Review – The Renovators
The Renovators – Ten – 8:30pm Sunday to Thursday – AUS
The easiest way to describe The Renovators is ‘MasterChef with hammers’, and you can guarantee that’s exactly what Channel 10 are hoping for. From the same production company that created the massive hit about competing cooks they have taken that formula for success and given it a renovation themed makeover. After The Block and the awful Top Design on Channel 9 it’s good to have a reality series about renovation that looks good, that’s enjoyable and that does everything you want a reality show to do. If you’re a fan of MasterChef you’re guaranteed to be a fan of this, it’s not revolutionary television but it is damn solid entertainment.
Channel 10 have been force feeding us non-stop ads for The Renovators for weeks now and while there are moments when it feels like we’ve already watched this show a dozen times over by now it somehow remains engaging throughout. It’s clear that Ten are trying to replicate their MasterChef success and are going to do everything in their power to avoid another disaster like the renovation themed 2004 flop The Hot House.
The Renovators is hosted by Brendan Moar, a professional landscape architect, and is judged by Robyn Holt the former editor of Vogue Living, architect Peter Ho and his creepy beard and builder Barry Du Bois who has the most Aussie first name you can think of combined with the most French surname you could make up. As with the MasterChef judges they’re all experts in their field and while early on they seem to act a bit awkward reading their lines they get into the groove of things as it goes along.
There are twenty-six contestants to keep track of, and while we don’t get to spend much time with the majority of them, those we do check in on are easy to tell apart from each other. There’s the good-natured Michael and his dreadlocks, the middle-aged go-getter Joanne, 64 year old Phil who takes charge of the whole operation, and blond haired Keenan who’s another hard worker. The challenge for the first episode involved a house being wheeled into their giant warehouse set on the back of a truck. It’s the sort of ‘epic shot that will look good in the ads’ that MasterChef also uses quite effectively.
The team were put to work renovating the house over 48 hours, during which time they got breaks to sleep but had to sleep in the warehouse, which was a little weird. Also kind of strange was the fact they didn’t seem to get a chance to change or shower over the three days they worked on the building. We can only guess as to whether they were fed or not. Boy, I hope they were. At such an early stage in the competition, and with only the briefest of glimpses given to some contestants, it’s hard to pick favourites in the competition. In true MasterChef fashion The Renovators steered the show away from ‘bitchiness’ instead promoting ‘working together’, so it’s unlikely the show will single out villains to root against (but Australia has proven they’re willing to choose their own ‘most hated’ contestants without the help of producers).
The real test for The Renovators will be how well this all works spread across six nights. Will the show be able to throw up interesting challenges every night? Will the show find a way to individualize each night of viewing whilst keeping it all under the Renovators banner? The fact that they’ve been so successful streamlining MasterChef across a full week of television for the last three years leaves me feeling pretty confident they can do the same thing with The Renovators.
It was only a couple of weeks ago I was moaning that Top Design had done everything so wrong and so clumsily that it was truly one of the worst shows on television, a completely incompetent reality program. It pleases me to no end to report that The Renovators does everything right that Top Design did wrong. It knows exactly what’s needed to make a compelling reality series. While I doubt I’ll commit myself to sitting down every night to watch The Renovators, I’m positive I’ll check in more than a few times over the course of its run and that each time I’ll enjoy myself.
Good, Alright, Bad Or Ugly?
Good
Yes it does what it does well but has Australian television become such a wasteland that it forces us into celebrating unimaginative cookie cutter shows? You can’t deny that it all feels very familiar. When Masterchef came along it was indeed something new and compelling, you either liked it or hated it but at least it was new. Renovators is truly the same but not very different. I’m sure it’ll do well and yes it’s a slick production but it’s kinda like going to a McDonalds in another country. Sure you might think its cool you can buy a potato/bacon pie in a Japanese McDonald’s but really you just ate at McDonald’s which is pretty much just like every other one.
‘has Australian television become such a wasteland that it forces us into celebrating unimaginative cookie cutter shows?’ – Yes. I don’t deny this at all. I tell you what though, give me a solid well made reality show like The Renovators over an incompetent mess like Top Design any day. There isn’t a single new idea in the reality show book, MasterChef was a remake of a British show and we’ve seen cooking shows since the dawn of television. Half the battle with a reality show is for it to look good and work well – and The Renovators is a pretty solid effort in that regard. It was one of the most enjoyable beginnings to a reality series I’ve seen in a while (even if it did feel very very familiar).
The Australian version of Masterchef and the British version were completely different to each other so I think its unfair to stand the two beside each other. Also I think its kinda a cop out to say that there aren’t any new ideas left in reality so lets enjoy something that is completely uninspired and unimaginative because it wears a nice dress and has some lipstick on. Yes everything has been done but maybe they should just try doing the same thing in a fresh way instead of cutting and pasting the show in the time slot before it. I just don’t think it deserves any praise for being so vanilla.
