It would be fun if the woodwoking show was a bit like "Forged in Fire", which I enjoy, apart from the nasty martial arts stuff when they "test" the contestants' work.
For woodworking, how about giving them some object to make, and a strange (to them) tool and saying, you have to use this in your build.
When I started woodwork, I was dead keen to get a compass plane, so watched like a hawk for a nice one to come up on eBay. One did. I cleaned and fettled it carefully when I got it, and it looks lovely.
Now I know enough to understand why I might never actually have need to use it...
:-(
E.