The Renovators

Well, it has been a pretty eventful week in reality television with one massive launch; a few surprising eliminations, and a hell of a lot of renovating.

The week began with The Renovators. After competing in a two day bathroom creating challenge; the navy blue team consisting of Michael & Jarrad won themselves a much needed $15,000 Reece bathroom package for the hardest room to renovate; the kitchen!

In an all too predictable judgement day Monday; the biggest team in the competition; the sky blue team; won themselves a few tradies for a few days while the green team went into their first elimination.

During that panic room elimination episode, a distraught Mel brought herself together with her and Keenan edging out elimination; only for team captain Jason H to take the bullet. Before he left; he graciously gave his keys to Keenan, making him the green team’s new head renovator.

Wednesday saw the contestants build some lights, and oh what a lovely episode it was.

Orange team Peter did the unthinkable and pretty much shunned Judge Robyn’s verdict on his less than impressive light for The Victoria Room, with just a simple, demeaning facial expression. Safe to say, the orange team found themselves in elimination with the fresh out of hot water green team, who had just lost a member.

In what seems like a pity move; the khaki team, who are struggling with their renovations, won a working bee which pretty much guarantee’s Nathan and Suzanne’s immunity next week. Although it must be said, their light was pretty impressive.

In the four way elimination, Bob, Keenan, Peter and Mel faced off sorting chairs in chronological order. Keenan and Mel fought their way out of elimination early, leaving Peter and Bob to try and completely paint around a ceiling rose neatly in the fastest time.

Team captain Peter won this challenge; sending hearty Bob away. Unlike Nathan, Peter will not have the luxury of choosing a member from another team to join him; and he is condemned to face the rest of this competition in an empty house alone.

Funnily enough, nothing seen on The Renovators last night was copied into Top Design, which went all out with a triathlon event of three designing challenges. With four contestants remaining, they could have easily built suspense by awarding the winner of each round a place in the finale; but with the episode pretty much taking on the same form as usual; this ‘mega-challenge’ just seemed too rushed and way too rehearsed.

The Farmer Wants A Wife was a teary one this week as spicy girl Belinda left an already heart broken farmer John even more heart broken when she chose to pack up and leave the farm. Elsewhere, Tenille snuck a cheeky snog from her farmer (Tim I think his name is; or Frank).

But this episode was no match for emotions than the now relatively powerhouse launch of The X Factor. We saw Iraqi war victim Emmanuel, breast cancer survivor Pamela and girl turned boy Paige take to the stage in a wondrous display of talent only fit for a Seven reality talent quest!

 

Summing it up; it was a pretty big week; but onto next week!

The Renovators is pretty much the same, so I won’t go through this too much. Two more eliminations await I believe as well as the usual challenges and how to class which is most definitely on its final leg!

Top Design has its finale this week; and safe to say, it will be up there with the event-like finales of MasterChef, The Block and Australia’s Got Talent. Actually, at 10.30pm, it will probably be the crown glory in what is shaping up to be a horrendous schedule on Nine’s Primetime Wednesday slot. Bit sad, really.

The X Factor showcases some more talent on Monday and Tuesday before the all important Boot Camp stage begins. Who will make it through to House Calls? Who will get the cut?

Make sure you are watching all of this week’s reality television and remember; come to me if you miss anything.

 

Delays in blogs will include Monday’s judgement day instalment of The Renovators which will be posted up on Tuesday afternoon. Top Design’s final episode will be posted up on Friday.

 

Next weekend; I will be introducing you all to Ryno; whom some of you may know. He will be blogging certain shows while I will be away including The X Factor and The Farmer Wants A Wife. Anyone who would like to blog The Renovators will be welcome to do so; just drop me an email; but for now, Ryno will give you an insight into what you guys can expect from him as he introduces himself! Treat him nice; his blogs are of high quality, trust me!

If you’re still sobbing over the elimination of kind hearted Bob; fear not because today is just an episode full of no stress renovations and a handy how to session! So kick back with a drink and a pad of paper ready to jot some notes down.

We begin at the Fibro cottage where the boys are about to get serious with landscaping. The pool concrete has been finished and they want to begin on the rest of the backyard. They want to maximise their garden space and Jarrad has taken inspiration from the working bee and wants to build a screen for their backyard.

Jarrad goes out and buys some plants and when he comes back, he has a van load of plants worth less than $500. Michael meanwhile has had lunch!

At the khaki team’s sixties suburban, Suzanne is over the moon with the progress of yesterday, having saved up to $50,000. They are out at Freedom to buy some furniture. They choose some beds, some chairs and a very fancy mirror which has been used at least three times in this series.

The contestants rock up to their weekly how to class where all four judges are waiting for them!

When Brendan asks them what Friday means; it is funny to see these guys half heartedly announce it is ‘How To’.

Brendan talks to the green team about the loss of Jason and the khaki team about winning the light challenge. Safe to say it was Nathan’s favourite challenge. Brendan then talks to the orange team and more specifically, Peter’s interesting face when Robyn dissed his light in the off site challenge.

Natalia also discusses her one year old’s birthday in a teary way.

With that; Peter discusses the concept of lighting which played a big part this week. He then takes Jason and Suzanne for an off site how to class based on lighting!

After they leave, Baz talks about Peter’s innovation with the removal of windows to create doors. For the first lesson tonight; Baz will turn a window clad wall into a wall with a French door. He grabs Sam and Mel to help him with the first step of knocking the sill brick out. They also have to take off the storm shields and he gets the girls to perform this task while giving advice.

