The Renovators

Another Renovators episode, another… flat pack! Tonight; contestants will have to build a flat pack carport (because nothing says ‘inspiration’ like ‘flat pack car garage’) for an advantage going into a same night white room challenge. Who will win?

We start the episode at the inner city terrace where they can finally get some real work done with all paper work processed and all signatures given! Demolitions are go!

They begin immediately and make fast work of the house; getting rid of roofs, rooms and sheds. Bye, bye, heritage listed property!

Add to the excitement of demolition is the euphoria of being able to plan their designs. In contrast, Bob and Peter begin work as a lonely pair and Bob gets underway on the decking, which cost them Kim at elimination.

They then eagerly get to the warehouse where Brendan is wowed by the fact only 16 remain. He tells them that today’s build it challenge is ‘almighty’ and will give them all something they crave. Need a clue? Well, here come forklifts of metal, and cars.

Brendan tells them that today; they will be building a carport. Only two members from each team will get to participate. They have to build it around and over the car presented for them; so they have to be incredibly careful as one scratch could mean instant disqualification.

Luke has built some carports in the past; a fact that proves funny to some. We have a look at a flashback of him doing it (without a shirt, of course for the ladies) before Baz gives some tips on what he would and has done.

So with that, Luke and Sam decide to compete from the blue team with the khaki team, orange team and blue team competing with their only members.  The grey team choose Christy and Natalia with the green team choosing Keenan and Jason H. Jason has a height advantage!

The winners will be the first three teams who finish to the judges satisfaction. Only those teams will compete for a major prize through the white room.

They complete the room by honking the car horn. With that piece of nifty information, they get to it.

Most teams decide to read instructions however Luke, being a pro, just goes straight for it!

The blue team look like they are going really well however the Khaki team are not far behind. Michael on the blue team begins to pass steel girders for the roof over the car and they are successful.

It turns out to be the green team who are in front; now getting their covers on their roofs. But as they do it, Baz tells them that they haven’t put their posts in properly. They will have to redo some of the structure. This could definitely slow them down.

After the break, they get on to fixing the problem, but will they get it all done in time? Don’t worry, boys, there’s a few places to go.

Michael and Jarrad are closing in, but Brendan tells us that this challenge has already been going for two hours!

The judges discuss how close this race is; and the blue team are just cranking it up to get their roof up. Over on the navy blue team, a flashing falls off, setting them back. Not for long however, as they become the first team to honk their horn. The orange team also honk their horn, but Michael and Jarrad get their first, and have their structure checked first.

Congratulations; Michael and Jarrad are through to the next round!

To the orange team and Peter & Bob move through to the second round.

Only one place remains and it seems the sky blue team will get their first; beeping third. The judges have a look. They get through in third!

The contestants then enter the second round and Robyn walks in for the white room challenge. It will be based on the smallest room in the house; the bathroom. Peter thinks he has this in the bag. Brendan then shows them the white rooms which features three types of flooring; lime stone, checkered and timber floors. Navy blue team pick first; and they pick limestone. Orange team picks checkered floors, leaving sky blue team with the timber floors.

They then get to choose two other contestants to help in that same order. Michael & Jarrad choose Keenan and Nathan (something that makes Brendan laugh); Bob & Peter let the contestants choose who wants to come and Mel & Natalia put their hands up with the sky blue team choosing Suzanne and Jason H.

A twist to this room is that the two picked members (including the two from the orange team who volunteered) have to stay overnight to tile the entire room.

Baz gives them some tips before Pete points them in the direction of the store room. Brendan then tells them that the winners get a $15,000 Reece bathroom package. Perfect for what is usually the hardest room in the house to complete.

They have five hours to complete the room and their time starts now.

They all rush for the store room which is complete with sparkling tiles, shiny taps, decorative steel parts and luxurious product placement.

Peter describes his bathroom design to the judges who are wowed by the amount of work he has cut out for him. He doesn’t want to do something simple though.

Michael wants to put a telly in his room and the look he’s going for is a penthouse, modern bathroom. Hmm, I so like the sound of this room!

They explain their concept to the judges who wonder what the wow factor will be. Umm… the television?!

They chat on how to make their room better; but they don’t get far.

Kathy is leading the design for the sky blue team and decides to go for something luxurious with a bit of ‘old and new’. They are deciding on going for a platformed bath.

An hour is down and they have an hour to go, so the other two helpers from each team begin to tile.

