TV Review: Owner’s Manual

By Nathan Young on September 19, 2013

Have you seen this creative show on AMC yet? Owner’s Manual tests whether it’s best to read the included owner’s manual or not by representing each side of the divide in a weekly challenge. Ed Sanders and Marcus Hunt attempts to operate machinery and technology each week with one man working strictly from the manual and the other using his instincts. You can imagine how things go when you have no idea on how to operate a machine!

There are two types of people in the world, and you know who you are! One group of people will not operate anything until they read the owner’s manual from front to back. These people will often tell other people to read the owner’s manual. The other group of people will start using a machine immediately after getting their hands on it! They might see the owner’s manual but they toss it aside. I admit, I am mostly in the camp of not reading the owner’s manual.

On the show, Marcus Hunt takes the time to read the owner’s manual before operating anything. Some of the owner’s manuals are thick books! Marcus takes the time to read every page and even uses the manual while operating the machine at times. Meanwhile, Ed Sanders just wings it! Who cares about an owner’s manual. Ed just gets inside the machine, and tries all the bells and whistles to make the machine run right.

In most episodes, Mr. Hunt and Mr. Sanders are supposed to be competing against each other. Yes sometimes reading the owner’s manual makes perfect sense! But sometimes, just winging it gets the job done faster no matter what damage is caused. At times, the arcane rules of the game require the pair to work as a team. And yes, sometimes having brains makes the machine work properly!

In the first season, the guys operated stunt planes, locomotives, high-performance vehicles, logging equipment, ships, a rock quarry, a carnival, and even a brewery. Each time, the business and the equipment survived the experience with no major damage. This show is a battle between common sense and not thinking ahead. Hopefully the show will come back for a second season because I enjoyed it!

Owner’s Manual just aired it’s first season finale, but don’t worry, AMC is going to keep showing repeats of the show at various times. If you get a chance, DVR a couple episodes of Owner’s Manual, I think you will like it! Enjoy the entire episode involving stunt planes below!