After that, Sam leaves and Baz gets Mel to bash out the sill bricks.

They take the flashing out and Mel realises she has actually bought some for her house! They then take out the bricks below the sill and Mel learns the art of toothing as they take out the awkwardly placed bricks.

After the break, we are with Pete, Jason and Suzanne for the off site how to class and they arrive at some super modern house.

The house they go to is simply amazing! Certainly not for mere mortals like you or me. It is just splendid. The wooden interior is complimented by the tropical outdoor setting. The contemporary artwork on the ceilings is phenomenal and it just amazes me when I see the kitchen bench merge into the dining table; very inspiring. And the screen glass splashback is just genius!

They remain at the house until night time where the house just simmers with a nice warm, open fire and the beautiful city backdrop.

In the alternate, more formal dining room, we move from a down lit area to a stylish hanging light area which just looks fantastic. This house has blown me away and has kept me wanting more of this fantastic segment.

Oh, and it aint over as we MOVE UPSTAIRS! There is a gigantic skylight and the strip lighting continues throughout the rooms. If I could spend just one night in this house, my life will literally be complete.

After the break, we are back with Baz and he calls Nathan up to help him with the window as Mel continues with the wall. Nathan has removed more than 4,000 windows in his life, but Baz wants to show him how to do it slowly and carefully.

Baz gets him to take the architraves off before he cuts off some nails but not all of them because the window could fall out. Baz alters the window before Nathan takes the rest of the nails out and after; they remove the window.

Baz then saws off the plaster from the wall and Baz talks about the debris at the bottom of the wall and how to avoid this problem resulting in damp.

Before we continue on, Baz gives some top tips before he moves to working with the cavities from Mel’s toothing; making sure they are clear. He gets Kathy to help him. He then grabs newspaper and feeds it into the cavity to stop drips of mud clogging up the space.

They then cut up some bricks together to fill the cavities.

After the break, we begin with Robyn’s white room session and she looks back at the chair stress test round. They then talk about mixing contemporary with antique. Today, they will be styling up the room to match contemporary with antique; removing a few things, adding a few things, and getting it perfect.

Robyn chooses Michael, Nathan and Kathy to go shopping with her and they find a whole range of things thanks to Robyn’s advice.

She then decorates the room in the stuff she bought. I won’t go through how she does this because it really isn’t important.

She has created a contemporary modern room for August and Jarrad and they seem quite happy. She asks Peter out of the blue if he is happy with it and like reading a script, he asks to change it up a bit.

‘Funny you should mention that’ says Robyn as she talks about heritage items they have been ‘given’. Out rolls a shelf full of antique-y stuff and as each heritage item comes in, she asks for ideas from the contestants as to where she should put them.

When everything is placed, Robyn says she feels comfortable and tells them why as a way of advice for themselves.

They then discuss the room in a very drawn out monologue from Robyn before we head to an ad break!

After the break, Baz now creates some cement for his wall and August helps him mix it up. With that, we get a nice back story from August! God, these back stories are random!

Baz then ‘knocks the cement up’, takes some and places it in the brick cavities to cement in the newly cut pieces of brick.

Afterwards, Baz gets some new plaster up and gets the bricks all looking nice with a lovely French door sized gap in the middle. He gives out a few tips before he asks Peter to help him with the frame.

They nail it in and get it fixed firm before they hang the doors.

With that, the French door is in and Baz calls job done. He then ends the segment with a few top tips.

Brendan then tells them that the French doors will now remain closed until they open to a surprise.

After the break, the other judges plus Suzanne and Jason return to see Baz’ door which has now been completed with a lovely oasis garden. It is beautiful and he thanks Mel for her help among the other helpers.

They go to check out the courtyard garden as the episode ends.

A pretty nice how to episode with that house in Pete’s segment separating it from the rest! That how was so gorgeous, and the way the production team made it as stunning as they did highlights the quality of this show.

There’s still a bit of product placement and I definitely think that more renovation is needed in this episode; but it is good they are finally trying to incorporate more into it. It is now weekend time and I will see you all next week!

 

Courtney’s Verdict: 9.6/10

Another Western Australian was sent home tonight – loveable family man and larrikin, Bob James, after failing to meet the pressure of the dreaded Stress Test.  

The test was between two teams – the orange (St Peters) and the green (Parramatta) team. First round involved designer chairs being arranged in order based on their date of manufacture. St Peters team were the first to get a chair wrong which saw them move through to the second round, going head to head in a painting challenge.  

It was anyone’s game as Bob and Peter had to paint a ceiling perfectly with no drips on the floor cover. In a frantic race to the finish, Peter completed his ceiling just moments ahead of Bob. 

It’s been a terrible two weeks for head renovator Peter, as teammates Kim and Lisa were eliminated in quick succession last week and tonight Bob, leaving him with the huge task of finishing off the St Peters’ Half-Done House alone. 

Bob said: “This is what you call drawing a short straw. To have to go up against Peter, he’s a great team man, and probably one of the most formidable people in this competition. 

“I had a feeling I was leaving this morning and I thought I’ll at least give ‘em a laugh on the way out. I’ve got my grumpy old man t-shirt on underneath the orange uniform which I flashed on my way out. 

“Sounds corny talking about a journey, but this has been absolutely fascinating for me. It’s just so new, so different, and so enjoyable. I’ve done pretty much what I came here to do and that was just be a part of something pretty big. 

