Rivalry, under the Arizona sun

From the molten-asphalt expanses of Phoenix when it sizzles, the USA Network unveils a design-show hybrid that proves just how desperate the housing market has become.

A couple of months back, the producers of “House Wars” (at 10 tonight) managed to lure four families to the Arizona capital at the peak of heat-stroke season for a chance at winning their dream home. Each group was assigned an interior decorator and one of the four empty, unpainted new dwellings built in a row on the outskirts of town.

During the eight weekly episodes, filmed over 21 days, viewers can see the families and their decorators take part in room-by-room competitions against the other families to determine which of the four best succeeds in making their house into a home. And in the end, it’s the viewers who, via call-in voting, will determine which family gets to keep its house.

Former “Baywatch” regular Kelly Packard hosts the show, but you have to think that as temperatures near 120 degrees in tonight’s episode, she wishes she were back frolicking in the Malibu surf. Save your sympathy though, because while Packard is cheerfully flitting from family to family carrying nothing heavier than a microphone, the contestants are clambering about their houses’ exteriors wielding brushes, rollers and buckets of paint.

“I don’t think there’s enough water in the world right now,” says one parched participant.

Now, watching people paint may not seem like must-see TV, but the contestants prove to be an interesting lot, particularly the Dahms from Minnesota, led by 55-year-old patriarch Bob and his three Bo Derek-looking daughters -- 25-year-old triplets. Their squabbling with the decorator seems headed for a showdown, and soon sweaty tempers are rising in the other houses as well. But viewed with a cool drink in hand and the thermostat cranked below 70, it’s all quite satisfying to watch.

The producers have embedded the series with smaller competitions, shopping trips and some intra-family strategy sessions that keep the proceedings lively.

And seeing the houses come together bit by bit will keep the makeover fans happy as well.