The judges discuss the progress of the teams and don’t seem optimistic about the bland navy blue team room. They do seem quite confident with the sky blue team but are not too confident with the work the tilers have ahead.

To the orange team and Baz & Robyn conclude that despite the wow factor; there is a lot of work to do.

After a while, work has to stop for the evening for the teams; and they leave their tilers for the night! Good night!

After the break, the contestants return in the morning to see what job has been done. To the sky blue team, not much has been done over the eight+ hours they had. No grouting has been done nor has some of the tiling.

The same goes for the orange team but to the navy blue team, all has been done. With that, their last three hours starts and they all work with what they have.

The sky blue team get working on their wallpaper while some of them continue on the tiling. The work on the wallpaper is not going well and Baz doesn’t like the work at all. He tells them that the wallpaper could win it or lose it for them.

They begin again, but they only have two hours to go.

The judges discuss the work of the contestants and are impressed with the work in the navy blue bathroom however they describe Peter’s job in the orange team as a mountain. He is panicking, saying that the craftsmanship in the bathroom is not to his standard.

Baz gives him some encouragement before he keeps going.

The navy blue boys are working on a different idea for their bathroom and decide to get a few conceptual ideas together and hope they have done enough to get the wow factor done.

With an hour to go, the sky blue team decide not to grout the floor with the amount of work to do. Jason J nearly blows a lid as he mumbles something inaudibly.

So much is going on with the orange team now trying to clean up the massive mess they have made. 5 minutes to go and I just want them all to finish!

Soon enough, work is done and they move away from their rooms.

After the break, the judges rock up to judge each bathroom. First up is the navy blue team who run through their concept. Their room looks bland and a bit too white, but the judges go in and inspect it. Somehow, some of their hand movements look a bit forced and contrived, but I’m sure it all helps with their decision.

Baz praises their craftsmanship immensely while Peter loves the television screen idea and the placing of the toilet. Robyn thinks it has a great feel, but thinks it is lacking something; a stool, or an ottoman.

Next up is the sky blue team’s bathroom which used timber flooring.

Robyn loves the colours of the room and the use of orange. She doesn’t seem to like the platform and its separation from the room. Peter loves… and he goes to the middle of the room… the fact that he can go to the centre and have everything happening around him. He then goes on about how he is centre of the room. Baz then condemns their craftsmanship which is visibly bad.

To the orange room and I quite like it, to be honest. Baz seems to find some craftsmanship problems while Peter notices some stray piece of shower railing.

Robyn loves the design as a whole, but thinks with extra time, this could be perfect. Peter looks visibly upset at his job and craftsmanship but Baz thinks this all comes down to his time management however Peter HAD to have a grand bathroom.

A cheeky cutaway shows Michael discuss his chances of winning and he seems to be trying to hide a grin! Hmm…

After the break, it is verdict time! Brendan commends their work before telling them that the winners of the $15,000 Reece bathroom package is the navy blue team consisting of Michael and Jarrad.
Well, that was predictable. Still, a good episode; something different to the usual choose-your-own-white-room-style challenge (although I do like the latter). Beautifully produces yet again and backs up its much needed renewal! Good work, Shine!

 

Courtney’s Verdict: 9.9/10

 

It was a huge week of reality television last week; well, for the first part anyway. The Block finished on a huge 3.2m viewer high; making it the biggest reality television event for 2011 behind Australia’s Got Talent and MasterChef Australia’s finales.

Polly & Waz won the show after shockingly becoming the only couple to sell their houses at auction! Katrina & Amie, Josh & Jenna and Tania & Rod walked away from the night with nothing however the latter two couples did make some moolah after the finale. Katrina & Amie broke even.

With that, The Farmer Wants A Wife and Top Design were the only reality television programs left on Nine with Farmer having its big, yet slightly oddly timeslot placed, launch.

Six farmers picked from, for the first time, seven girls, to join them on their farms. Some of these men picked the mysterious family-chosen seventh woman, while for some farmers the first six were package enough. Three were chosen for each farmer and it won’t be long before some of those gals will be shown the door!

Top Design has now pretty much been shunted to GEM (or 10.30pm on Nine if you include that timeslot as ‘prime time’) and after a pretty impressive task involving the contestants building rooms based around emotions, Dee was sent packing in what some would say was a confusing elimination.