“Although I’m sad to leave, the smile on my face going out of the warehouse is real as I’m really looking forward to seeing my family and my kids. I’ve been married for 40 years and they mean so much to me, and it’s nice to be going home.”

Ten contestants have left; tonight is the tenth elimination; and after the hour is up, only 10 will remain… plus 5 more! It’s an hour episode tonight which can only mean a surprising episode most hopefully!

We begin with the sun rising over the weatherboard house. They find the news that they are up for elimination (Keenan and Mel) shattering and in a recap, we remember that Mel will not cry. Funnily enough, she isn’t actually crying; much. She doesn’t really want to go and when she actually does begin to cry, we see yet another back story from her. It isn’t long before we see the 15^th back story from team partner Keenan who is now team captain!

They hug each other before they leave for elimination and we head to the orange house.

Bob and Peter are planning for their Taubman’s paint prize arrival which they won in a white room challenge. They don’t want to leave because their house is about to become something.

As Peter describes his back story, we have a look at a home he either renovated, lives in or both. Either way, it is impressive!

We then see Bob’s story and it is of my opinion that whoever remains today will be finishing the competition off solo.

They arrive at their challenge in the warehouse where the four judges are standing waiting for them. Brendan welcomes them all and is surprised to hear that one of them is good! Brendan reminds them that after becoming forces to be reckoned with; one team will soon be left with one member as one of them will soon be going home.

Meanwhile, the working bee the khaki team won yesterday is fast approaching and Nathan and Suzanne are planning for the day ahead.

We get a look at their plans yet again before we head to Bunning’s where Nathan and Suzanne picks up a whole heap of product.

The receipt is about as long as the contestant list for this show!

After the break, we are back at elimination where we get a recap of what happened in the final 5 seconds before we went to the khaki team. Brendan reminds them why they are there and Mel said she is pumped as she and Keenan won’t be going home. The orange team have only heard about this now! Haha.

To the challenge; and it is a stress test split into two rounds. The first round will be based around a ‘chair’ which excites Mel.

Peter tells them that one chair will come out at a time and they must place the chairs in chronological order. The first team to make a mistake will head into round two with the other team safe. Peter tells them to enjoy it and Bob thinks he has time on his side.

Brendan gets them to say their final words to each other; but is surprised when the words turn out positive.

With that, the first chair comes out; for each team, it is a green, wooden, antique-y looking chair designed in the 1790’s.

With that, the second chair comes out and it is obviously more modern made of what looks like acrylic. Pretty easy start!

They both place the chair correctly as it is a 2002 version of the 1790’s chair but Peter tells them that from this point on, it will get a lot harder.

The next chair comes out and it is a recliner. Both place the chair in the middle as a 50’s chair and Mel seems to know her stuff quite well. It was designed in 1956 and Mel had it correct to the tip!

The next chair comes out and it is a bean bag! Bob doesn’t know when the bean bag, as a chair, was invented but neither does Mel.

After the break, the contestants who are safe begin to arrive for the working bee and the contestants are surprised by the lovely house and Jason cannot believe that the khaki team has won a working bee. Nathan has a list of things to do and Natalia is surprised by the hollow house and the lack of plaster. She is shocked by the amount of work to do.

They all begin to inspect the house and make their opinions and it isn’t good with most people shocked by their lack of progress. Well, with so many eliminations, I’m surprised this team ever gets any chance to do anything.

Outside, Nathan dishes out chores before Suzanne dishes out khaki outfits for everyone to win, to their chagrin. All except for August, who grabs a shirt that actually belongs to Suzanne!

Michael and his good soul, just wants to get in and smash it and get the team up to scratch!

They then get right into it with some people getting stuck into the floors and some contestants working outside; including Jarrad and Jason who are working with Nathan to put up a screen.

Jason loves the area to bits but they need to get it done in time. Jason’s chat to the camera turns Nathan around to tell him off. Jason now realises why this place is so far behind; poor management, haha.

We return to the bean bag dilemma which the orange and green team are having trouble with and they are no closer to an answer.

Again, they place the bean bags in the same positions and when the next chair comes out; they place it in the same positions again! Both times; the contestants were correct.

The next chair comes out and Bob thinks this chair is a shoe in and yet again, the chair is placed in the same position for both teams!

The next chair comes out and it looks very modern. They don’t know if it is made out of plastic or timber.

Bob is lost and hopes Peter has ideas. Both teams place their chairs in different positions with the green team going for an older placing than the orange team.

After the break, we are back at the working bee and everyone is working really hard. Each person has been dictated a position with a list of jobs and we get a look in to what everyone is doing. Jarrad and Nathan with Jason have made a lot of progress with the screen wall and as Jarrod tell us how good it feels to be working outdoors; Natalia pulls out the feminist card and talks about how the boys have gotten all the good jobs.

She always gets the painting jobs; but don’t put that down to gender divide!

Jason’s job is to come up with a garden design and plan, so he comes up with some rough ideas and designs because he doesn’t actually have to build it. This will hopefully help the khaki team come up with a design themselves, and tweak it themselves as well. But will they listen to the ideas?

Luke is working on the inside on some of the woodwork and Nathan says he will be wrapped at the end of the day when everything is done.

Jason is wondering around to weird locations in the garden to get inspiration for his landscaping ideas. Pfft… hippie! Joking; he’s a South Australian; leave him alone, Courtney!

Meanwhile, Jarrad has been painting the screen the wrong colour because Nathan gave him the wrong paint apparently. Suzanne isn’t happy because she thought there was a better paint however after being unable to find what she thought was the paint, she ends up saying the paint Nathan has will work.

