By RODNEY HO/ rho@ajc.com, originally filed Monday, July 20, 2015
In the opening monologue of the new Atlanta-based reality series on Fox "Home Free" debuting Wednesday at 9, host Mike Holmes gives away the big surprise upfront: the nine couples competing to win a brand new home by renovating eight others are all guaranteed a house at the end of the competition.
The contestants don’t find out the twist until the end. In the interim, they think only one couple will win anything.
All the people on the show are either from metro Atlanta or are willing to live here. They have varying levels of home improvement skills. One works in landscaping. Another is a handyman by trade. One guy didn’t know how to use a drill.
The competitors include sisters who want to provide a home for their sick dad and a couple with four kids who lost their home during the recession and filed bankruptcy.
The couples, identified only by first name on the show, spend a week at each house throughout metro Atlanta.
Credit: Rodney Ho
Credit: Rodney Ho
The aspirational nature of the show is similar to that of "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," which ran for nine seasons on ABC from 2003 to 2012 with former Atlantan Ty Pennington as the megaphone-wielding host. No shock that the creators of "Home Free" also worked on "Extreme Makeover."
This time, Holmes - a home improvement contractor and TV host better known in Canada - takes the reins.
The first episode features a worn-down home in Kennesaw. Like most other reality competition shows, there’s a mini-challenge first, which gives the winning couple an advantage. The major project involves a renovation project that must be done in less than a week. The couple that does the worst is eliminated – but they are not yet aware the house they just fixed up will be theirs to keep.
Over two months, the couples spend 24/7 on each construction site, sleeping in mini-trailers with a bed and kitchenette typically camped on the front lawn of a neighboring house. (The TV show at each site had to pay neighbors to use their yards for either camping or production trailers, with security guards parked at each end of the block to keep out curiosity seekers.)
“I put them in my Holmes dome,” Holmes said. “They have no cel phones, no TV, no communication with the outside world. They have me on top of them every single day.”
Credit: Rodney Ho
Credit: Rodney Ho
Early in the first episode, he sees one of the contestants during demolition wildly swinging a crowbar through a wall too close to other people. He calls a time out. In fact, he tells the person to sit down for a few minutes, placing her in effective “time out.” “Mike is going to remember this and this will be a reason for us to go home,” she worried.
On set at another Marietta home a few weeks later in late June, the competition had been pared down to three couples. They had just finished a mini challenge (dubbed on the show as a “drill down”) and Holmes is giving them the results. Inside a trailer a block away, producers watch the action from multiple cameras.
Executive producer George Verschoor, who was a producer on the first four seasons of MTV's seminal reality show "The Real World" from 1992 to 1995, is feeding lines for Holmes to say.
“You guys won a lot of drill downs. What happened this week?” Verschoor tells Holmes to say. Holmes repeats that.
“The winner of the drill down finished eight seconds faster than the runner up,” the producer says calmly. He then gives Holmes the times for each team, which Holmes then provides to the players.
“We need some anticipation shots!” Verschoor tells the camera men.
Holmes has been doing reality TV shows for years. But this is different.”For 14 years, I’ve been helping people in trouble, educating the viewer,” he said during a break in his trailer. “This show moves it to the next level. I’m still educating you. I also get to help these deserving families. There are no losers in this… It’s a family-oriented show and it’s very fast paced. There’s a whole lot of heart so it’ll make you feel good when you watch the show.”
The shoot was rigorous and much of it was shot outdoors. “It’s been very very hot,” Holmes said that day. “Consecutive day after day, it will catch up to you. Today, I’m a bit dehydrated.”
Each week, Holmes makes the call on who is cut. He said he will show contestants how to do something up front and he’ll judge them on execution.
The Marietta home that day was what he called an “old frat party house.” The producers “seasoned” the home with props and graffiti to exaggerate the effect before the teams began fixing it up. That included loose beach balls, strewn red Solo cups and gross-looking mattresses.
“They had a fire in the living room,” Holmes said.
Credit: Rodney Ho
Credit: Rodney Ho
Credit: Rodney Ho
Credit: Rodney Ho
Credit: Rodney Ho
Credit: Rodney Ho
For Fox, "Home Free" is a continuation of the network's move away from more salacious reality programming and toward kinder, gentler fare. This also includes "Knock Knock Live," which debuted Tuesday night and features hosts knocking on deserving family's doors and giving away prizes. It's hosted by Dunwoody High School grad Ryan Seacrest, who also hosts "American Idol."
Credit: Rodney Ho
Credit: Rodney Ho
TV preview
"Home Free," debuting 9 p.m. Wednesday, Fox
About the Author