The Renovators reeled from losing Fiona, but it also had to say goodbye to Kim and Lisa from the orange team after a panic room and stress test challenge respectively claimed their positions in the game. Navy Blue Michael and Jarrad won a working bee for their home and a mid week barbeque area building challenge saw for the first time in the main challenge, teams work together with half of them going into elimination.

Like with MasterChef finale week, this was a real fizzer, but it is all set to kick off again with a hefty week to come.

The Renovators will be up to its usual tricks and twists again with another two eliminations, a white room and an offsite challenge and hopefully some more renovations! We are heading to the half way mark now, so I expect to see some progress!

Top Design will eliminate one more contestant before its finale, but really, it is just a sprint to the finish.

The Farmer Wants A Wife moves to Monday permanently, which is a pain, but the real event here is the launch of Seven’s third overall season of The X Factor.

Mel B, Natalie Bassingthwaighte (god, that will be hard to get right under tight time constraints), Ronan Keating and Guy Sebastian are back to find all the good singers out there to compete for the title of Australian Idol! Of course, the best they’ll get is a shabby hotel room next to Altiyan Childs.

So, it’s going to be an interesting week of reality television; definitely a different feel than of previous weeks. It is sure to fire up, so be here, or be queer… am I allowed to say that?

 

Law & Order: Criminal Intent Season Finale.
On Monday August 29, Law & Order: Criminal Intent will finish with a double episode from 9.30pm. Late News that night will air from 11.30pm. These two episodes are the last ever for this Law & Order franchise, and reduces further the amount of Law & Order on Ten.

Bondi Vet Finale
After a short stay in the 6.30pm  timeslot, Bondi Vet has its season finale  as the second part of a double episode on Sunday September 4, from 6.30pm. Lets hope this isn’t the last we see of Dr Chris before he goes to America.

Sunday Night Movies Continue
The movie for Sunday September 4, is Night At The Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian. First run for Ten.

Can Of Worms Finale
Not a long season for the panel based discussion show with Can Of Worms having its first season finale, Monday September 5, 8.30pm. Join host, Ian “Dicko” Dickson, and a panel of special guests as we ask Australia the curly questions of everyday life. There is no wrong answer, but be warned – you could open a Can Of Worms!

Good News World Premiere
Essentially Good News Week re-jigged. 9.30pm Monday September 5. Join GNW favourites, Paul, Mikey and Claire, plus a regular cast of the country’s best comedians, as they tackle the biggest stories on the planet! Think SNL meets The Daily Show with an Aussie twist.

Children of 9/11 – Special Presentation.
Five days out from the 10th anniversary of 9/11, Ten will air this special from 9.30pm Tuesday September 6. This documentary accompanies the children of 9/11 as they go about their daily lives, to create a unique and intimate portrait before and after the tragedy.

Other programming news.
The Renovators continues its regular weekly pattern of 7.30pm Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and How-To Friday, and 8pm Tuesday and Thursday. New Modern Family airs 7.30pm Tuesday with a repeat 7.30pm Thursday. Rush continues at 8.30pm Thursday September 8, with a repeat of Law & Order: SVU at 9.30pm that night. Your Gen Wednesday night 8.30, NCIS repeat at 9.30pm Wednesday, as well as Tuesday 8.30pm. Friday 8.30- 10.40 remains as TBA’s.

Ten seem to be lost as to a solution on Friday nights – this week saw the movie Australia inserted as an amendment during the week – a movie that would have worked OK for them if there was enough notice to potential viewers that it was actually on. Ten again ranked fourth in channel shares, with Seven, Nine and ABC1 all with higher shares. The movie was watched by an average of 327,000 over its three and a half hours of air time.

Oops, sorry for the late post everyone; I had a birthday to attend, but here I am now with the full blog post for How To 4!

We begin with an aerial shot of Sydney before we zoom into the weatherboard house where the green team is about to have their concrete slabs for their extension poured in. With rain on the horizon, they need to get it done soon.

They lay some plastic down before holding it all together with a grid of metal. After that, here it comes; down the pipe and into their foundation. Keenan seems to be in charge of this job and with that, comes yet another back story from the blonde father.

Soon enough, it begins to rain and that rain makes the surface of the concrete powdery and weak. It is going to be a big spend to get that patched up.

Torrential rain is also an issue for the navy blue team whose pool hole is being delayed by the torrent. It could be a disaster if they put their pool in today.

After all this, the renovators turn up to how to, take a seat and take a warm welcome from Brendan and the other judges.

