In Going Home With Tyler Cameron, the Bachelorette runner-up — who’s still single, ladies! — moves back to his hometown of Jupiter, Florida after the unexpected death of his mother. He moves into her house; his intention was to work on the place while she was still living there, but he now wants to do an extensive renovation and make the place his own. He is also starting a home renovation business called Image One. His business partner is his longtime friend Robb Ritch, who has been in the renovation business for years; they have also called upon Jessica Quintero, an interior designer.
Opening Shot: Tyler Cameron stars a demolition on a bathroom by swinging a sledgehammer he calls “The Big Dipper” at an unsuspecting vanity.
The Gist: Image One’s first project is the home of Ashley and Theo, an engaged couple who recently bought the house. They want their basic bedroom spruced up; they want bathroom vanity, which is in an alcove outside the walls of the bathroom (think of a hotel room), enclosed, among other changes. They also want to better utilize the space in an office/guest room. Finally, they are looking to use a three-season enclosed porch all year round. Their budget is $25,000.
Tyler and Robb start demoing the bathroom and run into a problem: The wall between the sink and the rest of the bathroom actually has plumbing for the sink running through it. To move the pipes to behind the sink will cost $3,000. But Robb has a solution; just make a half “privacy” wall between the sink and toilet, something Ashley and Theo are fine with. Tyler gets his old peewee football coach to do the drywall, and loves the job he did to convert a linen closet to an arched makeup vanity. He also talks to his dad, nicknamed “Pops,” who has been a general contractor for decades, about coming home and how much they both miss Tyler’s mom; though Tyler’s parents had been divorced for some time, Pops called her “my best friend.”
What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Going Home With Tyler Cameron is mostly a home renovation show; it’s a bit Trading Spaces, a bit Love It Or List It, but with some Bachelor Nation touches thrown in.
Our Take: One of the fun things about a home renovation show is, well, the actual renovation. We get that most shows that run at 40 or so minutes, like Going Home With Tyler Cameron does, might not have time for a comprehensive look at the renovation being done in a particular episode, but we saw very little actual renovation in this first episode.
There’s a quick flash of an automatic awning being installed on the 3-season porch. There’s a scene where Robb shows Tyler how to use dowels in the table he’s building, and a discussion between Tyler, Robb and Jessica about the material that will be used for the tabletop. There’s some drywalling and the discussion about the plumbing. But we barely see anything happening anywhere but in the bedroom. And, while the final result looked nice — though it didn’t have nearly enough storage for our liking — we wonder if it’s the usual case where something that looks nice on TV is actually cheaply done when examined up close.
Then again, are you really watching this show for home improvement tips? No, you’re watching it for the lunkheaded charm of Tyler Cameron, especially if you’re a fan of the Bachelor franchise. The show is likely going to be as much about him dealing with his mom’s death, renovating her old house, and dealing with finding and retaining clients than anything involving tools, paint or joint compound.
From what we’ve read and seen, Bachelor Nation favorites, including Hannah Brown, the former Bachelorette who Tyler was wooing in the season he was in, will show up on this show. Maybe that will juice things up a bit. But the first episode has a hard time deciding whether it’s going to be truly a renovation show or one about Tyler. We were bored either way.
Sex and Skin: None. We don’t even see Tyler with his shirt off.
Parting Shot: Ashley and Theo seem to be pleased with the results, and Jessica thinks that she is “in tune” with Tyler and Robb.
Sleeper Star: Pops comes in to look at the renovations and is impressed. We thought for sure he was going to nitpick, because that’s what happens on reality shows.
Most Pilot-y Line: We have the feeling that the only thing Tyler really knows how to do is swing a sledgehammer. When he says he wants to learn everything in order to know if his subcontractors are doing the job right, we felt really bad for Ashley and Theo, who are basically putting all their faith in a neophyte.
Our Call: SKIP IT. Unless you’re a Bachelor Nation completist or a fan of Tyler Cameron, there is no reason to watch Going Home With Tyler Cameron, given how little in the way of actual home renovation is shown on the series.
Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.
