All American Handyman - Week 1 Recap

On August 19, 2012, season 3 of HGTV's All American Handyman premiered. The show features ten hopeful contestants hoping to be judged by Mike Holmes and Scott McGillivray as the All American Handyman (or woman). The prize? A $10,000 shopping spree from Sears, and an HGTV development deal. From the HGTV website:

A true "handyman" is one who has a wide range of skills ranging from repair work to complete build outs, from odd jobs to serious construction. All American Handyman will bring together 10 of the country's most talented handymen and handywomen to compete in a series of challenges to discover who has what it takes to fix and build just about anything thrown their way. Over the course of six episodes, our competitors will battle through 12 challenges designed to test their skills, creativity and resourcefulness in a series of relatable, real-world handyman projects. Series host Anitra Mecadon will guide the participants through each challenge and then their work will be judged and scrutinized by two of the industry's heavyweights, Mike Holmes (HGTV's Holmes on Holmes) and Scott McGillivray (HGTV's Income Property). In the end, only one challenger will emerge victorious and walk away with a $10,000 Sears shopping spree, an HGTV development deal and the right to be called All American Handyman!

     The show challenges the contestants' skills with two grueling rounds: a "fix-it" challenge, and a "build-it" challenge. The fix-it challenge for week 1 was "Flush in a Flash," in which contestants were given 30 minutes to completely replace a toilet. The toilet had to be installed correctly, aesthetically, and lastly, it had to flush! The stand-outs for round 1 were Julia the Soviet real estate agent, Rodney the musician-turned-handyman, and Scott H. the Denver carpenter. Scott H. was chosen the winner and given the advantage for round 2.
     In round two, the contestants were given 4 hours to build doghouses for specific breeds of dogs. The particular type of dog each contestant had to build for was decided by Scott H.

    After the build, Mike, Scott, and host Anitra Mecadon walked through the astroturfed set, examining the contestants' work. Mike had fun ripping the roof off of one house, and then kicking the wall out of another. Regardless of the craftsmanship (or lack there of) displayed by the contestants, everyone managed to finish in the allotted time -- everyone, except Julia, who spent nearly two hours creating the platform for her English Mastiff doghouse, but failed to get much further. Chris T. built a large vertical doghouse for his "giant baby dinosaur" Irish Wolfhound  client, but failed to build the house with enough floor space to comfortable accommodate the  7-foot, 120 pound dog. Carol, the girly-girl tomboy from New Jersey, built a rather awkward-looking structure and later admitted to Mike that she "did not sit down and make a technical drawing," a mistake which led Mike to call her work "sloppy." For these reasons, Chris T., Julia, and Carol wound up in the bottom 3, facing elimination. Scott commented that he felt Carol knew what she was doing, and for that reason, she was spared for yet another week.
    In the end, it came down to Julia and Chris T., and Chris T. was sent home. Julia was spared because she had done so well in round 1, while Chris had "screwed the pooch" in round 1, installing a toilet that leaked when it flushed.


ALL AMERICAN HANDYMAN CONTESTANTS - WEEK 1

(Weird little sidenote... I noticed a little production error that will probably be fixed before HGTV posts the video to their website. In one scene, Mike Holmes was talking, and the caption under his head read "Michael - Pearl River, LA." That's not right! Just to be sure, I rewound the episode on the DVR to make sure I wasn't seeing things. The name was obviously referring to Michael (West), one of the contestants. Wrong Mike, guys! Get it right!)