He runs through the class for today; which will be a Father’s Day theme. Brendan shows them some pictures on the big screens of some contestants with their dads.

Mel, Michael and Suzanne are three of the contestants who get to view their photos this way.

Brendan talks about the huge role fathers play in the growing up of all of us and with that, we see some back stories from some of the judges.

These back stories have a garden theme and it is obvious that today, they will be building a garden of some sort. The torrential rain is noticeable as each drop that cascades and crashes into the roof is heard; and a sneaky little camera shot of the pouring rain is shown from outside.

With that; it’s time to do some landscaping. Before we start, Baz takes the navy blue team; Michael and Jarrad, out for a private MasterClass.

With that, Brendan gets to the plans here in the warehouse. He shows us that today, they will be building Robyn’s corner; a 2011 redesign of a vertical garden that Robyn’s dad once built for her.

Brendan introduces the concept of ReoMesh to Robyn who is truly thankful for the advice before Brendan talks to them about the cool things they could do with the mesh.

Robyn brings in Brendan’s dad to help with the garden, and he looks truly surprised although, considering he isn’t a contestant, wouldn’t he be allowed to see him or talk to him?

After the break, Brendan is standing before a bench and tells the contestants about the concept of the ‘vertical garden’ before telling them that today, they will be making a simple version of one of these gardens.

He has a bit of mesh handy with him and using his dad, they take some wire (and for the first time, we find out Brendan’s dad is Jim) and wire up the cage. The grey team reveal that they are keen on making a vertical garden, so Natalia is asked to help Jim with the mesh and wire.

Brendan takes some black mesh (the sock of the garden) and puts it in the wire cage of mesh. Using Mel, they then take some soil and feeds it in the sock.

The next stage is to plant plants into the vertical garden. Brendan makes an incision into the wall of the vertical garden and Mel shoves the plant into the wall where Brendan has made a hole in the soil.

One plant done, more to go! Brendan brings one out that he prepared earlier and it is complete with flora! Robyn says her dad would love that.

Brendan gives out some tips for a vertical garden before we head to an ad break.

After that break, we see what Michael, Jarrad and Baz get up to on their private how to session.

They are at a multi million dollar house which was built using the same façade despite that façade being dilapidated.

They go inside to see what is going on and it looks really nice. The front yard has a tropical garden and the inside uses a lot of wood, a lot of windows and a lot of class!

I’m mesmerised by this house; it looks incredible! Safe to say, this segment is my favourite for this show.

Back at the warehouse, the corner that is Robyn’s corner is looking amazing and Robyn wants to know what it actually is. The seat inside doesn’t look complete, so I guess we all know what this segment will be about.

He gets Luke to help his construct the rest of the chair as Brendan gives some tips on how to do it properly.

Now it is time to hang the vertical garden. Brendan gets Nathan to help him and it looks really nice as it blends in with the pattern on the wall.

After the break, Robyn is standing in front of a white room that has been dressed in a British Empire style. Of course, when Nathan was given the choice of either Retro or British Empire as the style for the Sunday White Room challenge, he chose Retro over British Empire.

Tonight; Robyn will be going through the elements of a British Empire room.

Basically, she goes through the room as she adds a bit of back story to the whole feel of it. She asks what the room says to her and then answers her own question with a fictional yet fitting story about who may own the house.

She gets Keenan to come up and help her place dated pillows of the Union Jack on the furniture. She then wants to focus on a huge timber desk that she thinks may fit the desk. They choose an old globe to help the table come to life, and it does look fitting.

Still, I hate this design with a passion.

Robyn gets Sam to come in and critique the room and she thinks it is too feminine. I love that finally someone is contradicting an overall design. She opts to take a smaller globe off the table also with a fish plate. In the end, Robyn puts the fish plate back but lets Sam keep the globe off of the table!

She then gets Jason H to help her hang curtains. After he does this, Robyn gets him and Suzanne to discuss the room with her.

Christie points out correctly that the rug needs to go and Robyn has it changed. With that, the room is complete, but still, it isn’t my cup of tea.

After the break, the contestants are standing by Robyn’s corner that is nearly complete. Brendan has introduced some new flowers to the corner which he talks about to the contestants. Natalia loves the plant apparently.

Brendan then gets Natalia, along with August, to help him plant some rhipsalis. Brendan then gets Jason J, Suzanne and Bob to come up and help him with some styling. Bob sweeps the stage with a bit of dad joke humour before Jason and Suzanne help put some white elements to the room to spice it up.

