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Paul Lafrance brings his crazy-cool designs inside for Custom Built

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With Old Man Winter holding much of this country in its sub-zero grip, you can’t help but wonder if Disaster Decks and Decked Out host Paul Lafrance pitched his latest show, Custom Built, to HGTV just so he could ensure he’d stay warm.

The truth is a lot simpler.

“The exterior world is a niche for me, but I’ve been doing interior renovations for the last 20 years,” he explains. “The backyard was a draw for me because it’s such an empty canvas, but I want to connect with more people and tell their stories.”

The man who goes through life with three loves—music, Lego and people—returns to HGTV with his latest creation, debuting Tuesday night. In it, Lafrance and his loyal team of Joey Fletcher, David Kenney and Kate Campbell head indoors to create mind-blowing designs for homeowners. The first episode introduces viewers to Jeff and Allyson, who want their tired 60s-era bathroom updated to match the rest of their gorgeous heritage home. It doesn’t take long for Lafrance’s creative juices to get going after a walk around the couple’s property uncovers barn beams. By the end of the storyline those beams have been transformed into a stunning bathroom counter and a previously hidden antique door and brick work become the focal point of the new shower.

The spiky-haired Tragically Hip fan is quick to mention his co-stars when discussing Custom Built. The word “family” is used several times to describe Fletcher, Kenney and Campbell and part of this new television project spotlights the trio. Each episode heads back to Lafrance’s Southern Ontario workshop where a one-of-a-kind smaller piece is created for a client.

“That’s just showing something that’s been going on for years,” he says. “There has always been a shop. That’s the headquarters, the club house. That’s where creative ideas are birthed and built and fabricated for the renos that we’re doing. Being able to show the mad skill that all three of them have and the individual talents each brings to the table … I love that. There isn’t some leader that has his minions around him. My favourite days are when they come up with something more creative than I did.”

The veteran of HGTV still can’t believe people tune in to watch him tear things down and build them back up again. After all, he’d be doing this job whether camera crews were around him or not. What will those cameras will be capturing over the next several months? More episodes of Custom Built, hopefully more seasons of Disaster Decks or Decked Out. And, perhaps, a series documenting Lafrance building a new home for his family.

“Viewers want to see the real people, not characters,” he says. “I want people to know that if they’re watching me on TV, that’s the real me. If they were seeing my wife and my girls, they’re seeing the same thing.”

Custom Built airs Tuesdays at 10 p.m. ET/PT on HGTV.

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Featured, Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Property Brothers gamble it all on own At Home reno

Jonathan and Drew Scott have built themselves a nice little empire. They’ve got their TV series in Property Brothers and Buying & Selling with the Property Brothers, both of which air on W Network. They’ve got a production company that includes third sibling, J.D., on the docket. Heck, they’ve even got a Caribbean design cruise that fans can go on later this year.

Now Jonathan and Drew embark on their newest—and perhaps most important—project this week with Property Brothers at Home. Debuting Tuesday on W Network, the series follows the duo (with some help with J.D.) as they transform the spacious home they co-own in Las Vegas into something special in time for a family reunion.

“We wanted this show to be something different,” Jonathan says. “The most important parts of our shows are those brotherly moments when we give each other a hard time. Who can’t relate to that with a sibling or a friend?”

“When Property Brothers was first pitched to us, they wanted a male-female host combo. They thought Jonathan was very feminine, so it was perfect,” Drew teases, proving the point. There are plenty of friendly jabs in Tuesday’s bow, from Jonathan mocking Drew’s frustration at the cluttered garage, to Drew teasing Jonathan for his lack of a love life, and J.D. and Drew messing around with swords while Jonathan is being fitted for a suit of armour. (Yes, you read that right. The reason why is revealed by episode end.) Jonathan marvels that any work gets done because they’re constantly laughing and having a good time.

Tuesday’s first instalment in the four-parter quickly sets the scene: Jonathan and Drew bought a huge home in Las Vegas years ago, but because of their busy lives had never gotten around to renovating it. The two decided that 2014 would be the year they’d finally get the job done. And, after a year and a half of getting all of the necessary permits approved, they broke ground on the project. It was anything but smooth sailing. Sure, some overhead bulkheads were easily dismantled because there were no support beams hidden that needed to be saved, but a cut wire deep in the home’s foundation threatened to derail the whole thing.

