TVSquad

This Sunday at 7 PM, you can tune in to Ty's Great British Adventure on ABC. In it, Ty Pennington, the host of ABC's popular Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, heads to the UK to do what he does on EM for a sleepy town in the UK. Except that this episode, which is being aired as a one hour special, was a six episode series in Britain. In fact, the series has had three seasons already; this one is from a year ago.

Ty said the biggest challenge for him was how polite and laid back the Brits are; he could barely get them motivated to get things done in his one week time frame. "Let's sit down to tea and talk about this," they'd say instead.

I know it's been out for a couple of weeks or so now, but the latest ABC House promo got my attention, so I went back and watched it. I remember networks used to do things like this; having characters from different shows interact, and I've always had a thing for crossovers. Hell, I watched Laff-a-Lympics growing up just because of the crossover aspect.

Of course, the primary difference with this one is the McSteamy v. Hurley ending; which I completely agree with. These kinds of creative initiatives help give the network an identity and give fans something to keep the shows in their minds through the summer. And there's so much more potential available here, and even on other networks to play with similar ideas. How about a game show with Dr. House competing against Dr. Bishop (Fringe)?

The Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards -- affectionately known as the Shmemmys to Kathy Griffin fans -- has at least one more viewer this year. I will be watching the other Emmy presentation, the awards that come before the Primetime Emmys. The big one with all the major categories, musical numbers, clip montages and near-mandatory attendance by the nominees is the Emmys. The other one is the technical awards. But I will be watching for a very good reason: Neil Patrick Harris and Sarah Chalke will be co-hosting the Creative Arts Emmys this year on the E! channel, September 20.

Neil, an Emmy nominee for How I Met Your Mother, and Sarah, who is also a guest/semi-regular on Mother as well as a permanent regular on Scrubs, are a great choice for this gig. They're smart, funny, quick, attractive and maybe even unpredictable.

I mean, wouldn't it be a hoot if Neil came on stage in his Dr. Horrible gear and asked Sarah if her Hanes undies were riding up or doing their job? She should then counter and ask him about that smell, you know ... the Old Spice? Hey, maybe they should get Bruce Campbell to confront Neil about the Old Spice deal -- that was Bruce's commercial before Neil took over!

The makeover/lifestyle program has a unique niche in the Reality Revolution. Where other reality programs abide by the phrase "Only the Strong Survive," makeover shows are normally an individual or group effort. It comes from the shows themselves, of course, as they are intent in making life just a little bit better for the participants.

It may be redesigning a room in a neighbor's home, making over one's wardrobe, losing weight, controlling one's family or even turning someone from an ugly duckling into a swan. Granted, the hosts of these shows may show a bit of arrogance toward those trying to make a better life for themselves or others, but that just makes those wanting the makeover or lifestyle change even more interesting to the viewer. Plus, it doesn't hurt the star status of the hosts themselves.

The other interesting thing about this genre of reality program is, save for a handful of shows on the five major networks, the bulk of these programs are broadcast over the cable airwaves. Perhaps that's done to counteract some of the more sleazy reality programming that the cable networks produce. Or, maybe it's the fact that many of the channels that cater to the self-improvement set are on cable themselves. Either way, it is a genre that is quite popular and continues to grow year after year.

When I look at some of the people who have emerged as today's biggest stars on TV, I scratch my head and wonder, "how did that happen?" There are a few stars who have completely exceeded my expectations -- and I bet yours, too. In fact, after you read my five (no cell phone pun intended), I'm betting that you'll have a few more overachievers to add to the list.

1) Ty Pennington
I'm not ashamed to admit that for a couple of years I was hooking on TLC's Trading Spaces. It may have been the perky Paige Davis, the home improvement on a $1,000, the cool things that the designers did in just 24 hours -- whatever it was, I was a regular viewer. Oh, yes, there was also a carpenter on the show named Ty Pennington.

Car enthusiasts, take note: The British series all about cars, Top Gear, is coming to America. That's been previously announced, but today we can share the news that Adam Carolla, Tanner Foust and Eric Stromer will be teaming up to host the new NBC incarnation of Top Gear. It just so happens that I was watching Top Gear on BBC America yesterday and it's a fun show; it's not too techie-car show, it's more about the chemistry among the three hosts and the fun, goofy challenges they do that involve cars.

Yesterday's show, for instance, pitted a one host in a Mercedes Benz SUV driving from London the the airport versus one host on a super bicycle, another in a speed boat on the Thames, and The Stig -- an anonymous test driver -- making the trek via public transportation. It was pretty funny, especially since the car lost!

Just when you thought awards shows couldn't get any longer, The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences announced that reality show hosts are eligible to receive Emmys. This year's 60th Annual Emmy Awards will include a category called Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality-Competition Program.

The academy named popular hosts like Ryan Seacrest, Tom Bergeron, Samantha Harris, and Howie Mandel as possible nominees. Ty Pennington, Tyra Banks, and Jeff Foxworthy are also eligible. I'm not surprised that reality hosts are getting this opportunity. The Emmys have had categories for Outstanding Reality Program and Reality-Competition Program since 2001 and 2003, respectively.