With that, the room is done, and despite the fact that Robyn is sitting at the back of the room, Brendon wonders whether she will like the room.

Robyn comes in and inspects the room and she seems very emotionally charged by it. She doesn’t cry, but you can tell she is amazed. You can still hear the rain on the roof of the mammoth warehouse.

After the break, Peter talks about the things dad builds for the kids; one of which is the old Billy cart. Hidden behind him is a pink Billy cart for a little girl however Peter gets Keenan to give him a hand finishing off the unfinished cart.

After this is done, he gets Christie to have a go in the cart which he then hops in with her. She thinks it is awesome and wants one for herself.

Michael, Baz and Jarrad then arrive back at the warehouse and both groups discuss what they did that day.

With that, they have a snag and the episode ends.

Again, a fitting end to the working week; a no stress, beautifully produced episode of The Renovators and hey, I have to commend them for trying to include a little renovation. It seems they are listening despite the fact these scenes of renovations are few and far between. Personally, I wouldn’t mind seeing the how to episode scrapped for just renovation scenes.

Still, I loved the episode and that is all that counts!

 

Courtney’s Verdict: 9.6/10

7.30PM FRIDAY AUGUST 26 on Ten

It’s almost Father’s Day, and to celebrate Brendan is recreating a garden that Robyn’s father had for her, called “Rob’s corner”. As a surprise, Robyn organizes Brendan’s father Jim Moar to stop by and help bring this garden together.

In what has been an upsetting week for the Half Done House team – having lost first team member Kim on Tuesday – they’re bad luck streak continued when Lisa Ausden, interior decorator from WA, became the tenth contestant to be eliminated.. 

Three teams faced the Basic Skills Stress Test. Round One featured an individual challenge involving sewing and hanging curtains. Lisa, along with South Australia’s Jason J and Sydney contestant Kathy failed the test and ended up in Round Two. 

Before Brendan revealed what was ahead, Lisa had already expressed her fear of being asked to assemble a flatpack. Then, to her dismay a forklift entered the warehouse carrying… a flatpack. All three contestants had to assemble an entire double bed and deliver it perfectly dressed.  

Kathy was the first to make it through stage two confidently. Jason and Lisa battled it out as they couldn’t get the nuts and bolts right. Lisa didn’t go down without a fight as it went back and forth between the two of them before finally Baz declared Jason the winner. 

Lisa struggled to hold it together once eliminated, “The big picture, this is a competition. You make friends on the way, you enjoy the journey. Everything I’ve done, I’m proud of. Every week someone has to go home. This week it was my turn, next week it could be another surprise. 

“It’s very sad to leave my team mates Bob and Peter. The relationship that Peter and I had in the team, that’s what all the teams need to have. If you can have that with the last surviving person then you are going be indestructible.  

“I am so excited to have everything that’s special back. I am really looking forward to getting my beautiful children and my lovely husband back. My family are very proud of all of my efforts on the show.”

It’s not just another elimination; because tonight, half the camp is up and ONE will be going home! It’s going to be a surprising night and a sad farewell, but for the other half of the contestants; it’s all on with a working bee!

To the Fibro cottage first up and it is working bee time. Yesterday, Michael won him and Jarrad a much needed working bee; and on the job are them, the green team and the grey team. It’s a small house and again, it is raining. They will be working on the bedrooms inside and Jarrad is kind enough to want to buy them all a little something. Of course, big bad Michael didn’t let him!

We look at the plan for the fibro cottage before we see the team getting into it.

The green team are surprised at how much there is to do, but Mel is proud that Michael will be going ahead with the extension which is much needed.

Jason H destroys one of the half plastered ceiling before we head to the warehouse where the blue team, khaki team and the orange team are awaiting elimination.

Today will be a stress test split into two basic skills tasks. Part one, according to Robyn, is a styling and decoration task which could save them precious dollars for their house profit.

They all then take a look behind them to see a bench full of sewing items. Their task; sew some curtains and hang them! Suzanne is confident but Lisa isn’t. Brendan gives them their expectation before saying that six people will be saved in this round with three moving on to round two.

Work begins and they race to their benches. There isn’t much material, so they better watch out!

Suzanne begins to fold the fabric in half and cut it and Robyn is impressed.
Peter can sew apparently because his mother used to however he is nervous!

