“I’ve Decided to Gut the Whole Thing”

I am a Mike Holmes fan.

I get excited on Thursday nights because it’s “Reno Thursdays” on HGTV. The only show in the line-up that I actually watch is Holmes on Homes. What creeps me out is that a guy by the same name from my home town back in Iowa does similar things, except it’s on cars. Good guy, but the Mike Holmes I’m talking about has his own TV show. HGTV Canada is where it’s mainly aired, but for those of you back home in the states, try Discovery Home and see if you can catch it there. What can you do? The show is Canadian made, in and around the Toronto area.

The formula is pretty straight forward. Reality TV with Mike Holmes examining and repairing botched contractor jobs that were of poor quality. Some of these people were completely screwed out of thousands of dollars after a contractor walked away from a job half way through the process. Sure, some of the stories are compelling and make you hear violin strings playing in your head as it tugs at your heart. It’s Mike that really makes the show though.

There are a few key phrases that I love to hear.

“I’ve decided to gut the whole thing.”

“You cannot do this without a permit!”

“I really wanna kick someone’s ass right now.”

It’s really hilarious, all the while being serious about the work he does. He gets so ticked off with the shotty work he finds from job to job. Even the guys who work with him on the job know how over dramatic Mike can get. Perhaps intense would be a better word for it. The guy knows his stuff. He also loves to use slate where ever he can.

You feel like you can learn by watching this program all the while developing this phobia of ever hiring someone other than Mike Holmes to do any work for you. We’ve developed our own group of guys that we are happy to see on whatever job he’s working on. Craig Lowe, the painter dude. The one guy who does foundation stuff. Ok, so I’m not down on knowing the names, but I know them when I see them.

I’m not the only one talking about the show. Four seasons of this program, and as horrible as some of the jobs are, I don’t think there will be any shortage, eh?