LEGO Masters Australia starts on Sunday, April 28, and it would have to be the first time ever my family has been annoyed with my media preview copy. Why? Because now they have to wait EVEN LONGER for the next episode. Yeah, geeks are not usually known for their patience. Especially our family. And especially with LEGO. And yes – the show is THAT good.

What is LEGO Masters Australia?

LEGO Masters Australia is a new Australian show based off the hit show from the UK. It’s a show that has been favourably compared with The Great British Bake-Off and the almost unattainable title of “NICEST REALITY SHOW EVER.” Now, don’t get me wrong – there is some competition involved but in the typical Aussie style, it is very much tongue in cheek. We simply can’t take ourselves that seriously. Not even with LEGO.

It has all the makings of a reality show (the teams, the competition, the prize), but it still comes down to a bunch of adults playing with LEGO. And it works beautifully.

These are not your standard teams and they most certainly are not your standard challenges. “Create a building for this LEGO city” – HA! That’s not what this is about. Go big or go home. These teams are creating epic battles, glorious treehouses, and the tallest construction crane I have ever seen.

Why? Because they are doing their best to impress the ultimate judge, Ryan “Brickman” McNaught.

The Brickman: Ryan McNaught

If you’re going to have a judge for a LEGO reality show, you should always aim for the best. Enter Ryan McNaught – otherwise known as Brickman. He is one of 13 LEGO certified professionals in the world and the only one in the southern hemisphere. And after watching him in action for the first episode, they couldn’t have picked a better judge.

(For more about LEGO master builders, check out our “5 questions” interviews with Chris Steininger and Jason Miller.)

“The way I approached it was to be as positive and supportive as possible. Whilst I am The Judge, it is better for everybody–better for the contestants, better for the TV Station, better for the audience–if people are encouraged to make the most incredible things they are capable of doing. We want them to build the best LEGO models you can possibly imagine. Whilst I am The Judge, I still want to be an encouraging person.” – Ryan McNaught

This is something that comes across very clear in the first episode, and something I think will be very encouraging for families to see on the television. Watching Ryan move around the contestants, he comes across as supportive and encouraging. Ryan is always looking at ways to help contestants enhance what they already have. Even the judging criteria sound more like a mantra than a list of “You Must Do This.”

“Creativity. Stories. Personality. Technical Skills… It’s like any creative medium. You need to come up with the idea. But then it is so much cooler to have a story with your idea. Something happening. Something that gives your audience a reason to come in and see your design up close. It needs to come from you and your personality; you start to see that with the teams in the show, as they bring their personality to their designs. And then you have to have some technical skills to bring it to life. And these together are the core of every design we make.”

The Star of The Show: The LEGO Brick

As much as I loved looking at the builds, there is one feature that caught my eye (and my heart) for almost the entire episode.

The infamous Brick Pit.

There are approximately 2.5 million LEGO bricks/elements in The Brick Pit. That’s the equivalent of three tons. I can’t even process that much LEGO in my head. We’re talking 5,000 unique LEGO elements and 9,000 minifigures. It took 122 people over 1,000 hours to unpack, sort, and fill The Brick Pit. And then they had their own specialist team of more than 30 LEGO sorters behind the scenes to maintain The Brick Pit.

I can’t decide if I WANT that job myself or want a team like that for the mess we have at home!!

A Show About Building With LEGO

While we are all blown away by the creative designs on the show, the truth is it all comes down to one thing: The Universal Appeal of LEGO. I watched a preview of the first episode with my kids and I was just as enthralled as they were. We were commenting on every design, wow’ing and ahhh’ing over every detail. Watching the teams create, then they go and cheer for each other – it was a lovely feature that brought our family together.

Yes, we are a family of geeks who love LEGO, but in all honesty, we have had so many different people sharing their excitement for the upcoming show… LEGO Masters Australia really seems to appeal across a wide audience.

“I think what makes the show work is that it is relatable. We’ve all seen a LEGO brick. We’ve all played with one. In fact, I’m sure we’ve all stood on one! It’s a medium that everyone knows. Most people have the skillset to put two LEGO bricks together and create something. It’s very relatable and hopefully, when each episode finishes, everyone heads to their LEGO pile and starts creating.” – Ryan McNaught

That’s exactly what happened in our house and I predict it happening in many more houses around Australia and the world.

LEGO Masters Australia starts Sunday 28 April at 7 pm AEST on Channel 9. To watch it internationally, it looks like they have set up a YouTube channel here. I hope I’m seeing that right because this shows looks like it has the same universal appeal as LEGO.

Perfect for geeks of all ages and nations.