Lisa is nailing in poles for her curtains and this itself proves to be a task and Peter helps her. Jason also seems to need some help considering he has never sewed before. His thread has come out of his sewing machine which is one of many problems he is encountering as he sluggishly moves along. He thinks he should start preparing for round two!

Kathy didn’t drill any holes into her walls for her screws and she can’t seem to place them in properly.

Meanwhile, Peter finishes his curtain first, so the judges check. They decide he can go through before moving to check Suzanne’s work. She too goes through. There are four spots remaining so Bob rushes to finish.

Kathy is still fiddling with her screws as Sam and Nathan both get through safe. It isn’t too much time before Luke is also proclaimed safe.

Kathy, Bob, Lisa and Jason J all have to move it to remain safe.

Back after the break, we return to the fibro cottage where August discusses his humbling painting experience to a laughing Jarrad and a smiling Michael. At the end of the day, the floorboards have had their nails ripped out and most contestants begin to paint the house. The ceilings are proving to be hell with Jason H continuing to rip plaster off of them with the stroke of a paint brush. He blames the bad weather but as Jarrad begins to peel paint off of the ceilings to redo the plastering, contestants start complaining that the whole house will come down! Jarrad thinks all the contestants are whinging to him as if he is Dr. Phil. This follows another Jarrad back story.

Back in elimination and Bob has his hand up for that final place in the top six.

He is announced safe, leaving Kathy, an emotional Lisa and Jason J to go through to the second round.

They stand dramatically before Brendan, who welcomes them to the final round. He asks Lisa about standing in her second elimination and she breaks down, apologising to the judges. She is as nervous as all hell.

Kathy, while a little more composed, is also a bit shaky as she discusses her place in elimination. Jason J thinks he is top six material, so he better win!

Peter introduces them to the second round; the Rubik’s cube of renovation; the flat pack!

Disaster has all of a sudden stricken.

Their challenge today is to assemble the flat pack; which is of a bed; and then make it. Once they’re done, the judges will check it and again, the top two fastest are safe with the other being eliminated.

Lisa thinks she is done, as she is the only person who has never really done one.

Work begins and they are off and running with their flat pack. Lisa would be so devastated if she had to go home. She decides to look for all the bolts and nuts to put the bed together but she can’t seem to find the screws.
Jason J doesn’t want to go home facing two girls however the other two are having troubles as well; so he needn’t worry.

Jason seems to be having trouble keeping his screws and bolts together.

The judges realise that Jason J is working really well due to his calm mind however Robyn thinks Kathy is streets ahead of him. They can’t believe Lisa is doing so well.

Kathy gets Luke to help her lift her base onto her bed and she seems like she has nearly done her bed. She is up to putting her mattress on and Jason J is shocked at this.

Lisa is rushing through her bed and nearly has her bed completed; now ahead of Jason J.

They have to use every nut, bolt and washer and Lisa realises she has a few washers spare! Kathy meanwhile is making her bead as Jason J begins to get his mattress on. The judges inspect a now ‘done’ Kathy and do they like her bed? Yes! And she is safe from elimination. It is now down to Lisa and Jason J!

There is now only one place left and Lisa gets her game on. It is neck and neck with Lisa raising her hand first to get her bed checked; just milliseconds before Jason J.

They come over to inspect her bed and Jason J wonders if he will be going home in an all too revealing cutaway. As it happens, Lisa is missing a few screws here and there and is told to keep going.

The judges then go to inspect Jason’s work. It is down to the wire, but I’m almost confident Jason will do it.

And before you know it; Jason is through, breaking down in tears at the fact that Lisa will be going home. It is pretty heart breaking; kudos on the show for making it feel like Lisa was indestructible.

And in the course of a week; the orange team have been reduced to two with two of the competition’s biggest personalities leaving the game.

After a few compliments from the judges, she leaves the game.

To the fibro cottage and the working bee is over and it is looking pretty good with some tiling and some painting done. They all await the other contestants. They all walk in one by one but soon enough; they realise Lisa is gone.

A pretty well rounded episode to end the formal part of the week. I didn’t like the cutaway of Jason J at the end one bit as there was no doubt in my mind after that, that he would be staying. Still, it is so good to see a different type of stress test! Something a little different; and considering it is all just a race, it seems like a fair way to go about these eliminations.

Well produced episode, loving the inclusion of the working bee a lot more, but I would love to see a lot more renovation!

