Everyone's super touchy these days, which may explain why the exuberance of CBS's disappointing new reality competition series, "Tough as Nails," strikes such a sour note in its attempt to showcase the spirit and resolve of Americans working in construction, public safety, agriculture and other labor-intensive industries.

"Every day millions of Americans roll up their sleeves and get their hands dirty to make an honest day's living," says creator and host Phil Keoghan at the beginning of the show, heralding its 12 contestants as prime examples of "people who really keep this country going."

Today's politics being what they are, it's hard not to hear a reverse implication: that those of us who are not covered in sweat and grime by the end of the day are somehow making a dishonest living. We might not even be real Americans.

The tone of the show, at best, patronizes to the nation's blue-collar workforce by overpraising it without addressing ongoing issues of wages and rights; at worst, it's a glancing blow to all those Americans who work just as hard indoors, and have been working even harder since March, when pandemic isolation efforts required them to toil remotely at home while managing the full-time care and education of children.

The contestants - six women and six men who range in age from 27 to 62 - include a drywaller, a welder, a farmer, a former Marine, an airline ticketing agent, and a roofer. The only thing that makes the show worth watching (other than seeing some of the women outperform the men) is the contestants' general good attitude about the work they do and the work that others do.

"Tough as Nails," which airs at 8 p.m. Wednesdays, has almost nothing new to add to the genre overall. We could just as easily be watching these nice people bake cakes or assemble Legos or any of the other activities TV likes to turn into contests.

After an initial relay race demonstrating their agility and stamina (they are each asked to move 24 heavy bags of powdered mortar mix from one end of an obstacle to another using a wheelbarrow), the contestants are split into two teams ("Dirty Hands" and "The Savage Crew") to compete for individual victories. Keoghan brings out a hokey elimination totem - a giant time clock where the losing contestants must punch out each week.

In the show's only nod to the nobility of seeing a job through to completion, however, those who are eliminated don't leave the show. They continue to work with their team, even though they're no longer eligible for the big prize: $200,000 and a shiny new Ford pickup truck.