Review: 'Market Warriors'

For a network that really pioneered American television interest in home, antiquing and gardening shows, PBS has not managed to create a buzzworthy show in that genre in a number of years. Oh, sure, there are plenty of great shows on the air, but none of them have connected with an audience in the way that a "House Hunters" has for HGTV.

"Market Warriors" premiered last season and while it might not yet be buzzworthy, it has done very well for PBS in primetime. It's back with new episodes this week and while I'm not sure I can say I love the show, it's well worth watching.

"Market Warriors" follows four "pickers" as they scout out items they hope to purchase for resale at an auction. In the case of this week's premiere episode, the pickers are at  the annual Walnut Antique Show in Walnut, IA. Now the premise is pretty straight-forward: buy as low as you can and the winner is the picker who makes the most money on their items at auction. But producers throw in a few challenges and they tend to get in the way as much as help the flow of the show.

The pickers first challenge is to find a "gold item" at the show within an hour. It doesn't necessarily have to be an actual gold item. It can be laced with gold, or in the case of one picker, simply a wooden propeller that looks kind of golden. If the other three pickers don't agree that the item fits the challenges criteria, it can cost that picker a $50 penalty to the other three (although that money doesn't seem to factor into the final auction totals).

The other challenge doesn't have a time limit and involves finding one or two items of any kind that can be resold at auction for a profit. As the day progresses, there are two challenges that can earn the pickers a bonus $25 or $50 that can be applied to the final auction total. In one case, the challenge involved giving a $50 credit to the person who most closely guessed the date the first rotary egg beater was patented. The second $25 bonus went to the first picker who was able to correctly identify three items used with some unidentified fruit or vegetable. After all the items have been purchased, the pickers end up backstage at an L.A.-based auction watching the results of the bidding on their items.

"Market Warriors" shares a lot of behind-the-scenes talent with "Antiques Roadshow" and that shared production value is apparent on "Market Warriors." "Roadshow" on-air host Mark L. Walberg, is an off-camera for this show and while he's a familiar voice, the show really needs the vitality an on-air host would bring. An on-camera personality would also define the scenes a bit better, because there are times when having four people standing around talking to each other is not the best use of a TV camera. A host could also spend some time wandering through the Antique dealers finding some unusual items and chatting up the dealers. It would help the flow of the show and get ride of the need for some of the challenges which now seem to only be there to help fill the hour.

While it might sound like I don't like "Market Warriors," I do find it to be an interesting show with some very entertaining pickers. I just find myself frustrated that it's not better, given the amount of talent associated with the show.

"Market Warriors" premieres with new episodes on Monday, January 7th, 2013 on most PBS stations.