She talks about the elimination and how she doesn’t want any of her former green team members to go home.

After the break, we return to the elimination where we find out the green team had placed their chair in the correct position. As a blogger who can fast forward through the ads, I don’t really care; but as a viewer; that might have been too long between the challenge and the verdict; but nonetheless, Keenan and Mel are safe, leaving Peter and Bob moving forward into round two.

Bob is nervous as Peter is a machine, but they seem level headed as they realise their challenge. A huge door moves aside to reveal just a roof with a ceiling rose. Their challenge; paint the roof with no drips. If there are drips, they have to stop work, clean the drips off the floor, and then move back onto their painting.

The first to complete their challenge to the judges satisfaction wins.

Peter gets into it hurriedly while Bob takes his time. Peter wishes now that he didn’t give all the painting jobs to Bob.

The judges notice that Bob has dripped paint on the ground and that he hasn’t noticed.

They both begin with the edges and bob is still working on them as Peter paints around the rose on the ceiling which has to be avoided.

Peter is the first on the rollers and begins to roll the paint on to the ceiling. Baz tells us that Peter is loading his roller up too heavy and he is dangerously close to dripping paint.

The judges continue to provide commentary as the slow and steady Bob catches up to Peter as he begins to wipe drips off of the floor.

Peter feels that he will be going home!

After the break, Bob is still closing the gap and he has dripped paint over the edges of his roller tray! He finally notices all of the paint on the floor as Peter begins to finish up. It isn’t long before Peter calls for Baz to inspect the roof.

Bob continues to paint, but it is soon noticeable that it is too late; Peter has won. Bob has now left the competition, but he is gracious to leave; calling Peter ‘the better man’. Peter and the judges compliment Bob before he leaves.

The survivors then return to the now completed working bee and cleverly, Peter and Keenan walk in through the door leaving the rest to wonder whether Bob or Mel left. Mel then runs in laughing and Nathan hilariously points out that he was sick of Bob’s jokes anyway.
So a good episode obviously filled with humour. I must say, Nathan has to be my favourite contestant thanks to his laid back attitude and all. To the episode itself and there was a bit of product placement and despite the fact that I loved the heavy emphasis on the working bee; I felt that placing an entire block of it between two ad breaks separating the chair challenge and its verdict was quite silly.

Bob’s elimination was quite a happy moment as this old man shows why programs like this thrive off their kind hearted contestants!

 

Courtney’s Verdict: 8.5/10

What does a feature light and The Victoria Room have in common? Tonight; the renovators will have to make one for the room! For some unlucky contestants; this will be the last Wednesday challenge they will ever compete in!

The contestants enter the warehouse in their cars and line up before Brendan, Peter and Robyn. Brendan tells them they have taken the judges to exciting locations in this competition but today, they will repay the favour with a little outing for the contestants; not just going off site; but to a whole different world. Where East meets West, where Chic meets Exotic. Where is it? The Victoria Room!

The style is British Raj, as Robyn says and Jason can’t believe they are going to the room. Robyn tells them that a feature light is missing from the room and the contestant’s job is to create one!

With that, the guest judge is introduced. He is, as the roller door comes up, revealed to be Mark Pascal. He’s a master of lighting design.

He gives us a run down on what he thinks of the Victoria Room; saying it is not just one style (sucked in, Robyn) and says this is a wonderful opportunity to do something interesting.

The winner of the challenge will win a working bee for their house while the TWO losing teams will face elimination. They will have six hours and will be working with, as a couple of forklifts reveal, are hidden in a crate. There are six crates in total containing a different hero material.

They then fight over their boxes.

When they collect one, they bring it back to the benches and open up. The orange team of Peter and Bob get fabric which pleases Peter and obviously a keen Bob.

The khaki team of Suzanne and Nathan get beads which again, excites the team. Keenan and Mel get glass and for the first time, a team is NOT happy. They think about their glass coffee table which as I remember it, didn’t land them into elimination, but pretty close to it.

The navy blue boys get plastic which is unnerving while the grey team of August, Christy and Natalie score paper which again excites them.

Lastly, the sky blue team score timber. We get a back story of the last Jason standing and how he is a lighting expert. This should be pretty easy for him!

Their time for planning is soon up and they head to the lighting warehouse where upon their arrival, their time will begin.

After the break, we get a few thoughts from the contestants before they arrive at Domus Lights for the challenge. Sam is very excited about the challenge before they run into the warehouse and race to get their stuff.

They then race to their benches before finding the rest of their materials. They only have six hours to build this bloody light but again, Peter seems very excited and confident.

Bob says the inspiration for this light will be the coffee table (I guess they built for the auction).

Peter is most confident with Bob’s skills as he reveals he will be stuck on the sewing machine.

Suzanne, using her chandelier inspiration, begins to plan her light with Nathan. Suzanne, unlike some contestants in some challenges, is spoilt for choice when it comes to the stock on hand, especially of course, the beads room.

Over on the navy blue team, Jarrad realises that the lights in The Victoria Room are very simple, so they want a dim lit birthday cake style light.

Keenan for the green team has a nice idea for their light, but their design is the exact same as the navy blue team’s. They think about their predicament and Mel wants to not stress. Keenan comes up with the idea to change it. Brilliant, Keenan.

The grey team are as usual, confident, and Christie has done well to come up with a design for paper. The only problem, they have to cut out 1,680 paper discs for the light. It is going to take ages! In the end, they just have to make as many circles as they can.

