AN "EXTREME MAKEOVER" TAKES OVER ALASKA
Hello, everybody. As you probably well know, over the last week Hollywood returned to the Fairbanks area again thanks to Ty Pennington and the "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" team.
A house occupied by the Rogers family of North Pole caught the eye of the hit ABC show, which came up here all last week after they looked at their application video. The story was that Betsy Rogers' marriage to husband Michael meant huge blows to the family financially and physically, and that their tiny home on Anton Avenue has become decrepit for years. So the producers decided to bring Christmas in July to them with the bus pulling up and Ty yelling out "GOOOOOD MORNING, ROGERS FAMILY!!!!" on his megaphone outside their house.
As the Rogers were rewarded with a trip to Disneyland, it was now time for the demolition to take place followed by bringing in hundreds of volunteers to help put together the new house. I was at the site on Thursday as the exteriors were already done and the interiors still underway.
While there, one person from the team filmed his portion: No, not Ty, but interior designer Michael Moloney. I'll get to that in a bit, but here's something that might interest you technically:
The production equipment was provided by Wexler Video based out of Burbank, and the four cameras used to tape the makeover are Sony XDCAM HD optical disk cameras, which CBS News and ABC News have already started using to shoot their material. It won't be long till other stations and broadcasters plan to make the transition to XDCAMs in the coming months, but I probably don't see KTUU in Anchorage becoming one of them anytime soon...unless if their budget allows them.
Anyway, back to Moloney: Of all the people in the team, he was the only person that has signed autographs and mingled and took pictures with the onlookers across the street after shooting his piece. He seemed very nice, not knowing for the fact he is gay!
And now we move 24 hours later to Friday, when the house is finished, the Rogers' return, and the big reveal is made...all within hours! As I returned in the afternoon and the Sadler's trucks full of furniture to be emptied, the ever increasing crowd got their first glimpses of Ty. Moments later, he and the North Pole and Eielson football teams filmed the part when they would help move the final pieces of furniture to the house...after trying again in the second take! Of course, you do have to get it right after all.
I also spotted fellow designer Paige Hemmis, who always dresses in pink to stand out against the guys. And here's a little something I didn't know about her: SHE SMOKES!!!!!!!! I don't know if Ty does as well.
After the North Pole High cheerleaders did a special cheer for the cameras ("Red - white - blue! We - thank - you! A - B - C! For - coming - through!"), they joined Paige inside the nearly-completed
house -- who might have probably put out her cigarette -- to film a scene with her.
According to the News-Miner (which covered the makeover from top to bottom all week of course), the crowd who had been indifferent to star sightings cheered whenever a designer was spotted around the site. HELLO!!! Star sightings in Fairbanks is not new; remember John Leguizamo last March?!
As the afternoon went into evening, so did the anticipation as the climatic moment was still hours away. Before 6:00, the big Marathon Coach bus pulled up in front of the house and the jib camera swooped around the crowd several times to get the best shots of us cheering. After all, we are going to be seen by millions of people.
The limousine also pulled up, but they used a few people as stand-ins for the Rogers to set up the shots. This was after Ty changed his wardrobe in one of those Star Wagons; we also saw him going over his script with the crew.
Finally, at close to 10:00pm, the big moment came as the limo returned, this time with the Rogers'. I couldn't hear Ty lecturing to the family, but the producers prompted us to do the "Move that bus!" chant. On the fourth take, the Rogers and the crowd said those three magic words together -- MOVE THAT BUS!!!!!! -- and the bus moved, revealing the new 4,800 square-foot home to the family of 13!! A short while later, the crowd went into a "907!" chant...907 being our area code, of course.
After spending nine hours -- NINE HOURS! -- from the final finishing touches to the moment we've waited a whole week for, it was finally over the moment it started raining as the Rogers were let in their new digs.
Believe me, this was the first time we've ever had a reality show come up to the Fairbanks area. Sure, the next-to-last legs of "The Amazing Race" were in Anchorage, but thanks to "Extreme Makeover" Home Edition", we played catch-up big time. And for the volunteers who gave up their time to help the Rogers family's dreams come true, it was indeed Christmas in July.
By the way...that episode will be the season premiere of "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition", set to air in late September on ABC.
Okay, we've had John Leguizamo; we've had Ty Pennington...who could be the next major celebrity to set foot on the Golden Heart City? As they always say, stay tuned to find out. It could happen during Golden Days this week; and you know I missed out on all the fun last year because of my two-week vacation in the South. So consider this year's Golden Days a huge make-up. So long!
