Tag Archives: HGTV

Featured, Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Preview: Alan Thicke’s Unusually Thicke renovates for Season 2

Listen, as long as you realize every scene in Season 2 of Unusually Thicke: Under Construction is a set-up, you’ll enjoy the heck out of it. Yes, Alan Thicke, wife Tanya and son Carter are back for another go-round—this time on HGTV because, well, they’re renovating their house—Unusually Thicke once again explores the exploits of the Kirkland Lake, Ont., native many know as Mike Seaver on Growing Pains.

Returning Thursday with two back-to-back episodes, Alan, Tanya, Carter and guest star Wayne Brady strap on tool belts, pick up hammers and start renovations on Thicke’s sprawling home. Oh, wait a minute, no they don’t. Instead, Episode 1 follows Alan and Carter as they trade $100 for Alan’s stolen cell phone and Wayne swings by to drop off a redneck golf tournament gift bag (containing press-on nails, double-A batteries and baby oil) to Tanya. Anyone expecting to see the key cast doing any kind of manual labour will be disappointed; they merely pick up the phone and order others to do the work.

And you know what? I’m fine with that because Alan, Tanya and Carter are a hoot going through their scripted everyday lives. How scripted? Well, what are the chances Alan’s cell phone is stolen and the Find My iPhone app used to locate it minutes after Alan tells Carter he is going to use that app to track his son while he’s away at college? And yet that’s exactly what happens, complete with a dimly-lit meet in a parking lot where the “thief”—whose face, unlike Cops, is shown the whole time—gets $100 from Alan for returning the phone. I’m using quotes around the word thief because no other criminal would stick around with camera crews milling around Alan’s car. Carter in particular puts in a strong performance in Thursday’s debut, rolling is eyes and delivering playfully snide remarks at his father’s expense.

As for home renovations in the return? Tanya orders crews to fix the cracks in the tennis court, replace the hot tub’s heater and empty out the septic tank. Mike Holmes this trio ain’t, but that’s OK because they’re fun to watch.

Unusually Thicke: Under Construction airs Thursdays at 10 and 10:30 p.m. ET/PT on HGTV.

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Featured, Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Scott McGillivray takes control of his Property

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Scott McGillivray has built an empire with a handful of shows surrounding home renovation and property investment. Now he’s adding another segment to his realm with his own production company, McGillivray Entertainment. The longtime host of Income Property figures this was the natural evolution of his brand. After increasing involvement in the HGTV hit—he’s been an executive producer for the last four seasons—McGillivray decided to start McGillivray Entertainment not only to manage new projects starring himself, but fostering new talent as well.

“You become this conduit,” he says from behind the wheel of his truck. “I’ve got this great group of talented individuals that I’ve been working with and there are a lot of possible opportunities. I’m always looking to fill that opportunity gap. When you have a brand, and a branding team and you have sponsors, it’s a lot easier to get a show. And when you have your own production company, it’s easier to spin that out to people as well.” McGillivray has already got two projects put to pilot by HGTV in the U.S. and a third project in development. And while that trio is still in the beginning stages, McGillivray Entertainment’s first series is already filming.

“It’s not the Kardashians.”

Moving the McGillivrays—set to air in 2016 on HGTV Canada—spotlights Scott, wife Sabrina and daughters Myah and Layla as they not only build a dream home for themselves but he constructs a home for a family in need. Cameras are currently rolling on Episode 2 of the 10-parter. Die-hard fans of McGillivray can get a regular dose of Sabrina and kids via his YouTube series Good to Grow, but a television show is a totally different beast. Just ask Bryan Baeumler’s wife, Sarah, who has acquired a fair number of detractors who don’t like the way she acts in the House of Bryan series.

Scott_McG

“Sabrina has been hands-off on the television thing since Day 1,” he says with a laugh. “We’ve been in our current house for eight years and have seen a lot of change during that time with having kids. I said, ‘We could make a show about this!’ and she said, ‘Please don’t.'” She relented, but McGillivray stresses Moving the McGillivrays will be authentic and show who his family really is (“It’s not the Kardashians,” he says.). McGillivray notes anything he posts showing his private life garners a lot of attention from fans, so the project is a logical move. And with the success of series like Income Property, All American Handyman, Canada’s Handyman Challenge and Holiday Battle on the Block, his popularity doesn’t show any signs of erosion.