The judges soon turn up and head to the Khaki team to begin with. They feel fortunate with their choice and are already well underway but the judges let them get back to the massive job of threading.

To the sky blue team and Luke wants to make the most of having Jason on their team. They tell the judges about their cane inspired light vision which is intricate and the judges call it eloquent. Jason just loves feeling needed.

Mark is a bit concerned by the exposed light bulb and Jason realises that they have a lot to do and must get sorted; so they better have enough reed for their design, otherwise they are stuffed.

After the break, the contestants are all still working on their inventions and Jason is trying to make sure he has enough reeds for his light. They need 120 bits of reed but they only have 77! How will they get the light done?
To the grey team and they are still cutting their 1,000+ circles but they have found a device to make it faster.

To the green team and they are working on their new design. They are actually happy with the new design despite Robyn questioning whether having the same design as the navy blue team would be so bad.

Meanwhile, Bob is having a really hard time with his machine but Peter is also having trouble sewing and he has to redo it which means pulling apart the stitches. They only have three hours to go! Hustle, hustle.

Mel begins to cut glass and she does it quite successfully. To the judges and they love the grey team’s beautiful, simple, pure and elegant design. To the khaki team and Mark is concerned by the globe.

To the sky blue team and they are again concerned by the globe exposure. They discuss Jason’s light making skills but feel he may be under too much pressure to impress his hero, Mark Pascal.

Peter is doing better with the sewing and he is stoked. Meanwhile, Bob has finished with making the frame and makes Peter’s day when he tells him his fabric is way too big… NOT! He has to redo it for the third time.
The green team is nearly finished with their acrylic design which is either a really good thing or a really bad thing.

They now have to take the pressure off of the acrylic and they are being so careful. In the end, It shatters and that is all the acrylic in the store. Well, that isn’t too handy!

They are moaning and groaning but with only one hour left, they haven’t got many options. No pun intended, but Mel feels shattered!

There is heaps of pressure and the navy blue team’s light is looking really good with the grey team also nearly done with an intricate looking lamp.

Jason looks like he is in prison inside his reed covered light! He can’t come out until he is done.

Peter and Bob are done and feel their elegant looking light is perfect. To the green team and disaster strikes again as glass begins to slip off of poorly settled glue a la their coffee table challenge! Robyn suggests Mel runs around for more acrylic while the khaki team are pretty much done.

The sky blue team are finished with their light and Kathy is not worried at all that their light may be too bright.

With 10 minutes to go, the teams who are still going are pumping it out. Mel finds some different coloured acrylic and just hope it will work. It is thinner and Mel thinks it will suit the room.

Things seem to be working for the green team and in the end, time is up, and it is all they can do!

Bob brings in the ‘dream it, design it, nail it’ promo slogan for the show before we preview the lights!

The sky blue team in particular are very excited for their light.

Meanwhile, the judges are waiting in The Victoria Room for the lights and the sky blue team are first with their light.

The judge’s watch, with Peter in awe, as the light is raised and turned on.

There is a nervous wait as the light turns on and Kathy thinks it is brilliant, but what do the judges think.

Robyn wants them to lower it and the music becomes bassy and dark as Robyn scolds the light idea. Jason doesn’t agree with her opinion but hesitantly lowers it anyway for her.

When it is lowered, Robyn loves the light, calling it intimate and says she is now involved with the light. Peter calls the ‘birdcage of light bulbs’ beautiful. Mark says the simplicity works and Brendan calls it special.

Next up is the shop team with their paper light and Christie has a lump in her throat by how happy she is.

It does look brilliant and even moreso when it is on.

Peter loves the beautiful lightness to it and calls it clever and great, but, is it the right kind of light for the space? He doesn’t know.

Mark disagrees about the British Raj and thinks it works with all of the elements of the room. Mixed reviews it seems.

Next up is team fibro cottage with their plastic light and the lights go on for the eager boys. Mark doesn’t think it is bad and Robyn was concerned however says they have done an excellent job by creating the three tiers. She loves it but would have wanted more red.

Next is the half done house’s fabric light and Peter is confident it will fit the room.

The judges smile as they see it and Peter says the fabric is suited to the room and loves the shimmer quality of the inside however doesn’t know if the bright lights work. Robyn doesn’t know about the depth of it however think they have done a good job.

Next up is the sixties suburban’s bead light. They turn the light on and it looks magical. The team is impressed and Peter can’t help but play with the beads. He calls it a beautiful object and loves how they made each individual light single with each bead string.

Robyn loves the design and the touches of amber they introduced and wants more.

Next is the green team’s light and it has been a massive job to get to this point. They turn the light on and they are happy. The judges think they did a great job and Mark calls it contemporary judge. Peter loves the kinky, bursting quality of the acrylic but that wasn’t what their hero material was; it was glass, and that was the fourth thing Peter saw before the acrylic, globes and strips in between. Oh, no!

After the break, it is verdict time. Brendan then reveals the winning light to be the khaki team’s light and they are over the moon. That was given away by the tinkling of the light as it came up the stairs. This is a complete turn around by the khaki team which usually loses these off site challenges.

Nathan can’t believe he won a working bee.

Brendan then tells them it is time to darken the mood. It is time for the two least impressive lights to be chosen. They belonged to the green team consisting of Keenan and a little more composed Mel who have both just come out of elimination.

The second team to face elimination will be the orange team consisting of Bob and Peter and Bob apologises to Peter because he told Peter not to make the light deeper. Peter just looks livid. This means that by tomorrow; one team will be left with only one member which probably means another team swap.

