Canada's Worst Handyman

Canada's Worst Handyman
Canada's Worst Handyman Logo Canada's Worst Handyman season one logo
Developed by	Proper Television
Written by	Andrew Younghusband
Presented by	Andrew Younghusband
Country of origin	Canada
Original language	English
No. of seasons	6
No. of episodes	45
Production
Executive producer	Guy O'Sullivan
Running time	60 minutes (including commercials)
Original release
Network	Discovery Channel Canada
Release	March 13, 2006 – June 13, 2011
Related
Canada's Worst Driver Blood, Sweat & Tools

Canada's Worst Handyman was a Canadian television series that aired on Discovery Channel Canada from March 13, 2006 to June 13, 2011. Based on a one-off 2004 episode of Britain's Worst DIYer, the show was produced by Proper Television, whose president, Guy O'Sullivan, was the director of the original Britain's Worst Driver series until its 2003 cancellation and shared its production with Canada's Worst Driver, including executive producer and host Andrew Younghusband. Like sister series Canada's Worst Driver, there have been similar adaptations in other English-speaking countries, in the United States in 2011, with America's 10 Worst DIYers and in Britain with a Britain's Worst 2005 spin-off series, Britain's Worst DIYer. Six seasons of the show have been completed. Throughout the show's five years on air, Younghusband remained in his role of being the only host of Canada's Worst Handyman and has appeared in every season from the show's creation in 2006, until the show's last season concluded filming in early 2011. On January 10, 2013, the series' Facebook page posted a statement that the show is "on hiatus with an unknown date for relaunch." In June 2014, Discovery Channel Canada started canvassing for couples at www.badhandyman.ca. The new version of the show aired in 2015 under the title Blood, Sweat & Tools, featuring couples instead of individual handymen.

Format

In each season, typically five contestants and their nominators arrive at the Handyman Rehabilitation Centre, where they partake in a three-week (16 filming days over 18 days) renovation project there, consisting of challenges that are designed to improve the contestants' handyman skills in an effort to not be named Canada's Worst Handyman. Each contestant and nominator pair are assigned colour-coded workplaces and otherwise work separately on their respective projects. Prior to entering the Handyman Rehabilitation Centre, each contestant performs a challenge in their own home, to be aired in the first episode; this is colloquially referred to as the "home challenge." Since season two, each challenge is judged on a pass/fail system, based on whether challenges are completed within the allotted time limit (typically two to three times the time needed for a professional to perform the challenge). Nominators are expected to assist their nominees (though, as of season five, they are unable to directly offer suggestions as to the proper course of actions, so as to not take charge of the challenge themselves) and contestants may freely help each other upon the completion of their challenges. Contestants may also revisit a previous challenge on their own time if they had failed the challenge or was otherwise incomplete. Each episode also contains a group challenge, where the five contestants, typically without their nominators, must perform a challenge together. Starting with the second group challenge, one contestant is deemed the foreman and is given the task of leading the other four. The foreman concept was instituted starting with the second group challenge in the first season as a reaction to how bad the contestants had worked together for the first group challenge and it has stayed with the series since. At the end of each episode, two judges and host Andrew Younghusband inspect the contestants' worksites and after each contestant is interviewed, deliberate on which contestant had improved the most and which contestant was named the worst. The contestant named the most improved is given the "golden hard hat" (a tool belt was given in the first two seasons) and is rewarded with the privilege of leading the next group challenge. The contestant named the worst (who may also be the most improved contestant) must "hang their head in shame" and nail their portrait to a "wall of shame" and is treated to a private "homework challenge" with Andrew. The experts reserve the right to not name the most improved handyman or to name more than one contestant as the worst, though the former has never occurred and the latter only once. On rare occasions, nominators may also be awarded the most improved or the worst for helping or hindering their nominees. On one occasion, the contestant and their nominator pair was collectively the most improved and worst. Throughout the entire process, the experts teach the contestants the various skills they may need in order to perform the challenge in classroom sessions. Starting in the third season, the experts also perform each and every challenge themselves before the contestants are given the challenges, partly as a demonstration to the contestants and partly to show that the tasks can be done correctly and within the time limit. During the challenge the experts observe each contestant from the show's production facilities, or in later seasons, the "expert's room." The experts may also intervene in the event of a gross safety violation or other serious incident or if a contestant is otherwise unprepared for the challenge (such as prerequisite challenges not being close to completion). The final episode of each season differs in many details, but is centered on a list of tasks that all contestants must finish. For the first season, this was the "handyman final exam," where contestants must work together to fully renovate an apartment in an extended group challenge. For the second season, the list was used in a group challenge where the contestants and nominators as a whole must finish every shed, with the final challenge being moving their sheds out of their workshop, while in subsequent seasons each contestant is given their own lists for the tasks that they must finish in their workspaces so as to make their rooms presentable for a series of clients; furthermore, the list must be completed in the order stated therein, typically corresponding to the order in which the challenges were originally presented. The contestant with the worst finished product, as determined by the clients, experts and Andrew, is named Canada's Worst Handyman.