“We both said that, no matter what happened, we had to keep the cameras rolling,” Jonathan explains. “No matter if it was during a fight or a problem with the build, we weren’t going to cut the cameras. There were a few moments when we were caught off-guard.”

“Jonathan has some diva moments,” Drew offers with a laugh.

Property Brothers at Home airs Tuesdays at 10 p.m. ET/PT on W Network. If you want to give to the brothers’ charity, check out their website.

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Featured, Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Preview: Mankind’s origins mined in Great Human Odyssey

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Why have homo sapiens emerged as the only hominid left standing, capable of settling the world? That’s the goal of Gemini Award-winning anthropologist Niobe Thompson’s ambitious, gorgeous three-part The Great Human Odyssey.

Debuting Thursday with “Rise of a Species” as part of The Nature of Things, Thompson’s energetic narration can’t help but keep you interested as he traces mankind’s origins back to Africa and the cradle of life, where our ancestors battled for survival among other beasts in sometimes inhospitable conditions. Why did homo sapiens survive? Thompson—who has no qualms about putting his own life on the line for his studies—joins the bushmen of Africa’s Kalahari Desert where he witnesses how water is gained by watching where elephants quench their thirst and how harvesting grubs that live among the roots of a deadly tree gains poison for their spears and arrows.

Filmed over the course of 18 months, Thompson’s adventures are stunning to witness, a riot of colour, action and education. He and his crew of 22 cinematographers braved some of the most hostile sections of the planet, including Siberian winter, African deserts, remote islands in the Pacific and the ice of the Bering Strait.

Excavations that occurred during filming uncovered a treasure trove of new research. Among the new information gathered is proof that South Africa’s Cape Coast is the source of man’s earliest use of language, art, jewelry and projectile weapon making, and samples of human remains from the Russian Arctic show humans settled far earlier in that area than previously believed.

The Great Human Odyssey airs for three weeks under The Nature of Things banner on Thursdays at 8 p.m. on CBC.

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Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Link: The Great Human Odyssey: TV To Shout About

From James Bawden:

The latest Nature Of Things miniseries The Great Human Odyssey is about as good as TV gets. It’s the kind of broad spectrum show that TV networks once used as prestige items before ratings erosion began eating away at the very existence.

So watch this one as an example of how demanding as well as entertaining TV can be when all caution is thrown to the winds. Because this three-episode “mini” was photographed all over the place from the Kalahari desert to Papua, New Guinea to the frozen Siberian wilds. Continue reading.

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Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Discovery’s Mayday returns with focus on Malaysia Flight 370

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From a media release:

Uncovering the truth behind aviation disasters from around the world, Discovery’s original Canadian series MAYDAY returns for its 14thseason, airing Fridays at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT beginning March 6. But first, on the eve of the anniversary of the disappearance of Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 and on the heels of the declaration that it was an accident, the program’s new season launches with a feature episode MAYDAY: MH370, airing at a special time on Sunday, March 1 at 8 p.m. ET/9 p.m. PT. The season premiere examines possible scenarios for the cause of the flight’s disappearance – one of greatest aviation mysteries in history – drawing on the expertise of leading accident investigators to reveal a chilling portrayal of the final hours of the plane that never landed.

The one-hour MAYDAY: MH370 premiere special examines all existing data to explore the five leading theories as to what could have caused the disappearance of Flight 370. While it’s possible no one will ever know exactly what happened aboard flight MH370,MAYDAY explores how, in the end, the evidence clearly points to one logical and horrifying scenario.

MAYDAY is produced by CIneflix (Mayday 14) Inc. production  in association with Discovery Canada. Executive Producer is Alex Bystram. The series producer is Alix MacDonald. Bruce Glawson is Production Executive, Discovery Networks. Edwina Follows is Director of Commissioning, Discovery Networks. Ken MacDonald is Vice-President, Programming, Discovery Networks.

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