Holmes on Homes

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Holmes on Homes is a Canadian television series airing on Home & Garden Television in Canada, and also on several other Alliance Atlantis networks in Canada (including BBC Canada and Life Network), as well as in Britain, Australia and New Zealand, and on Discovery Home in the United States. It has been consistently the highest-rated show on the Canadian HGTV (HGTV having once claimed that an episode had gotten its highest-ever ratings), with shows airing upwards of 20 times a week at the peak of its popularity. It has won the Gemini viewer's choice award, a testament to the popularity of the show in Canada.

Originally, Holmes on Homes ran as a series of 30-minute episodes (with one one-hour special Whole House Disaster), but moved to a one-hour format midway through the third season due to popular demand. Several longer specials have aired: the one-hour season finale to the first season Whole House Disaster, the one-hour Holmes for the Holidays at the end of the third season, the two-hour House to Home season finale for the fourth season, and the two-hour specials Out of the Ashes and Holmes Inspection in the fifth season. To date, only half-hour episodes from the first two seasons are available outside Canada, although the latest episode is available for viewing on HGTV's website[1]. As of the fall of 2006, the show is in its sixth season. In Canada, the first four seasons of half-hour and hour long episodes are also available on DVD.

Mike has also appeared on the Ellen Degeneres show. In her characteristic exuberance, Ellen mock proposed to Mike during his first appearance on October 4, 2006[2]. He appeared again on her October 6, 2006 show to introduce a young couple whose home renovation project had gone very wrong. At his December 7, 2006 appearance, Mike brought an update on the young couple's home (complete with photos).

Contents

[edit] Premise

The show's premise revolves around general contractor Mike Holmes visiting homeowners in the Greater Toronto Area who have had less than impressive previous renovation experiences (on one occasion, Holmes looks at the issue of mould in the household, and no previous contractors were involved). The typical episode has homeowners describing their experiences with the previous contractor, and Holmes showing some of the flaws in the previous work. The previous work is often substandard, and in many cases, contrary to building codes. Typically, after beginning the repair work, Holmes and his crew of contractors often find that their small repair project has escalated into a larger one due to surprises that they find and are forced to fix; only on rare occasions have the show's crew not been forced to tear everything down and start over. However, in the end, Holmes presents the homeowners with a completely finished place, often with a few extra surprises. Throughout the rebuilding process, Holmes often comments on the professionalism of the people hired for the job or lets other contractors talk about how to build things correctly - on some occasions Holmes has vented out his frustrations in front of the camera.

Because of the show being a television series, costs for the homeowners, who are likely to be strapped for cash due to the previous contractors, are kept to a minimum (often half of the regular cost of repair). Some contractors hired on the show have even donated time, materials, and labor to help homeowners in need.

Throughout the series, Holmes also encourages viewers to be more vigilant of persons who may try to steal money through fraudulent contracting work, and gives out various pieces of advice on picking the right contractors, home inspectors, and other tradespersons. Throughout the show, Holmes and company also show what to do and what not to do in the construction industry, especially for do-it-yourself renovators.

The show is not heavily sponsored by Home Depot, although many assume it incorrectly. They do not supply trailers, tools or materials to Holmes on Homes, nor any of its contractors. Mike Holmes is a consultant for their At Home services department and that is one of the only affiliations the show has with Home Depot, aside from DVD sales. Most Canadian Home Depot stores sell DVDs of the show; as of this writing (early 2006) many Home Depots include a life-sized cardboard cutout of Mike Holmes with his arms crossed.

Holmes on Homes gets their donated materials from many other companies interested in helping the show's cause. Not all materials are donated.

[edit] History

Holmes originally was hired on Just ask Jon Eakes, a home improvement show (also on HGTV) hosted by Jon Eakes, for some behind-the-scenes work. Mike Holmes approached the show's producers Scott Clark McNeil and Michael Quast with an idea for a new kind of home improvement show. Although submissions to be on the show were initially few and far between, with Holmes doing work on small botched jobs early on in the series, the number of submissions quickly ballooned by the show's fourth season. They are currently filming season 6 while taking submissions for Spring 2007's season 7.