A good episode tonight; I quite enjoyed it. I particularly loved the end results and it was obvious who deserved to win and I’m glad the right people did eventually win. Production was good as always and despite the fact that at times there was a bit too much clutter; it was a worth while one hour on the couch.

 

Courtney’s Verdict: 9.4/10

Former professional basketballer turned wharf operations manager, Jason Harrison from WA was left devastated when he failed to impress the judges in tonight’s Panic Room elimination challenge.  

In turn, the whopping six foot nine head renovator of the Weatherboard house had to forfeit his keys to the Parramatta house, leaving behind his team mates Keenan Harris and Melissa Thomsen, both from Victoria. 

Emotions ran high when the three team members flew through the Panic Room doors and into the chaos of a courtyard disaster, messed up with tyres, debris, a broken table and rubble. 

Melissa designed a Moroccan themed courtyard with lots of greenery to create a calming ambience, garden expert Keenan had a clear plan of pebbles, turf and a hedge being the creative point of difference, and Jason H had finished a modern wooden courtyard space but unfortunately it didn’t win favour with the judges.  

Keenan’s standout courtyard won him the keys to the Weatherboard House.  

A disappointed Jason said, “It’s been a great opportunity to be on the show, it’s obviously given me a chance to experience something new and different and get out of the normal cycle of life. Sometimes you get stuck in a bit of a merry-go-round, so it’s obviously opened my eyes to a few things and sort of driven me to really push on with what I want to do when I get back home.  

“I’ve just purchased a 1910 house back in Perth that’s in dire straits, so I have a lot of work to do, and I get to go home and see my son which I’m really looking forward to the most. I think I’ve made my family proud. To get this far and do what I’ve done, I think they’ll be pretty happy.”

Mel is in tears, Keenan is hurting and Jason H has been taken down a notch! It’s another elimination and the green team are green with envy for the other teams because they are up for it!

We head to the weatherboard house to begin with where we see the green team share their thoughts on the impending elimination however it is apparent that Mel is not coping too well. They beat themselves up quite a bit and Keenan just says he wants to stay to see the end result.

Jason is also emotional as he relays what this means to him.

They wish each other good luck before they head off for elimination. At the warehouse, the contestants are waiting on the scaffolding as the team gets ready for a panic room. Brendan comes in and welcomes them to the challenge. They get a quick interview where Mel breaks down again.

We get a back story of the young mum and Brendan helps her with her emotions. She rathers she was giving birth again! That’s hard core! Someone laughs really funnily at this.

He then runs through the rules for this cold sweat inducing panic room; which remains the same as in previous weeks.

With that, they go line up in front of the doors. Brendan reminds them that as Jason H is the head renovator; one of the other two will take the role if he is eliminated. Could this emphasis on this rule mean he will be eliminated?

Work begins and they enter the room which is a messy alley garden by the look of it! Tragic!

Keenan grabs Luke to help him clear things out of his courtyard as he goes to gather material. A more composed Mel also begins her demolition with Peter helping her. Jason H, as if he needs help, grabs Michael to give him a little hand.

The judges are surprised to hear that Jason H wants a fireplace in his courtyard. He will also be painting the walls beige which concerns Brendan a little bit.

Over on Keenan’s yard; he wants a deck with a retaining wall filled with plants. It seems to be a very intricate design and he really wants it to be private!

To Mel and she will be mixing paints first as she wants to impress Baz. She gets on with her painting first and she wants a very luscious, fun room!

She wants to keep the pavers in the yard but wants artificial lawn on either side. She is panicking!

They reach the half way mark and Mel is wasting time with a second coat of paint. The judges like her colour though. They seem to like Keenan’s idea as well but they wonder if he can make it completely enclosed and private.

The key concern with Jason’s courtyard is that it will be plain and Brendan doesn’t like his paint colour.

Keenan has his walls and boards set up and begins to lay rocks and plants. It is a heavy job, but he gets a lot of progress quick. Brendan compliments his progress and listens to his idea before wondering if he is panicking. He isn’t!

To Mel, and she is well into creating her modern day bed for her fun courtyard. Baz compliments her bed and says he sees himself in it. She is building the bed so at least she had a chance to build something.

Brendan then goes to Jason and notices the amount of timber building there is.

With 30 minutes to go and the judges love Jason’s timber work is going but Baz thinks it is more of a living room. They like Keenan’s real idea but thinks the room may be too centralised to the decking. They also like Mel’s room but if the centrepiece fails, she doesn’t have a plan B.

She pours too much paint on it and now she is worried that it won’t dry.

After the break, they are rushing to the finish and Mel is still worried about her bed. She puts it together completely after a bit of struggle and she uses fabric to guard against the paint. The judges are having a lot of input in this episode but they seem to be very positive.
They all have a minute to go and they just have to finish the last few little bits. Come on, guys. Mel is still cutting the fabric as we count down the last few seconds but soon enough, work stops and their rooms are done.

The contestants wait in the back area as the judges go and judge the room. Jason is first and Brendan says Jason’s room feels real and the other judges think it feels very interior.

Next up is Mel’s room and Baz looks at home on the bed and Baz actually thanks Mel for the exotic feel. Brendan thinks she has made it bigger than it is but Robyn is worried by the bed itself. Last up is Keenan who has gone for an inclosed room. They struggle to get inside the outdoor area. Robyn is blown away by the choice of textures while Baz is happy with the private feel. Brendan is concerned by the choice of wood nor the plants sitting in plastic plots.

