The Clash: The Block: Entertainment or inspiration?

This year's Block has divided opinion over what viewers want to see - DIY disasters or renovation masters?

Opinion

As The Block season three wraps up this week, our writers debate what they want from the series - DIY disasters or renovation masters?

Chris Schulz says:

So TV3 has announced plans to produce a greatest hits version of The Block called "Fans vs Favourites". Just three seasons in, they're bringing back old contestants to face off against fans of the show. Who are these "fans"? Probably the same sprightly sadists you see pulling into Bunnings at 8am on a Sunday to fill up their trollies with nails, jib and polyfiller. Sounds like a horrible weekend to me.

Whoever they choose, they're likely to be pretty decent at doing what The Block demands: renovating an Auckland home that was probably fine till producers took to it with a sledgehammer. And pissing off the neighbours with their all-night DIY antics.

Now, I don't watch much reality television, but even with my limited experience, I know one thing's for sure: competent people doing competent things does not make great TV.

Idiots doing idiotic things are much better. Just one episode of Neighbours at War proves me correct. And everyone knows the best parts of Idol or The X Factor are those early audition rounds featuring performers with delusions of grandeur.

If they were all great at what they do, those shows would get very boring, very quickly.

So I have some advice for TV3. Scrap the "Fans vs Favourites" concept and rename it "Noobs vs Kiwi DIY Disaster Dudes". Get in some tech geeks who don't know what a hammer looks like. Find some artsy types who want to turn their home into some kind of David Lynchian dystopian nightmare. Get in the goth girls who want to paint the entire house black, and dedicate one room for their Ouija board.

It can't be too hard to find a team of guys that have accidentally shot and maimed themselves with a nail gun. Hell, I once nailed my foot to a hardwood floor. So I'm ready and waiting TV3. Give me a call. I'll take on Quinn and Ben any day of the week. I won't win - but it'll be a hell of a lot more interesting than seeing Alex and Corban paint another bloody fence.

Joanna Hunkin says:

Two years ago, my husband and I started to renovate our house. It happened to coincide with the first season of The Block NZ and ever since then, we've taken strange comfort in the fact that no matter how tedious, frustrating and row-inducing our project is, it could be worse. We could be on The Block.

This year, as the couples embarked on kitchen week, we tackled our own kitchen demolition. The difference being, six weeks on, they've renovated a whole house.

Meanwhile, I'm still deliberating splashback options.

I know this much though - white subway tiles are out. They are, like, so Block 2013.

From memory, at least two if not three of last year's kitchens sported the tile choice. Which is one of my major gripes with The Block NZ. Everyone turns up with the same ideas.

Yes, I know it's because they're limited to a handful of sponsored retailers. But come on. Surely there are more than three cushions in all of Freedom Furniture?

This year though, one team branched out - even daring to buy a sofa from a non-sanctioned retailer (we're never told which one, of course). And in the process, created a home you might actually want to live in.

There's been a lot of criticism and controversy about Alex and Corban's appearance on The Block. Some think they're just too good.

The couple defended themselves, saying they were like the All Blacks at the Rugby World Cup. (Yowsers!)

But if Alex and Corban are the All Blacks, Ben and Quinn are the Welsh B-squad. In fact, poor Quinn may be playing a different code altogether ...

The point is, there are enough DIY disasters in my life already (yes, Konrad. I'm talking about you).

I need hope - and inspiration. I need more Alex and Corbans.

- TimeOut