[edit] Construction crew

Although Holmes serves as the show's host, he brings with him several other equally skilled contractors who are regulars on the series (although not in all seasons):

The current (Season 6) Holmes on Homes Construction Crew:

  • Damon Bennett - Damon was introduced in the fourth season of the series.
  • Adam Belanger - Adam appeared in the fifth and sixth seasons of the series.
  • Corin Ames - Corin, nicknamed "Pinky", is Mike's apprentice, beginning in the fifth season.
  • Mike Holmes Jr. - Mike's son, Mike Jr., has been seen in parts of the first four seasons, and appears as a series regular from the fifth season onwards.
  • Matt Antonacci - Matt is a co-op student working with Mike for two episodes in the fifth season, and is a series regular in the sixth.
  • Steve Buck - Steve became a series regular in the sixth season.
  • Carl Pavlovic - Carl is also a series regular, seen in the sixth season.

Crew members that appeared between the first and fifth season:

  • Shawn Morren - Shawn is Mike's foreman in the series, and the only other contractor to have been a series regular from the start of the series until the end of the fifth season when he left to open his own company.
  • Benjamin Green - Benjamin is Mike's senior contractor for the first four seasons of the series.
  • Desmond Hamlyn - Desmond is another contractor having appeared in the first four seasons of the series.
  • Don Carter - Don, a tile specialist, appeared for the first two seasons of the series, as well as Holmes for the Holidays.
  • Micah Morren - Micah, brother to Shawn, appears in the fifth season of the series.
  • Gogi Sidhu - Gogi appeared in the fifth season of the series.
  • Brennan Cavendish - Brennan also appeared in the fifth season of the series.
  • Dan Rapa - Dan, a plumber, was introduced in the fourth season, and became a series regular in the fifth.

Several other tradespersons running their own companies also make regular appearances on the series.

Home renovation expert Jon Eakes has also appeared as a guest in one episode, and Handyman Superstar Challenge winner Jordan MacNab made a guest appearance in an episode of the sixth season.

[edit] List of episodes

Season One:

  1. Additional Grief
  2. Soggy Sorority
  3. Botched Basement
  4. Attica! Attica / Crappy Capping
  5. Cold Comfort
  6. Flimsy Floor
  7. Kitchen Catastrophe
  8. Window Pain
  9. Faulty Showers
  10. Tiles and Tribulations
  11. Site Unseen
  12. Sweet Home Abandoned'
  13. Whole House Disaster (1-hour)

Season Two:

  1. Terrible Terrace
  2. Drafty Ducting
  3. Ramp Revamp
  4. Flooded Foundation
  5. Garage Grievance
  6. Lamin-Ain't
  7. Roof Goof
  8. Floor Fiasco
  9. Doozy Jacuzzi
  10. No Grout About It
  11. Access Denied
  12. Jacking the Box
  13. Hell's Kitchen

Season Three - Half-hour:

  1. Shower Stalled
  2. Cabinet Chaos
  3. Cold Feet
  4. Exit Wound
  5. All Decked Out
  6. Step By Step
  7. Smoke and Mirrors
  8. Wall of Shame

Season Three - Full-hour:

  1. Drain Disdain
  2. Twice Bitten
  3. Honeymoon Ensuite
  4. Semi-Dilemma
  5. Holmes for the Holidays

Note: Holmes for the Holidays is filmed during the second production season, but considered as part of the third airing season, although it is not among HGTV's rotation due to it being a Christmas special.

Season Four:

  1. Bungled Bungalow
  2. Kitchen Coleslaw
  3. Bar None
  4. Two Steps Back
  5. Window Well to Hell
  6. A River Ran Through It
  7. Best Laid Plan
  8. Sunnyside Down
  9. This Mould House
  10. Hullaba Loo
  11. Unfinished Business
  12. House to Home (Two 1-hour parts)

Season Five:

  1. House Arrest
  2. O-fence-ive
  3. Falling Flat
  4. Bargain Basement
  5. For Annie
  6. Ceiling the Deal
  7. Out of the Ashes (Two 1-hour parts)
  8. Taking a Bath
  9. Showing the Cracks
  10. Wall of Sound
  11. What a Mesh
  12. Holmes Inspection (Two 1-hour parts)

Season Six:

  1. Shaky Foundation
  2. Let's Rejoist
  3. Completely Incomplete

Note: the last four episodes of the fifth production season were aired as part of the sixth airing season.

[edit] External links

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