Even if MasterChef is nothing like the British version, it would still have similarities to Top Chef, and Top Chef was just Project Runway with cooking, and… there are no new ideas in reality television. There are just fresh coats of paint. Compared to crap like The Block and Top Design, The Renovators is a breath of fresh air. It’s not original, but it’s still entertaining.
Also, it’s hard to see the argument you’re trying to make – even though I enjoyed The Renovators I shouldn’t recommend it because it shares similar elements to a cooking show?
Not arguing just discussing. As the great Arnold Schwarzenegger once said “Relax. You’ll live longer”.
That’s cool, I thought I was discussing.
I find this show so GRIM. It’s renovating … fun things like The Hamptons versus inner Brunswick, puffy marshmallow sofas, fridges that move overnight and choosing bling instead of good taste!!!! Oh no,no – not on this designer bootcamp. And shouting a countdown to finish building – so funny but tragic …”you have five minutes left to re-wire the house!’
The judges are grim, grim, grim.’Ten days paint scraping for you – you didn’t create the right am-bee-once’
(I’m off to find those scottish boys Colin and Justin – they’re always up for a laugh about floppy wallpaper!)
OK so I watched Top Design to see for myself why it drove you into the arms of The Renovators and yes after watching it I understand why you would think renovators is Citzen Kane. Top Design is possibly the worst tv I have seen in my life. However two wrongs don’t make a right. Renovators deserves a pat on the back for being so slick but not much more as it’s still colour by numbers TV. Top Design however is a crime against nature. I’m not sure if I’ll ever recover from watching it.
Haha, I warned you, didn’t I? Haha.
I’ve got a loaded nailgun and I am feeling baaaaad from watching these shows. I’ve plastered myself to the wall and I’ll shoot if anyone turns on a show with the word ‘design’ in it.
this is the the best of the fix-em-up shows. love it
Joanne is ‘middle-aged’???? She’s 41 for crying out loud!
The Renovators is OK, but it’s too challenge-heavy, which is why translating the Masterchef concept to renovating was always going to be tricky. There wasn’t a massive cooking project bubbling away in the background during Masterchef – the challenges were the show. In The Renovators, they sold us on the idea of these six houses that are being renovated, which is apparently happening in the background but we’ve seen virtually none of the actual work. This is the part that interests a lot of people, including me. But instead we’re in the warehouse every night watching the same white rooms being painted and repainted.
It seems a bit of a waste of the judging talent. I do like that they’ve kept the affirming, encouraging judging style though. That was the real breath of fresh air of Masterchef – the judges appeared genuinely interested in the success of the contestants. So good, after the relentless negativity of things like Big Brother.
Top Design is a an epic failure, you’re right. As you’re probably aware, it’s a direct lift of a US show, that follows the same format as Project Runway, Top Chef, Shear Genius, etc. Top Design US is better, but not much better.
Oh, and I have to say, Top Chef and Masterchef are actually quite different. The contestants on Top Chef are all professional chefs, which gives it a very different dynamic. I personally prefer it to Masterchef, although I like both.
Isn’t 41 middle-aged?
I agree that Renovators has dropped the ball, it’s become far too confusing to really be considered all that good. They either needed to move quickly into the house renovations, or stick with in the warehouse challenges ditching the houses all together. The Renovators is becoming a massive missed opportunity for Channel 10.
Also, I know that Top Chef and MasterChef are different, what I was saying was that they’re both cooking competitions so MasterChef didn’t really invent the wheel when it debuted.
I repeat … I still have a loaded nailgun and I’m feeling even worse… watched The Renovators AND Top Design in the space of two hours… too long.. Karl … take your eagle and shove it
Time to go Florence … come on Florence … nail that remote to the floor and cover the TV with gyprock …. …. put down the nailgun Florence … step away from Australian design shows….
Well, where do I start?! I think the judging of the stress tests and choosing the winner of the final battles between the remaining duo from each house (eg. Chrissie and August) should be independent, someone who is unaware of who completed what. There is no way that August’s clunky cupboard was superior to Chrissie’s beautiful and original glass table. The castors on the cupboard were ghastly and clashed horribly – instead it should have sat on a plinth: the choice of castors was not even mentioned.
And as for Robyn saying that Chrissie’s piece was low (tables are low!) – that can be remedied by hanging a mirror, a long rectangular painting or a textile creation above it. It seems the men are being favoured and the women being voted out. It also seemed very unfair that the holder of the keys (August) had TWO advantages when beginning the challenge – it is so stacked against the opponent. Blatant favouritism is how it seems to me.
The white room challenge looking for the most summery theme was clearly won by Sam, who was evicted (fortunately she came back).
The site office challenge in the recycling tip showed a bias in favour of the team that lost – they were given advice and tips on how to use the solar panels, plus other help, while the winning team was given little or no help.
This show is also obviously staged in the way that people ‘take turns’ to win prizes and money so that the competition can continue, otherwise there would be houses with no-one to finish them. I will NOT be watching this show again – it could have been excellent. The worst feature is the lack of independent judging.