Smash Lab is a reality television series that premiered on December 26, 2007, on the Discovery Channel

Discovery Channel

Discovery Channel is an American satellite and cable specialty channel , founded by John Hendricks and distributed by Discovery Communications. It is a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav...

. The idea of the show is to take everyday technology and test it in "extraordinary ways."

Cast

The Smash Lab team is composed of Deanne Bell

Deanne Bell

Deanne Olivia Bell is an American television personality known for PBS's Design Squad, Discovery Channel's Smash Lab, and National Geographic's "The Egyptian Job". She is currently a co-host for DIY Network's "Money Hunters" and ESPN's "Rise Up".Bell is originally from Palm Bay, Florida. In...

 (scientist), Chuck Messer (engineer), Nick Blair (designer, season 1 only), Kevin Cook

Kevin Cook

Kevin Lee Cook is an American basketball coach, and former collegiate athlete, who is now the women's basketball head coach at Gallaudet University.*...

 (creative expert, season 1 only), Reverend Gadget

Reverend Gadget

Greg Abbott, known professionally as Reverend Gadget, is a steel fabrication artist, craftsman, prop builder and television personality based in Los Angeles, California. He is best known to television audiences as part of the build team on the short-lived Discovery Channel series Big!, and has more...

 (fabricator, season 2 only), and Nathaniel Taylor

Nathaniel Taylor (artist)

Nathaniel Taylor is a sculptor and professional fabricator. He was a host on the Discovery Channel's Smash Lab. He graduated from the Northwest School of Woodenboat Building, Port Townsend, Washington, and the California College of the Arts...

 (artisan, season 2 only). Blair has a degree in industrial design, and both Bell and Cook have degrees in mechanical engineering. Messer has an undergraduate degree in industrial engineering as well as a graduate degree in industrial design. It is currently being shown on Discovery Channel UK

Discovery Channel UK

Discovery Channel operated by Discovery Networks Western Europe produces an English speaking channel which targets the United Kingdom and Ireland. The channel's programming is based on programming produced by Discovery Networks Europe, Discovery Channel Canada and Discovery Channel from the US.It...

 with Tony Hirst

Tony Hirst

Tony Hirst is a British actor and theatre director, best known for playing Mike Barnes on the British soap opera Hollyoaks and currently stars in Coronation Street as the love interest of Eileen Grimshaw.- Filmography :...

 as the narrator.

First season

Smash Lab premiered on December 26, 2007. The Smash Lab team for season one was composed of Deanne Bell, Chuck Messer, Nick Blair, and Kevin Cook.

Second season

Smash Lab was picked up for a second season with episodes beginning August 5, 2008. For the second season, two team members changed: Nick Blair and Kevin Cook were replaced by Reverend Gadget and Nathaniel Taylor (artisan). Gadget has appeared on other Discovery Channel

Discovery Channel

Discovery Channel is an American satellite and cable specialty channel , founded by John Hendricks and distributed by Discovery Communications. It is a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav...

 shows, including Big!

Big!

Big! is a TV series in which an episode consists of a team of engineers manufacturing the world's biggest items for the sake of setting world records.The devices have to function to qualify.The series originally aired on Discovery Channel in...

and Monster House. This season is narrated by comedian Ben Bailey

Ben Bailey

Benjamin Ray "Ben" Bailey is an American comedian, licensed taxi cab driver, and game show host and executive producer for Discovery Channel's Cash Cab in New York City.-Early life:...

, host of Cash Cab

Cash Cab

Cash Cab is a TV game show devised by Adam Wood that originated in the United Kingdom and has been licensed to television networks in numerous other countries...

. The show was not renewed for a third season.

Criticism and controversy

An article from "Daily Illini" criticizes the show heavily, saying: "Have you seen the show 'Smash Lab' on Discovery Channel? If you haven't, you're lucky. If you have, I'm sorry. It is possibly the dumbest show I have seen in a long time.". It has also been harshly reviewed on sites such as IMDb.

A Canadian-based online design and marketing firm called smashLAB

SmashLAB

This article is about the Canadian design company. For the Discovery Channel show see Smash LabsmashLAB is an interaction design firm based in Vancouver, British Columbia, founded in 2000 by Eric Karjaluoto and Eric Shelkie. The firm originally offered a wide range of design services, from identity...

 claimed that its reputation had been tarnished because of its similar name.

See also

• Mythbusters
  MythBusters
  MythBusters is a science entertainment TV program created and produced by Beyond Television Productions for the Discovery Channel. The series is screened by numerous international broadcasters, including Discovery Channel Australia, Discovery Channel Latin America, Discovery Channel Canada, Quest...
  
  
• Prototype This!
• Patent Bending
  Patent Bending
  Patent Bending is a Canadian reality television series that premiered August 22, 2006, on the Discovery Channel. The series is based on building some of the weird, fantastical ideas inventors have patented over the last century. Once physically realised, the flaws in these ideas tend to be...
  
  
• The Re-Inventors
  The Re-Inventors
  The Re-Inventors is a Canadian TV show based around exploring historic inventions. In each episode the hosts choose a historic invention and attempt to rebuild it. Each invention is given a set of evaluation criteria before being tested...