Next up following Moving the McGillivrays is a full season of Income Property: On Vacation. Something he’s been wanting to feature in the mothership series for ages, On Vacation shows people who own getaways how to make a buck from them.

“I grew up with a cottage and you’re just a different person when you’re there,” he says. “Even if you’re working, it’s not the same as being in a basement in the city during a snowstorm.”

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Featured, Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Comedian Steve Patterson aims for laughs in HGTV’s latest reno show

It takes just a few minutes for one to realize that Steve Patterson was hired to host I Wrecked My House—debuting Tuesday on HGTV—because he’s funny and not for his home renovating skills. Why? He almost put an eye out swinging an axe at a run-down kitchen cabinet.

“That was almost the shortest run of any hosting job,” Patterson says with a laugh on the phone from Ottawa. “The crew told me that it was plexiglass and wouldn’t shatter. Somehow I shattered it and it flew back in my face. Fortunately, I was wearing safety goggles or I would have been doing the rest of the show with an eyepatch.”

Patterson, veteran comic and host of CBC’s The Debaters, was hired on by Ottawa’s Mountain Road Productions to host a comedy series for HGTV that had an element of home renovation to it. The hook? While the series would showcase homeowners who tried—and failed—to pull off their own DIY projects, humour rather than meanspiritedness would be the order of the day. That’s precisely what you get in Tuesday’s debut, when Patterson visits homeowner Tim and his family in Port Colborne, Ont. A gaping hole in a kitchen allows one to peer up into the second-floor bathroom, a half-door lets someone cooking at the store talk to the person in the main-floor loo and lengths of wood clutter the main entryway.

“It was important to everyone involved that we focus on the humour,” Patterson explains. “We cast people that had a sense of humour about themselves and the work that they had done. Or hadn’t done.” For most people, a fairly simply renovation can balloon out of proportion. Throw in the daily challenges of life, work and a family and before you know it, that weekend project has stretched out for months. Or years.

Filming for the first season took place largely around Southern Ontario during one of the most brutal winters on record. Patterson admits he did the least amount of work on the project because of his touring schedule—his I Laugh Therefore I Think spring tour resumes in a few weeks—and praises contractor Dave Rannala and his small squad who turned what usually takes months of renovating into days in order to keep the production hours tight.

It was very much a guerrilla-style of filming, with everyone helping each other to get shows in the can; one crew member, Andrew, is a carpenter who helped with the demo, the film crew and was the show’s unit photographer. They all worked hard to get the jobs done and create a program that not only fixes bad builds but celebrates family.

“This is going to sound corny, but what makes a home is the couple,” Patterson says. “It could easily be an overbearing spouse complaining, but it’s never about that. They have appreciated the effort the person put in and you laugh it off because there’s love in the home that allows you to do that.”

I Wrecked My House airs Tuesdays at 10 p.m. ET on HGTV.

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Featured, Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Preview: Timber Kings spinoff Carver Kings spotlights chainsaw artists

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I’m a fan of Timber Kings, HGTV’s hit docudrama about the guys and gals of Pioneer Homes who create fanciful masterpiece log homes for clients. I’m always amazed at how those folks not only see art in trees but turn their visions into a reality.

I’m just as impressed, and maybe even a little more so, with the dudes on Carver Kings. A companion piece to Timber Kings, each half-hour instalment spotlights the guys at Pioneer who create carved pieces to accompany the homes built. Sunday’s finale jumps right in with Mark Colp and Ryan Cook carving a 13-foot modern totem pole ordered by a couple who own a ski lodge built by Pioneer in Colorado. Mark and Ryan have just five days to create a stunning piece featuring animals native to the area: a wolf, owl, bear, fox and eagle.

And while Mark is a speedster with the saw, Ryan is a relative rookie and Mark is unsure of his partner’s chops. Reality shows like Carver Kings usually inject some kind of drama into the storytelling and this is no different. Will Ryan make mistakes? Yes. Does he battle back and fix them? Why, yes. And as long as you go into this knowing the thrills are a little contrived, you’ll enjoy yourself. Also on tap in Sunday’s debut: three junior carvers are given a big job by veteran Pete Ryan, who challenges them to create a Pioneer Homes logo to be placed on the Carver Corner building.

Visually, Carver Kings is stunning. You can almost smell the cedar as wood shavings cascade down as intricate artwork is teased out of the trees. The series is a worthy companion to Timber Kings and worth checking out.

Carver Kings airs Sundays at 10 p.m. ET/PT on HGTV Canada.

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Featured, Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

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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