With that, judging is done and the three of them stand before the judges for the results. We get a few comments by contestants and judges alike before the verdict. The green team huddle up as Brendan announces that Jason H is to leave the competition. Again, that emphasis on the fact that if Jason was to go, the key would be passed on. As this never happens in other episodes, this was quite a spoiler.

He says his goodbyes, sobs a bit, gets a few compliments before he leaves.

A nice episode and a wonderful ending. Predictability aside, these rooms were very inspirational and the elimination was far from being boring. Jason will leave a massive six foot hole in the competition from here.

 

Courtney’s Verdict: 8.5/10

 

OK, so I clocked off work a bit early today and I can deliver you the blog to Judgement Day 4 a little earlier than expected; which is very good! Last week; the judges weren’t too impressed with some of the progress; but like The Biggest Loser and the weight loss rebounds; can an impressive week follow a sombre one?

So before we start; the voiceover chick basically gave away the result; but because I am so nice to you guys, I won’t just yet.

As we begin, we head to the inner city terrace which is finally moving forward thanks to finished paperwork. Luke can’t wait for the judges to arrive and see all their hard work. The team however seem to be sitting down and eating!

To the orange team and Peter & Bob are now trying to do as much as possible to keep themselves out of elimination. Bob is not too worried but Peter needs chocolate to keep his blood sugar levels up he is so nervous!

They even roll out a red carpet (made of fabric) for the travelling judges.
This week, it will be Brendan, Robyn and Baz going out to the front line. The judges discuss what they are looking for. Robyn wants to see some design movement and Baz wants to see extensions up and running. Brendan wants to see progress outside and well developed plans. He tells us that the winner will receive tradies for a few days while the losers receive… elimination!

The judges head off and we return to the inner city terrace where Luke and his team have finished demolishing the old stair case and are chiselling off the wallpaper. They also find that the more they take out, the more the terrace is beginning to lean inwards and they could end up with a collapsed home!

Luke gets some beams in to support the wall that is bending inwards and he tells us how delicate the job is. He begins to slowly and carefully demolish a bit of the wall to be used as a part of the extension. They then get a supporting girder installed properly and they celebrate their efforts! They are proud of their team work efforts.

The judges then arrive at the inner city terrace and they expect lots to have been done with the teams overall work ethic. They walk inside and seem wowed by the efforts of the team. They have increased ceiling height and the judges are just in awe by the progress. Brendan jokes that he can’t see what has happened.

They go outside to have a look and again, they are so stoked to see nothing left however Baz tells them to be careful with the wall behind them and Robyn wonders if the task is still too big for the team.

The only problem is the budget which has a bit of a blow out but the team are confident they can pull it back.

Out front, they are quite impressed with the progress, but that budget could be a bit of a let down. I doubt it.

After the break, we head to the fibro cottage which has some noticeable changes happening to its façade. The swimming pool hole has also been dug and the lack of rain has been a godsend because now, they can get ready for their extension. They have also started on their floors for the extension by the look of it.

Outside, the judges love the sound of working and construction. They are hoping for a lot of progress due to the working bee last week. They go out back and are surprised by the progress. They love the flooring and the swimming pool but Michael surprisingly tells them that more has been done inside than outside.

They also see that they have moved some windows and also find out that the tiling and painting in the wet rooms have been completed. Brendan jokes that they have to pull their finger out.

The judges notice the plastering hole in the roof, but it doesn’t seem to be too much of a concern.

To the sixties suburban and the renderers have worked on the façade of the house which not looks brand new and they want to begin on painting. Some guy tells them that they have to wait a few more weeks before they can paint.

They end up working on their extension by demolishing the deck and ripping the walls out. It seems like a fun job!

The judges rock up and Suzanne is a bit nervous about the second judges visit for her on the khaki team. The judges are happy with the rendering job but Nathan is concerned by Brendan’s presence, noticing that they haven’t worked too much on the garden.

Nathan runs through how the khaki team have heeded the advice of the judges but Baz knows there is too much to do and they don’t have much time. Nathan stumbles when Brendan brings up landscaping, and Baz pretends to hold Brendan back from punching him.

Overall, the judges seem to have mixed thoughts on the khaki team.

Next up is the halfway house and we have a look at the progress the team has made. Plastering has been done, the garden is being worked on and windows are being installed. Lock up has been finished.

The judges arrive to the half done house and discuss the loss of two team members in one week. The expect lock up to be done, damp issues sorted and decking all sorted. With that; they go inside.

They are impressed with the red carpet and Robyn is excited. They love the progress of the indoor area, calling it great. Brendan call them the odd couple team, but the orange team find that their communication has increased.

Baz is still concerned by the damping in the hallway but Peter has a plan and it should be all done by next week.

The question on Brendan’s lips is; is the decking done? Pretty much and it looks great. Brendan wants to know who is taking the reigns of the garden now Kim is gone and they say they are both in charge.

Brendan tells them not to worry about grass as the space doesn’t need it and tell them they are on the right track. The judges reveal that they are the first team on lock up stage.

After the break, we go to the shop for their reveal and we get a look at the plan yet again. The ceilings and walls have been completed and Christie and Natalia are working on the vanities in the kitchen.

August is well underway with the removal of the floor before the judges arrive. They expect to see gyprock and plaster; which obviously has happened.

The judges rock up and are in awe with the progress. August runs them through the house thus far and they seem very thrilled with it all.

Brendan wonders how the landscaping is going and there is a lot of material ready to go in; however they haven’t worked out their final plans.

