Catch a Contractor
| Catch a Contractor | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Reality |
| Starring |
|
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 3 |
| No. of episodes | 31 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) |
|
| Running time | 22 minutes (1st season), 44 minutes (future seasons) |
| Production company(s) | 3 Ball Entertainment |
| Release | |
| Original network | Spike |
| Picture format | HDTV (1080i) |
| Original release | March 9, 2014 – August 30, 2015 |
| External links | |
| Website | |
Catch a Contractor was an American reality television home improvement series that premiered March 9, 2014 on Spike.[1] The show features former carpenter Adam Carolla,[2] [3] Skip Bedell and his wife Alison, a private investigator. The series premiere was the most watched debut of a Spike original series since March 2011.[4]
Background
Prior to becoming a star, Adam Carolla gained construction experience working as a carpenter.[5] Skip Bedell is a licensed home improvement salesperson in the state of New York. [6] Bedell represented himself as a licensed contractor on the show, however. [7]
Format
Each episode of Catch a Contractor followed a similar formula. At the beginning of an episode, Adam and Skip met with the homeowner for that particular episode. They received a rundown of what was supposed to be done, inspect what was left from the work that was done, and learn about the contractor and how much he was paid to do the work. Once they have all the information they need, they pass word along to Alison who goes to work tracking the contractor down.
After observing the contractor for a few days, Alison sets up a sting operation where the contractor is lured to another house with a phony job. In the first season, she would do the luring herself. In the second and third seasons, she has an assistant do the lure due to her becoming more recognizable as a result of her work with the show.
Once the contractor is given the bait, the sting house is set up where Adam and Skip confront the contractor with what they know while the homeowner watches from another room. The contractor is given three options. The first is to return the money that the homeowner paid him (which hasn't yet happened once). The second is to go back to the unfinished job and complete the work properly while Adam and Skip supervise. The third and last is to walk away and do nothing, in which case the homeowners would file a suit in civil court with the assistance of the show.
In most cases, the contractor agrees to return to the homeowner's residence and fix the job. Once here, the homeowner can confront him about his sloppy work and the arguments can and often will get heated. The homeowner is then led off the property and put up in a hotel for however long it takes to do the job, which is done by Skip and his team with or without the proper cooperation from the contractor.
Once the job is done, the homeowner gets to see what the finished product looks like and the episode closes with one final confrontation where the contractor will usually apologize for his actions regardless of whether the homeowner accepts it or not.
Starting with the third season, events behind the scenes are shown, including interactions with the producers and texts describing the full extent of each job.
Broadcast
The series premiered on March 9, 2014. In April 2014, Spike renewed Catch a Contractor for a second season and expanded the episodes' length to sixty minutes from thirty.[8] In December, 2014, Spike ordered a third season of "Catch A Contractor", [9] the first episode of which aired on June 21, 2015 and premiered to 748,000 viewers.[10]
Internationally, the series premiered in Australia on A&E on September 22, 2015.[11]
Carolla and Bedell most often filmed in California. Their advice in episodes to never put more than 50% down upfront is against California Law which states that no contractor is allowed to ask for more than $1000 or 10% of the cost, whichever is less. [12] [13]
On May 1, 2016, Carolla confirmed via his verified Twitter account that Catch a Contractor would not return. [14]
Lawsuits
In May 2013 Catch a Contractor performed a repair at the home of Rochelle Kirk and Scott Waters of Covina, California, whose bathroom had been torn apart and abandoned by a scheming contractor. Although the repair was completed, they alleged a sewer pipe that was moved during the job was never reconnected, resulting in two hundred gallons of raw sewage spilling into the home undetected. They claimed once the problem was discovered the next month, it took an additional six months for cleanup and remediation and the couple could not move back in until December 2013. Kirk and Waters filed suit against Viacom and several contractors in February 2014 for $2.87 million, citing the network's refusal to respond to their reports of the situation and a claim that several contractors that helped perform the repair were not licensed. Of note, all of the work performed by the show was properly permitted and inspected by the city, confirming proper procedures and licensed professionals. [15]
In May 2014, the suit was dismissed due to releases the Plaintiffs had previously signed, and because the Defendants' actions were agreed to be "in furtherance of free speech rights" and protected under California's “anti-SLAPP” statute. Plaintiffs were ordered to pay defendants legal fees. [16][17]
Another lawsuit was filed in March 2015, which cites defamation, fraud, false imprisonment, and violation of right to name or likeness.[18] According to the contractor, he began working on remodeling the clients’ house in July 2013. In September of that year, a building inspector flagged a framing issue, requiring an engineering proposal. The contractor alleged the clients moved into the home in spite of the fact that the repair had not been made, and then, in Oct. 2013, stopped payment and ultimately canceled his contract.[19] Instead of receiving a check for a new client, he was instead met with the hosts as well as a "bouncer" that prevented him from leaving the premises. It goes on to further allege that Adam promised that by signing a release, there would be no further repercussions (along with a $10,000 payout for appearing on the show). However, that bid bond was revised by the homeowners just days later, and he was instead "painted in an unfairly negative light" and labeled as a "criminal" by hosts and clients. This case is still pending. [20][21]
References
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- ↑ http://aceonthehouse.adamcarolla.com/2015/07/carpentry-enthusiast-adam-carolla/
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- ↑ https://twitter.com/adamcarolla/status/726173382803255297
- ↑ http://abcnews.go.com/Business/calif-couple-sues-adam-carollas-show-catch-contractor/story?id=22704548
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Morran, Chris Contractor Sues Spike TV’s “Catch A Contractor” For False Imprisonment, Defamation Consumerist. July 14, 2015
- ↑ http://consumerist.com/2015/03/23/contractor-sues-spike-tvs-catch-a-contractor-for-false-imprisonment-defamation/
- ↑ http://www.avclub.com/article/spike-tvs-catch-contractor-sued-doing-exactly-what-216922/
- ↑ http://uproxx.com/tv/2015/03/catch-a-contractor-sued-false-imprisonment-fraud/
