Canada's Worst Handyman 5 Explained

Season Number:5
Starring:Andrew Younghusband
Network:Discovery Channel Canada
Num Episodes:7
Prev Season:Canada's Worst Handyman 4
Next Season:Canada's Worst Handyman 6

Canada's Worst Handyman 5 was the fifth season of the Canadian reality TV show Canada's Worst Handyman, which aired on the Discovery Channel. As with previous years, five people, nominated by their family or friends, enter the Handyman Rehabilitation Centre to improve their handyman skills. This year, the Handyman Rehabilitation Centre is located at the Delta Upsilon[1] fraternity house located on Central Avenue in London, Ontario. As with the previous season, contestants must purchase the 245 supplies they need, this time to renovate individual rooms in the frat house. Group challenges this season center on the renovation of a central kitchen. There are several changes that were made for this season: contestants were allowed full access to a computer during challenges for informational purposes[2] and nominators were not permitted to make suggestions to their nominees. It is also the first time since the first season that the nominators are not present at the end of the episode when the most improved and the worst are named.

Experts

Contestants

Synopsis

Contestant
(with hard hat colour)
Nominator 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Angela MattININIMPWORSTNOMININ
Cory KimINIMPINININWORSTIN
Deen DougIMPINININININCWH
Matt KeithWORSTINININIMPININ
Simon Linda/JoeyINWORSTWORSTIMPINIMPIN

CWH – The contestant is Canada's Worst Handyman.

WORST – The contestant is the worst of the episode.

NOM – The nominator of the contestant is the worst of the episode.

IN – The contestant was considered for the worst for this episode.

IMP – The contestant is the most improved of the episode.

Episode 1: The Frat Pack

Original Airdate: May 3, 2010The contestants arrive at the Handyman Rehabilitation Centre, where the nominators await them with their colour-coded hats: Angela in pink, Simon in red, Cory in yellow, Matt in orange and Deen in blue. They are also greeted at the door by Andrew and over a video monitor by former Delta Upsilon alumnus Alan Thicke, who had lived in the house during his education at the University of Western Ontario. The second floor of Canada's Worst Frat House contains the five rooms they are to renovate. Inside each room is a binder consisting of a description of the 31 challenges that the nominees will do, as well as a monitor with a picture of Thicke.

In final inspections, Cory's workbench is harshly critiqued and admits that he does not take criticism easily (though Andrew and the experts make the point that brutal honesty will be given in spades over the course of the series). Praise is given to Deen's workbench, while Angela's workbench is given a minor critique for not making the legs flush to the floor. Simon admits that he lacks organization and Matt admits that he was the worst of the episode after the group challenge, as he felt that his effort in both his workbench (which he rebuilt, but still failed) and the group challenge was "half-assed." The experts agree that the worst is based on who made more safety violations in the episode—Geoff choosing Matt for disconnecting a running dishwasher without switching off the power and standing on a stove and Gail choosing Cory for using a chainsaw indoors in a tight space. In the end, Matt is declared the worst, while Deen is named the most improved of the episode, due to building the workbench that exceeded the "non-trunk." For his homework challenge, Matt is forced to build a new workbench and paint the phrase "Am I Finished?" on the walls of his room until he believed it is properly complete. While doing so, he admits to various incomplete projects around the house.

Web extras for this episode:

Episode 2: Lofty Ideas

Original Airdate: May 10, 2010At the start of the episode, Andrew notes that the house in question was abandoned by Delta Upsilon in 2008, two years before the series was filmed. Furthermore, filming had to be stopped at various points in the first episode by the cameramen due to unsafe tool use by the contestants, leading the experts to teach the contestants a lesson on tool safety.

In final inspections, Simon and Deen both admit to defeat. Geoff is not present for the final inspection due to personal matters, so Gail and Andrew are left to do the final inspections without him. Matt thanks Gail for giving him a "butt kicking" after the glue debacle (being forced to reassemble the ladder with the proper adhesive on his own time), while Cory manages to fix his projects on his own time. Simon and Angela are chastized for beds which fall apart, while Deen admits to Gail a growing passion for building. Cory is named the most improved for finding the time to fix his failures, while Simon is named the worst for not following instructions (despite Andrew asserting that Deen's lack of leadership was much worse than anything Simon did). As homework, Simon must read instructions on how to read instructions.

Episode 3: On a Bender

Original Airdate: May 17, 2010Since the previous episode, Deen's "Wolf Pack" name has stuck with everyone else, with the group challenges this season being nicknamed "wolf pack challenges." Even the golden hard hat is adorned with the label "wolf pack leader" (and the most improved being named as such) and the trophy for Canada's Worst Handyman adopting the "wolf pack" theme.

