keep up with trends, and understanding of consumer traits. He has a lot of branding experience under his belt from working with companies such as: Sprite, Gatorade, Microsoft, and more. He will be judging as the voice of the potential consumer. The trio will be looking at quality, execution, and overall creativity. The show is slated to premiere on January 6, 2015 at 10pm ET/PT. There will be ten episodes total and they will each run for an hour long. Readers can get a glimpse of the series below and get more details about the program via the official Spike TV website.
**My Two Cents: This is not something that I would typically associate Common with but I’m not mad at him at all for stepping outside of the box. He’s making coin and expanding his brand in a new market while doing so. One can never go wrong with that. Plus, the show concept actually seems pretty interesting. I might just have to check it out. Good luck to Spike TV and Common on their new venture. And props to the network for recognizing the value of the veteran Hip-Hop persona. -MinM