Experts

Experts	Season
	1	2	3	4	5	6
Geoff Woodmansey
Gail Prosser-Craig
Jo Alcorn
Jill Rydall
Dr. Julie V. Hill
Robin Lockhart
Greg House

Tools

In the first three seasons, the contestants were given the tools and materials needed for each challenge, with most tools being of the DeWalt brand. Canadian Tire became the series' primary sponsor for seasons four-five and one of the first challenges in those years was to shop for all the required tools and materials from the local Canadian Tire store; as a consequence, Mastercraft products are prominently featured. Canadian Tire withdrew their sponsorship as of season six and, as such, the shopping challenge was eliminated and contestants' tools returning to being from multiple different brands. The show has not given any indication as to whether the contestants are given the tools as a keepsake or whether the tools are returned to the show's production staff following each season. Furnishings for the rooms in the first three seasons included decor from IKEA.

Nominations

Like its sister series, the contestants are chosen by nominations submitted to Proper Television. Canada's Worst Driver and Canada's Worst Handyman are filmed alternately, with each season of Driver followed by a season of Handyman (except for the first season, in which Handyman was filmed during the summer and Driver was filmed during the winter, Driver has been filmed during the summer and Handyman was filmed during the winter). Nominations for the next season of one are accepted shortly before the airing of a season of the other on Discovery Channel. Candidates may be nominated by multiple nominators, though, like its sister series, only one nominator accompanies the contestant to the Handyman Rehabilitation Centre.

Home Video/Internet Availability

Like its sister series, all six seasons are available for download in Canada from the iTunes Store in anamorphic widescreen standard definition (480i/480p), with seasons 5-6 also being available for streaming on DiscoveryChannel.ca. Seasons 2-6 are available for streaming on CraveTV. Seasons 3-4 are available in some countries such as the UK and Sweden through streaming service Netflix. There has been no news on whether the series will be released on DVD/Blu-ray.

Seasons

Season	Original run	Location	Theme	Canada's Worst Handyman	Reason	Notes
1	March 13, 2006 – April 24, 2006	The Handyman Rehabilitation Centre took place at a housing complex building in the Regent Park section of Toronto (which was demolished after the series ended).	Apartment renovation	Keith Cole	Keith was the first person named Canada's Worst Handyman due to his lack of focus.	This is the only season filmed in the summer; all subsequent seasons have been filmed during the winter.
2	April 16, 2007 – June 11, 2007	The Handyman Rehabilitation Centre took place in a warehouse in the Corktown section of Toronto.	Shed building	Terry Cress	Terry was named Canada's Worst Handyman due to his poor attitude and work ethic, demonstrated when he tore apart his eco-shed with a chainsaw order to remove the shed from the warehouse.	This season saw the first instance of a nominator being replaced (Angie Cress served as Terry Cress' nominator after his original nominator, Harvey Houle, was unable to continue for medical reasons). This season also featured the first-ever instance of a contestant being named the worst in consecutive episodes, as Jeff Gignac refused help from others when needed and made too many mistakes in the Building a Doghouse Group Challenge. This season also featured the first-ever instance of a contestant being named both the most improved and the worst in the same episode as Terry did more things correctly, despite the usual husband-wife interactions causing trouble, but chose not to finish unfinished work.
3	May 5, 2008 – June 23, 2008	The Handyman Rehabilitation Centre took place at a centuries-old mansion in Hamilton, Ontario (which has since been sold).	Design and commercial renovation	Joe "The Bullet" Barbaro	Joe was named Canada's Worst Handyman for his poor design and workmanship in his room and for his perceived lack of progress.	This season saw the first time the experts completed each and every challenge themselves in a room on the second floor under identical conditions to the contestants.
4	May 4, 2009 – June 15, 2009	The Handyman Rehabilitation Centre took place at the Pow Wow Point Lounge, a 100-year-old country retreat near Huntsville, Ontario.	Working outdoors in the cold winter	Johnnie Bachusky	Johnnie was named Canada's Worst Handyman for his slow progress.	This season saw the first-ever expulsion in any Worst Handyman series when Bryan Pugh was removed for behaviour reasons (it was implied that he threatened another contestant following the Three Doors Group Challenge).
5	May 3, 2010 – June 14, 2010	The Handyman Rehabilitation Centre took place in the Delta Upsilon fraternity house located near the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario.	Renovation of a central kitchen	Deen Flett	Deen was named Canada's Worst Handyman due to his unsafe work, becoming the first person to have been named as such without having been the worst in any given episode.	This season saw the second instance of a nominator being replaced (Joey Larade served as Simon Larade's nominator after his original nominator, Linda Larade, was unable to continue due to other commitments).
6	May 2, 2011 – June 13, 2011	The Handyman Rehabilitation Centre took place at Niagara Falls Carriage House, a honeymoon hotel near Niagara Falls, Ontario.	Transforming a common area into a spa	Charlene Hunt	Charlene was named Canada's Worst Handyman due to her slow craftsmanship, becoming the first (and only) woman to be named as such.	This season featured the second instance of a contestant being named both the most improved and the worst in the same episode as Dan Lafleur's failure to read the instructions led to him being named the worst, even though the other nominees (barring only Ajay Pal Singh) voted him the most improved.

Spinoffs

Junk Raiders was a spinoff series starring veteran contractor Geoff Woodmansey which used construction junk and castoffs to produce quality construction. Blood, Sweat & Tools was a 2015 revival of Junk Raiders starring Helder Brum, Rob Koci and Hillary Manion, who also served as challenge judges and expert advisers to the contestants that featured handymen couples instead of individual handymen, proceeding on DIY challenges. In June 2014, Discovery Channel Canada started canvassing for couples for a new season at www.badhandyman.ca, using clips from past seasons.

See also

• Handyman Superstar Challenge
• Junk Raiders

External links

• Canada's Worst Handyman page