In final inspections, Simon admits that nothing worked and that everything is disorganized. Angela is commended for following instructions, while Cory admits he has no excuse for opening up too much of his ceiling, while Deen is taken to task for modifying his lift, with a furious Geoff deeming it unsafe to use and ordering Deen to dismantle it. No serious criticisms were handed to Matt, but Angela is named the most improved over Matt since Matt had arguably done all of his tasks before. As for the worst, for the second episode in succession, the nominees are Simon for once again failing every single challenge and Deen for his mediocre overall standard of work and the dangerous modifications he made to his shelf. In a rare unanimous decision, Simon joins Jeff Gignac from the second season and Joe "The Bullet" Barbaro from the third season as the only nominees in the show's history to be named the worst two episodes in a row (Joe was ultimately named the outright worst at the end of his season). For homework, Simon must give himself a report card on his own progress.

Web extras for this episode:

Episode 4: Spark an Interest

Original airdate: May 24, 2010

In inspections, Deen is taken to task for his disco ball and frame, which were both incomplete. Angela is also taken to task for arguably doing 95% of all her tasks. Gail complements Matt's room as being "sexier and sexier" every time the experts enter and the same is said for Simon, who at least finished all his challenges. Cory takes pride in his bench with its "extra-curricular" back, but is not as proud of his other failures. The experts are split as to who is the worst: in Gail's eyes, it is Cory for rushing through his work, while Deen is Geoff's choice for the worst due to repeated failures in welding. Andrew does not support either view, instead naming Angela as the episode's worst for not finishing. After being named the worst in back-to-back episodes, Simon, for finishing all his challenges, is named the most improved and the new leader of the wolf pack. For homework, Angela must pick an incomplete challenge and complete it. Angela chooses to complete her bench.

Web extras for this episode:

Episode 5: Concrete Ideas

Original airdate: May 31, 2010Prior to the show, Linda had told the show staff that she could only stick around for half of rehab. Filling in for her as Simon's nominator is their son, Joey. While Joey is given a warm welcome, Andrew tells viewers that in addition to the experts and the students that will live in the frat house for the upcoming fall semester, Alan Thicke will also inspect each of the contestants' rooms.

In inspections, Simon admits that breathing exercises that Andrew had taught him over the past few episodes has helped to make him more relaxed as well as control his high blood pressure issue. Angela discusses the emotional roller coaster with the experts, with Gail saying that Angela is being "too nice" to Matt. Deen admits that he had lost his focus while the pulley was being installed, while Cory is taken to task for not following instructions, as he admits that he likes to do things using trial and error (he tells the experts, "Once you figure it out your own way, then you know how to do it perfect next time.", prompting Andrew to reply, "Once you read the instructions, you know how to do it perfect the first time."). Matt, who has been keeping pace with the experts, makes small talk with them during inspections (Gail asking him if he had, in high school, passed as often as he did in rehab, to which Matt replies in the negative, as he had graduated from high school roughly three years earlier). In the end, Matt's continuing streak of passed challenges, which had earlier earned him the nickname of "golden boy," earns him the golden hard hat for the most improved. As for the worst, Gail claims that Cory is the worst, as his work has been getting worse rather than improving, but Geoff adds that it is even worse when someone is making a bad handyman worse. As such, Angela's husband, Matt, is named the worst of the episode, the first time any nominator has been named as such in the history of the series. Furthermore, behind Matt's photo is a TV with a live feed to the nominators' green room, so the contestants can see his reaction. For Matt's homework, Matt has to open a healthier dialogue with Angela and agree to better work together.

Web extras for this episode:

Episode 6: Building Breakdowns

Original airdate: June 7, 2010

In inspections, Angela is taken to task for the shelves and the food table, but is commended for the side table. Cory admits that his food cabinet is a "work in progress" before Gail retorts that it is "progressing to the dumpster," while Geoff tells Cory to anchor his shelf. Matt points out his shortcomings on both the food cabinet and shelves, admitting that he did not "overthink" enough (and that his recent string of passes that were broken by his two failures this episode was due to "overthinking"), underestimating the challenge's difficulty. Both Deen and Simon were commended for their jobs well done—Deen for his cabinet and Simon for his shelf. Ultimately, Simon wins the golden hard hat a second time due to his project being more difficult. As for who the worst is, Geoff names Cory as the worst for his attitude and the fact that his projects (including the platform for the stove) were hazards, while Gail picks Matt as the worst for letting his standards slip and leading the group project to what Geoff describes as "the worst project he's ever seen." This leaves Andrew to cast the deciding vote and he ultimately sides with Geoff and Cory, who only avoided being named the worst last episode due to Angela's husband, Matt, always being negative and, in Geoff's own words, making a bad handyman worse, is named the worst for this episode. For homework, Cory must open up about his attitude to Andrew as a measure to keep it under control.