Brendan is impressed with the sketches and images of their plans and reveals they have the most paperwork, which is good.

Last up tonight is the weatherboard house where the green team have been working hard. They have worked on their concrete slabs for the extension and have also done a lot of work with architraves and hinges.

The team won two tradies for a few days and with that comes serious progress! Walls come up on their extension and they all feel confident.

The judges rock up to the house and discuss what they expect. They are expecting big things with all the challenges they have won.

They come in and Robyn is impressed with the job done on the ceilings. They enter the bathroom which looks brand new.

They come outside and look at the new extension and think it looks incredible. They talk about the rain on concrete problem and their solution.

The team have a lot of paperwork but Baz is not happy with the side of the house and the lack of retainment.

Baz isn’t happy with the lack of painting and work in the master bedroom and they have a lot of work to do.

Outside, they seem to have a mixed review of the paperwork for the team and notice they are leaving hard things until last.

With that, the contestants head to the warehouse where they will meet their fate.

Brendan tells them what is up for stake for the winner and of course, for the loser.

Brendan; having gone for his first ever judgement day, loved their progress.

Brendan tells them that there are two houses that have progressed in leaps and bounds; the fibro cottage and the inner city terrace. Basically, Luke, Jason J, Kathy, Sam, Michael and Jarrad are all safe this week.

But who is the overall winner? Well of course, it is the hard working foursome from the inner city terrace.

Brendan mocks Jason J’s accent; the funniest scene of the series, saying he always says they will never win anything. Baz is lost for words and congratulates them.

There were however, two teams who lagged behind. They were the sixties suburban and the weatherboard house.

Nathan, Suzanne, Jason H, Keenan and Mel are in danger here and Brendan calls the decision incredibly close.

He then reveals that the team going to elimination will be the weatherboard green team of Jason H, Keenan and Mel.

Mel is in tears and personally, I don’t blame her. Despite their set backs, they have done way more than the khaki team! This is obviously because of the sheer amount of eliminations the khaki team have gone through.

The judges explain themselves, but it still doesn’t really add up. Oh well, either Jason H, Keenan or Mel will be going home tomorrow after a quite impressive judgement day. The best thing about these episodes is that it concentrates on the renovations. Personally, and this all comes down on episodes in the near future, I think they have the balance between challenges and renovations almost perfect.

 Oh, and an end note, the best courtyard creator Keenan, wins the role of head renovator.

Courtney’s Verdict: 9.0/10

 

Ten in crisis 2.

Sudden programming changes have become the norm now for any channel that is not performing up to expectation. In this case, it is Ten – even though timeslot changes rarely help shows improve their ratings, the real problem is not enough thought gone into the original line up to prevent changes.

Ten takes the lead now over the its commercial rivals with more programming changes than Seven and Nine combined.

Ten’s problem with Friday night. Law & Order franchises didn’t work, a last minute movie change didn’t work (honestly, who realistically thought it would), now, from this Friday (September 2) they are going for Hawaii Five-O repeats – two in fact, from 8.30-10.30, with the weekly Can Of Worms encore at 10.30pm.

On Sunday night (as already reported) The Renovators moves to 6.30pm, with Talkin’ ‘Bout Your Generation at 7.30pm – it also remains scheduled for 8.30pm next Wednesday at this stage. That leaves the Bondi Vet finale out of the schedule – although, if Ten were smart here, they’d use Bondi Vet at 8pm Thursdays over the next two weeks instead of the Modern Family repeat.

Monday remains as scheduled, with the Can Of Worms finale at 8.30pm and the premiere of Good News World at 9.30pm. Tuesday is NCIS at 8.30 and 9.30 the special Children of 9/11 while Wednesday, as mentioned, still has Your Gen at 8.30pm, followed by NCIS at 9.40pm.

Thursday Sept 8 is Rush at 8.30 and Law & Order; SVU repeat at 9.30pm. Friday Sept 9 has not been confirmed yet.

Network Ten has today responded to damagingly low ratings by changing around its Sunday schedule. The Renovators has now been moved up to 6.30pm, which will be handy as it now departs a slot that will go head to head with Seven’s Wild Boys.

Bondi Vet’s final two episodes have not been rescheduled.

In Renovator’s old timeslot will be new episodes of Talkin’ ‘Bout Your Generation, which departs its old timeslot of 8.30pm Wednesday also due to a lack of numbers.

A replacement for Wednesday Night Your Gen has not been revealed as of yet.

This is the first step in what could be a huge revamp to their schedule as their primary channel fails to attract good shares. In total people last week, Ten was unable to reach 16% on any of the seven nights; and even fell to a below 9% share last Sunday.

Last night, the network pulled only a 12.5% primary total people share; which unnervingly is becoming a common feat.

The Renovators failed to pull 730,000 last night with Your Gen slipping below 800,000 on Wednesdays; falling from previous heights of 1.7m+ in 2009.

Ten may well be finding itself in the same vicious circle Nine did at the start of the year. After disastrous ratings and shares; the network found that all they could do was swap around shows on a daily basis, blindly hoping for the best. Unlike Nine, Ten doesn’t have a good track record at recovering from ratings woes in short term timespans.

In the meantime; its digital channel ELEVEN is improving. The channel, which usually attracts shares of 3-4% per night, was able to surpass 4% on six nights over the past fortnight with improved shares on weekends and during their animation domination.

ONE is also holding its own, becoming the most-watched multichannel last night, recording a 4.4% total viewer share.