Hello, everybody. As you probably well know, over the last week Hollywood returned to the Fairbanks area again thanks to Ty Pennington and the "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" team.
A house occupied by the Rogers family of North Pole caught the eye of the hit ABC show, which came up here all last week after they looked at their application video. The story was that Betsy Rogers' marriage to husband Michael meant huge blows to the family financially and physically, and that their tiny home on Anton Avenue has become decrepit for years. So the producers decided to bring Christmas in July to them with the bus pulling up and Ty yelling out "GOOOOOD MORNING, ROGERS FAMILY!!!!" on his megaphone outside their house.
As the Rogers were rewarded with a trip to Disneyland, it was now time for the demolition to take place followed by bringing in hundreds of volunteers to help put together the new house. I was at the site on Thursday as the exteriors were already done and the interiors still underway.
While there, one person from the team filmed his portion: No, not Ty, but interior designer Michael Moloney. I'll get to that in a bit, but here's something that might interest you technically:
The production equipment was provided by Wexler Video based out of Burbank, and the four cameras used to tape the makeover are Sony XDCAM HD optical disk cameras, which CBS News and ABC News have already started using to shoot their material. It won't be long till other stations and broadcasters plan to make the transition to XDCAMs in the coming months, but I probably don't see KTUU in Anchorage becoming one of them anytime soon...unless if their budget allows them.
Anyway, back to Moloney: Of all the people in the team, he was the only person that has signed autographs and mingled and took pictures with the onlookers across the street after shooting his piece. He seemed very nice, not knowing for the fact he is gay!
And now we move 24 hours later to Friday, when the house is finished, the Rogers' return, and the big reveal is made...all within hours! As I returned in the afternoon and the Sadler's trucks full of furniture to be emptied, the ever increasing crowd got their first glimpses of Ty. Moments later, he and the North Pole and Eielson football teams filmed the part when they would help move the final pieces of furniture to the house...after trying again in the second take! Of course, you do have to get it right after all.
I also spotted fellow designer Paige Hemmis, who always dresses in pink to stand out against the guys. And here's a little something I didn't know about her: SHE SMOKES!!!!!!!! I don't know if Ty does as well.
After the North Pole High cheerleaders did a special cheer for the cameras ("Red - white - blue! We - thank - you! A - B - C! For - coming - through!"), they joined Paige inside the nearly-completed
house -- who might have probably put out her cigarette -- to film a scene with her.
According to the News-Miner (which covered the makeover from top to bottom all week of course), the crowd who had been indifferent to star sightings cheered whenever a designer was spotted around the site. HELLO!!! Star sightings in Fairbanks is not new; remember John Leguizamo last March?!
As the afternoon went into evening, so did the anticipation as the climatic moment was still hours away. Before 6:00, the big Marathon Coach bus pulled up in front of the house and the jib camera swooped around the crowd several times to get the best shots of us cheering. After all, we are going to be seen by millions of people.
The limousine also pulled up, but they used a few people as stand-ins for the Rogers to set up the shots. This was after Ty changed his wardrobe in one of those Star Wagons; we also saw him going over his script with the crew.
Finally, at close to 10:00pm, the big moment came as the limo returned, this time with the Rogers'. I couldn't hear Ty lecturing to the family, but the producers prompted us to do the "Move that bus!" chant. On the fourth take, the Rogers and the crowd said those three magic words together -- MOVE THAT BUS!!!!!! -- and the bus moved, revealing the new 4,800 square-foot home to the family of 13!! A short while later, the crowd went into a "907!" chant...907 being our area code, of course.
After spending nine hours -- NINE HOURS! -- from the final finishing touches to the moment we've waited a whole week for, it was finally over the moment it started raining as the Rogers were let in their new digs.
Believe me, this was the first time we've ever had a reality show come up to the Fairbanks area. Sure, the next-to-last legs of "The Amazing Race" were in Anchorage, but thanks to "Extreme Makeover" Home Edition", we played catch-up big time. And for the volunteers who gave up their time to help the Rogers family's dreams come true, it was indeed Christmas in July.
By the way...that episode will be the season premiere of "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition", set to air in late September on ABC.
Okay, we've had John Leguizamo; we've had Ty Pennington...who could be the next major celebrity to set foot on the Golden Heart City? As they always say, stay tuned to find out. It could happen during Golden Days this week; and you know I missed out on all the fun last year because of my two-week vacation in the South. So consider this year's Golden Days a huge make-up. So long!
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