Web extras for this episode:

Episode 7: The Lone Wolf

Original airdate: June 14, 2010

An hour before the rooms are finished, the frat boys who will be staying in the contestants' rooms, accompanied by Patrick Knight, president of Delta Upsilon's London chapter, show up early to inspect each room. Matt's room, the Gentleman's Club, easily impressed the frat boys—David, the owner of the room, in particular. Angela's "Girly Room" is less impressive in the frat boys' eyes; the criticisms of her room were close to personal in nature, but she easily silences her critics after a snappy retort on their fashion sense. Simon's room, the Golf Room, will be occupied by Aaron, who is an avid golfer like Simon. After trying out the golf green on the floor (and discovering that the cup Simon installed for his room does not fit), Aaron decides he hates the room. Simon seems to agree, calling the frat boys' rating of a 3/10 "too generous." Cory's room, the Car Room, is given a lukewarm reception, though the only major complaint is that the seat on his bar stool isn't fastened, to which Cory admits that he forgot about it in the rush to complete his other projects. Finally, Deen's room, the Hockey Room, is looked down upon by the frat boys, due to Deen's wall being too flimsy and giving the appearance of a smaller room, with Andrew also taking issue with Deen's attempts to boast about his work on jobs (the bed, in particular) that were actually finished mostly by Doug.

In the end, the frat boys are divided on whose room and, by extension, which contestant is the worst—Deen (hearing Deen's story of how he had drawn blood during the Metal Bench Challenge in Episode 4) or Simon (who had the least work done), though most seemed to agree that Deen's room was worse. Alan Thicke, who had been watching the progress of each room throughout the season, gives the dissenting viewpoint that Simon's room is worse than Deen's. An hour later, the experts give their final assessments. As everyone had pointed out the previous day (and for most of the season), Matt is clearly not the worst, with his work being agreed to be perhaps the best in the entire history of the show. The experts had agreed beforehand that Angela would be exempted from consideration as the worst (due to her injury and her husband, Matt, being agreed to be more at fault for the bad work that she did do), but even then, her work is still felt to be of a very solid quality overall and both she and Matt agree that the experience has been worthwhile if only for the improvement in their marriage. Cory is also agreed to have done more than enough to avoid being named the worst and the experts tell him that if he keeps his attitude in check and remembers to follow instructions, he can become even better. As was obvious to everyone, the worst is either Deen or Simon. Deen appears to be confident of his chances in avoiding being Canada's Worst Handyman (though Andrew warns him of being overconfident), as he had declared his room finished 30 minutes before the others, while leaving serious mistakes unaddressed. Simon admits to a lack of focus and admits to his shortfalls. The experts' deliberation is not shown, but in the end, Deen, the only nominee who had not been named the worst in any particular episode, is ultimately named Canada's Worst Handyman after being frequently injured due to doing things in an unsafe manner throughout rehab. As he hoists the wolf-shaped Canada's Worst Handyman trophy, everyone else gives him one final wolf howl in his honour.

Web extras for this episode:

Reception

Canada's Worst Handyman 5 has been a ratings success for Discovery Channel, with a record 500,000 viewers tuning in on its first airing,[5] more than any other non-sports show on a specialty channel airing on the same day.[6]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Delta Upsilon's Western Ontario Chapter.
  2. Web site: Handygal Teaches Tool Smarts to the Hopeless. 2010-04-30. 2010-05-16.
  3. Web site: This Pair are All Thumbs. 2010-04-20. 2010-05-26.
  4. News: A Little Common Sense Can Go a Long Way. The Toronto Star. 2010-05-14. 2010-05-16.
  5. Web site: Ratings: Canada's Worst Handyman hits 500,000 viewers | TV, eh?.
  6. Web site: Reno Rating Success for Discovery Channel! Episode 1 of Canada's Worst Handyman 5 Wins the Night for Specialty with 500,000 Viewers. May 4, 2010. May 4, 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20101116211108/http://channelcanada.com/Article4480.html#. 2010-11-16. dead.