Can you imagine we've been crying for 99 episodes? Come on, I'm surely not the only one who sheds a few tears when the family sees its new house! That's the number of episodes Ty Pennington and his crew destroyed houses to rebuild them and helped make deserving families' future a little bit brighter.

This weekend, ABC's Extreme Makeover: Home Edition will celebrate its 100th episode in Minnetonka, Minnesota with a two-hour special featuring the return of some of the show's most memorable families.

We get a lot of press releases and other PR goodies here at TV Squad HQ; there are so many of them, to be honest, that it takes a lot for one to grab our attention. But this one managed to do it: it's a video clip of the upcoming episode of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. In it, Ty and crew go to Wyoming to help the Miller family rebuild their farmhouse into a haven for not only their family, but the mistreated animals that they have rescued over the years. The reason why they have to rebuild? The house is rife with Radon, and a simple renovation will not clean it all up.

So, instead of imploding the house or demolishing it using a backhoe, Ty and company decide to blow it up. You heard me; watch the video after the jump and you'll see that they blow it up "real good," like it's being attacked by aliens in Independence Day. Here's what I want to know, though: doesn't that make the clean-up, which is now spread among a much bigger area, a whole lot more of a pain in the ass?

TV Land, the network that caters to the baby boomers and everyone else who likes a dose of nostalgia in their TV viewing, is making some big changes. They're rebranding their network from being a retro TV destination to being a network that has a whole lot more. And apparently that strategy involves reality shows.

The channel has picked up reruns of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. They'll start airing on August 7, and its regular slot will be Tuesdays at 11pm.

I'm baffled by this. Why destroy the network theme that has made you as successful as you are? Or do they consider Extreme Makeover a "future classic?" How many times can you watch the rerun of a home makeover show? And at 11pm??

It's great that they're also going to start running some original programming, but airing reality reruns is lame at best.

Earlier this month Bob reported on the arrest of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition host Ty Pennington in a drunk driving case. Back then, the Trading Spaces alum was charged with two misdemeanor counts: driving with a blood-alcohol level above the 0.08 percent limit and driving under the influence of alcohol. Last week he entered a plea of 'no contest' to the charges.

Actually, according to Frank Mateljan, a spokesman for the city attorney's office, Pennington entered the plea for the first charge only since the other count was dismissed (which is normal for a first offense, according to Mateljan). The judge in the case placed Pennington on three years probation, restricted his driving privileges for 90 days and ordered him to participate in a 90-day alcohol program and attend a Mothers Against Drunk Drivers meeting. He also had the phrase 'I'm a television star and I'm stupid' etched into his forehead. All right, I made that last one up, but it would be apropos in this case.

In a statement released by his publicist, Pennington said that he was glad to bring closure to his recent court proceedings. He also added that drinking and driving are never acceptable. Um, don't you think you should have thought about that in the first place, Ty?

If you were to list all of the celebs that I thought would be arresteded for driving while under the influence of alcohol, I wouldn't think Ty Pennington would be on the list. Of course, that's a silly assumption, since anyone can drink and drive, but I guess I think of the Paris Hiltons and David Hasselhoffs of the world first. And unknown reality stars.

The Extreme Makeover host was arrested over the weekend and charged with driving under the influence of alcohol, and possibly drugs too. Pennington released a statement saying that he "made an error in judgement" and "I want to apologize to ABC and my fans..." Translation: "I've done this before and it sucks that I got caught" and "damn, I hope this doesn't screw up my ABC gig!"

Hopefully he doesn't build those houses in the same condition.

ABC is happy with its current slate of reality programming. This week, the network announced it will renew Wife Swap, Supernanny and America's Funniest Home Videos (AFV) for one more season each. That puts Wife Swap in season four, Supernanny in season four and AFV in season 18 (although, that's debatable since it was technically off the air for two years in 1999-2000). Of all those shows, I'm really only excited about AFV. It still makes me laugh. Wife Swap and Supernanny are good for The Soup content.

ABC is also expected to renew Dancing with the Stars, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, and The Bachelor.

Best:

5. CBS Sunday Morning  If you don't watch this, you should. It's old-school television news at its best with in-depth news stories, and lots and lots about the arts. Plus, the original "moment of zen" at the end.
4. The Daily Show  A good way to blow off steam when the news of the day is really getting you down.
3. The Office  This show really came into its own this season, and I just adore all the characters.
2. My Name is Earl  Always good for a one-liner.
1. Lost  They mess with our heads. And we like it!

Worst:

5. Night Stalker  I couldn't even stomach the first episode of this new show. Sad, because I had such high hopes for it.
4. Extreme Makeover: Home Edition  Too much showmanship, fabricated content (i.e., who can we get to build this house?), and way too much product placement.
3. Britney & Kevin: Chaotic  Quite possibly the most useless piece of crap to air this year.
2. Desperate Housewives  That's right. I can't stand this show. Too many open plotlines that don't interest me at all.
1. Saturday Night Live  It hasn't been funny in years. Except for that Narnia rap everyone is talking about.