 

Courtney’s Verdict: 9.4/10

 

Don’t forget guys, I need your help! If you want to run this blog for a week in September and have the capacity to write even little reviews on some reality programs plus post them on Throng, I’d love to hear from you as I am unable to do so. Contact me via PM on this site, or through c_rose_luvy1980@hotmail.com. Thankyou for all who take on this volunteer work; it would mean a lot to me!

7.30PM THURSDAY AUGUST 25 on Ten

While half the contestants are out at a working bee, the others are undergoing a stress test. Round 1 – sewing and hanging curtains, round 2 – the dreaded flat pack! Once again, one renovator will go home.

With a newly formed orange team, each team will tonight compete in an offsite challenge that will decide who will and who will not face elimination. Pretty straight forward, really; just don’t bloody lose!

As Kim leaves, Brendan talks about tomorrow’s challenge; it will be as Aussie as they come! To help them, they have brought in two ladies who know their stuff; Tanya & Jodie. They know and love all things Aussie, but they need something improved for their husbands; their barbeques.

Basically, the contestants will split into two teams and construct a barbeque for the two ladies’ husbands.

The husbands know nothing about the challenge; and the wives tell them that this will be a present for being great dads for their kids.

Of course, this will be no ordinary barbeque; it has to be a state of the art creative area with great functionality.

If you lose, the ENTIRE team goes to elimination (that is, everyone on that half of the group) with the winning team having a winning person chosen within and that person’s house will get a working bee!

They will have $7,500 and six hours at their disposal before Troy, Rod (the husbands) and their mates come to judge. I wonder if Rod is Tanya’s husband?!

So, the contestants split into teams, one black and one gold team.

The black team consists of Luke, Kathy, Peter, Samantha, Nathan, Lisa, Suzanne, Jason J and Bob with the gold team consisting of August, Michael, Christie, Natalia, Mel, Keenan, Jason H and Nathan.

One last note, Tanya and Jodie get to pick their teams. I think Jodie chooses the gold team!

From when time begins tomorrow morning; they have to get as much info out of their specific wife for ideas and inspiration.
They get straight to it as you would imagine.

Mel notices that her team doesn’t have a permit to build a roof, but the other team does, which could set them back.

They then go home, get some rest, and arrive at the houses shortly after 7am the next day in their big, black convoy of cars.

They get straight into demolitions and see how big a job they have in store for them. After a break, we get a recap of the task including a sneaky Bunning’s mention.

Bob thinks it is a feel good challenge with each team helping build a nice area for two hard working husbands.

We look at the visions for both teams with the black team building an undercover/ outdoor area with a timber screen with the gold team going for a large space; hoping to make the most of having no undercover area. We also get to see yet another back story from Keenan. I hope this doesn’t turn into The Keenan Show.

Meanwhile, Kathy and Lisa go shop for the black team and seem to be very happy with their purchases however another Bunning’s mention adds to the tackiness of this challenge. Mel and Jarrad are out finding barbeques and they find a huge barbeque set which looks like a mini kitchen! How much would that f***r cost?!

They load up their boots with speed with the gold team there first, however they are slowed down by the fact they have put all their stuff in the wrong car! Like the team colour itself; that was gold!

Back at the backyards; structural framework is being constructed with Michael the head carpenter on the job.

Bob is working on the fences, being the fence man himself.

Peter blames Jason J’s talking for slowing the black team down. Meanwhile, the wives talk about their husbands, and I don’t think Rod belongs to Tanya. Haha that would be weird!

On a scale of one to a million; they are 1 million times excited!

The Black team arrives home and Suzanne & Sam get on with the barbeque. Sam seems to annoy Suzanne by reading the manual like a bible.

Jason H helps August unload the huge barbeque Mel and Jarrad got; or does he? As it turns out, it is way too heavy. Well, who didn’t see that coming?!

How the hell will they get the barbeque off the truck? Well, using pretty much everyone in the team, they remove the boxes and lift it down piece by piece. Michael is not convinced it will fit in the area.

Baz interviews Keenan who thinks time wise, they are doing well. Michael comes over and tells the judges about their big barbeque. Robyn wonders if it is too big, but Michael decides there can’t ever be a barbeque ‘too big’.

Luke is doing all the carpentry work for the black team and as he makes the decking, he thinks about the fathers they are doing this for. With that, we look back at a back story for him and his life as a father.

Bob is trying to find a place to dig a hole for a post for the fence, but he can’t find anywhere suitable.

Meanwhile, Natalia and Jason H begin on their monstrous barbeque. Natalia isn’t surprised at Jarrad’s choice and knows they don’t have to use every piece of it.

Meanwhile, the gold team are well into the paving job while the black team have nearly finished their timber back fence. Baz comes over to ask what they will be doing with the floors. They are paving and the judges think they are cutting it fine.

Peter shows them that they are using click together tiles which they will put down on rapid set concrete. Peter seems very confident in the plan.

Brendan announces that there is one hour to go, and all hands are on deck yet again. Jason H and Natalia are still going with the barbeque and they decide to build it in parts and bring them to the area as they finish them.

The gold team have bitten off a lot, but Michael is happy with their progress and is very happy with the erected free standing pergola.

The black team get on with their tiling and Nathan finds the rough ground hard work.

Time wise, the judges find they haven’t left enough time, however they have to run with their idea with the time remaining.

Bob has finally found a space to put his post and begins to finish the fence. Brendan comes over to ask Bob about his seven grand kids. Cue back story.

Back to the black team, and Lisa begins on the floral aspect of the area however running out of time, Lisa doesn’t have any potting mix. What the hell will she do? Well, she’ll have to bite the bullet and get some potting mix to plant the flowers, won’t she!

After the break, Lisa is heading for Bunning’s with $5 and some canisters which she will sell for money however with traffic lights stopping her; it is literally a race to the finish.

Back at the houses, the judges discuss the judging which will be done by Troy, Rod and their mates.

The judges discuss the different aspects from each area that they like and what they think the blokes will like.

The judges discuss who will possibly win the working bee with Michael and Bob particular favourites.

Lisa is still at Bunning’s and is rushing around for potting mix. She buys a whole heap and with 15 minutes to go, she has to hurry the eff up!

The big gold team barbeque fits like a glove and it seems Lisa is back with potting mix down and mixing!

With 2 minutes to go, they all rush and rush but soon enough; time is up and they all applaud!

We have a look at the completed barbeque areas and they look brilliant.

The contestants and judges wait for the husbands to arrive home with Rod coming home to wife Jodie first.

Jodie tells him about the surprise and he does look surprised; probably because of the camera.

After the break, they come to see their new barbeque area and he is stoked. The contestants are taken aback by the reaction.

The kids then hug their father which was touching but so staged for effect!

Next to arrive home is Troy, Tanya’s husband. He too is surprised by the camera but surprise turns to delight as he sees his new area. He doesn’t look nearly as surprised as Rod, but he can hardly talk which says it all!

With that, 23 of Troy and Rod’s mates arrive with meat and slabs ready for a good old Aussie barbeque!

Their brief is to get into both barbeque areas before voting for the best one.

Its funny to see these blue collar workers pretend to be top class design critiques!

The votes are rolling in thick and fast and the husbands are very thankful however we will have to wait until after the break for the verdict.

Back at the warehouse, the teams rock up for the verdict. They are back in their colours and the game is back on!

After the cars disappear, Brendan welcomes them to the verdict. Brendan reminds them all what is at stake before Robyn addresses the black team; calling their outdoor space incredible with the sheer amount of content.

Peter tells the gold team that they have done well with the amount of space they had.

Robyn then reveals the results.

One team had 14 votes with the other team receiving 9 votes. The winning team is revealed to be the gold team, meaning all members of the black team will be facing elimination; the four Thursday elimination in a row for the khaki team.

So, who wins the working bee?

Michael and the navy blue team! Is that the second working bee in a row for them? He discusses what he wants the safe contestants to do before they head out for the working bee.

The losing black team remain and Brendan preps them for an almighty elimination.

With that, the episode ends and I quite like it. It was easy to follow; felt contemporary with good ideas and a fair voting system. Again, those product placements are a little much, but other than that, quality viewing and brilliant standards!

 

Courtney’s Verdict: 9.5/10

 

Don’t forget guys, I need your help! If you want to run this blog for a week in September and have the capacity to write even little reviews on some reality programs plus post them on Throng, I’d love to hear from you as I am unable to do so. Contact me via PM on this site, or through c_rose_luvy1980@hotmail.com. Thankyou for all who take on this volunteer work; it would mean a lot to me!

7.30PM WEDNESDAY AUGUST 24 on Ten

Today’s offsite challenge is to create a fair dinkum Aussie BBQ area for two deserving “super dads”. The renovators will be divided into two teams – the losing team to face a stress test tomorrow night.