Canada's Worst Handyman 1 was the first-ever season of the Canadian reality TV show Canada's Worst Handyman, which aired on the Discovery Channel, based on the UK Channel 4 Television Corporation's Britain's Worst Driver. The show is considered to be a sister show of Canada's Worst Driver (itself an adaptation of Britain's Worst Driver), as Canada's Worst Handyman shares much of its production crew with Canada's Worst Driver. As with subsequent years, five people, nominated by their family or friends, enter the Handyman Rehabilitation Centre to improve their handyman skills, in an effort to not be named Canada's Worst Handyman. This year, the Handyman Rehabilitation Centre is located in a public housing complex building in the Regent Park neighborhood of Toronto that has since been demolished to make way for a FreshCo supermarket and new apartments.Spacing Wire on the demolition of Regent Parkfab Magazine interview with Keith ColeThe Independent article on Darryl Andrews and Sara Graziano

Format Unlike Canada's Worst Driver, none of the contestants are eliminated; instead, at the end of each episode, one will be named the most improved, while another will be named the worst. Also, the time frame for Canada's Worst Handyman is much shorter, lasting only two weeks, as opposed to the eight weeks for Canada's Worst Driver, with each episode being chronicled one or two days, as opposed to a week for Canada's Worst Driver. On the sixth episode, the five contestants will work together to refurbish an apartment in ten hours, with the nominee with the worst individual performance being named Canada's Worst Handyman. Like Canada's Worst Driver, the contestants are accompanied by their nominators, who are allowed to assist them in their various tasks. Each episode (except the finale, in which the nominees participate in the final exam) also features a "group challenge," which is done by the five nominees as a group. Except for the Shingling Yardwork Challenge, in which the experts saw how badly the nominees performed without an assigned leader, each subsequent group challenge has a nominee named as the project's foreman, a designation given to the most improved nominee from the previous episode; this particular twist was permanently added to the series. The nominee named the worst in each episode is obligated to "hang their head in shame" and nail a picture of themselves along a "wall of shame" to the outside of the tool shed and be personally tutored on an aspect related to the reason why they were named the worst.

Experts Dr. Julie Hill is a psychologist who has taught psychology in two Ontario universities. Greg House is a general contractor with international experience, having managed both residential and commercial projects over a 40-year-plus career. Robin Lockhart is an interior designer specializing in high-end residential and commercial design and a graduate of the International Academy of Design and Technology.

Contestants The five contestants for the first season are as follows: Darryl Andrews, 35, from Warkworth, Ontario (now living in Vancouver and working as a freelance entertainment photographer), is a professional bodyguard shown to be suffering from a confidence problem after being told by relatives that he was not handy. He is nominated by his wife, Sara Graziano. A recurring theme in the series is the apparent marriage breakdown that ensues whenever Darryl is working, with Sara being incredibly vocal and abrasive, although this has been shown to be only slightly exaggerated by the fact that Darryl and Sara are obviously celebrity wannabes. Merle Auger, 34, from Sucker Creek, Alberta, is a truck driver who believes that duct tape is the answer to all renovation problems. He also rarely measures or uses a level and leaves much work around the house unfinished for years, having very little motivation to complete them. He is nominated by his longtime common-law partner, Shelly Willier, who is frustrated by Merle's lack of owning a measuring tape. Keith Cole, 40, from Toronto, Ontario, is a performance artist who lacks the motivation to do renovation work and is afraid of power tools. He has a tendency to delegate work to others while doing as little work as he can. He is nominated by his friend, Now Magazine photographer David Hawe. Barry Davis, 59, from Quadra Island, British Columbia, is a substitute teacher who performs work without regards to safety, including having used a chainsaw indoors and having electrocuted himself while trying to fix a clothes dryer while standing in a puddle of water. He is nominated by his worried neighbor, Scot Hutton, who considers Barry (the oldest male nominee and second-oldest overall) a danger to himself and others when renovating. Jeannie MacCulloch, 61, from Victoria, British Columbia, is a retired retailer who purchased a house with the aim at restoring it, but as her longtime friend and nominator, Laurence Headley, notes, Jeannie (the only female nominee and the oldest overall) is unable to read and understand instructions. Laurence passed away on April 18, 2016, aged 87.

Synopsis Contestant Nominator 1 2 3 4 5 6 Barry Scot WORST IN IN IN IN IN Darryl Sara IMP IN IN IN IN IN Jeannie Laurence IN IN WORST IN IN IN Keith David IN WORST IMP WORST IN CWH Merle Shelly IN IMP IN IN WORST IN

CWH – The contestant is Canada's Worst Handyman. WORST – The contestant is the worst of the episode. IN – The contestant was considered for the worst for this episode. WORST - The contestant was the worst while their nominator was the most improved. IMP – The contestant is the most improved of the episode.

Format Each of the first five episodes contains four or five individual challenges taken from two days of shooting, where a nominee and their nominator work together to complete a task in a given amount of time. There is also a yardwork challenge in each episode, where the nominees have to work together (but without their nominators) to decorate a shed at the front of the Handyman Rehabilitation Centre. At the end of each episode, one nominee is named the most improved (represented by a toolbelt), which allows them to be in charge of the next yardwork challenge, while another is named the worst. For the nominee named the worst, said nominee must hang their head in shame and nail their portrait to the side of the shed, then subsequently given a private lesson by Andrew relating to the reason why they were named the worst.

Episode 1: Demolition Day Original Airdate: March 13, 2006 The first episode introduces the nominees and nominators as they first enter the Handyman Rehabilitation Centre. After the nominees are greeted outside by series host Andrew Younghusband, each is given a dilapidated one-bedroom apartment at the Handyman Rehabilitation Centre, where their 19 individual challenges will take place. The apartments are color-coded: Darryl in purple, Merle in green, Keith in blue, Jeannie in yellow and Barry in pink. Before entering their apartments, the nominees must break down a wall blocking the entrance as symbolism for the beginning of the rehabilitation process. Keith was picked to do the honours due to his lack of experience, but it was ultimately an impatient Merle who knocks the wall down. At the start of the first day, they are introduced to the experts-- general contractor Greg House and interior designer Robin Lockhart, who will teach the contestants the skills needed to tackle the challenges. Darryl was named the episode's most improved handyman due to his overall attitude and first impressions, while Barry was named the worst due to not listening to the instructions given by the experts—a fact that Barry in fact admitted to and, in retrospect, was deserving of. His extra lesson: a lesson in listening skills, where Andrew asked Barry to follow one simple instruction until he got it right—cutting a board 21 and 7/8" long.

Drywall Patching The nominees must patch a hole in their ceiling. Darryl – Darryl is slow to begin (due partially to being late because of Sara's bad back and his complaints about Jeannie asking too many questions). After making his shim, he tries to hammer in his screws, but is eventually convinced by nominator Sara to use the power drill, only to operate said drill in reverse. He never managed to drill and secure the shim and his attempt to cover the hole with the piece of drywall left his piece far into the hole. His work in taping and plastering was not shown. Merle – Merle begins by measuring the hole with his hands, due to an aversion to measuring tape and also decides not to install a shim in his hole, instead choosing to jam his piece into place. He then secures his friction-fit piece with drywall tape, effectively using the mesh tape as a "safety net" of sorts. This "net" promptly falls when plaster (which was mixed too thin) is applied. Eyeing a few stray pieces of duct tape (his favorite tool of sorts), he promptly patches the hole with duct tape and plasters over it, much to Andrew's ridicule. Keith – Keith, determined to do the first task correctly, begins by using the radiator in his room as a sawhorse to cut the wooden shim. However, to make his cut drywall piece fit the hole in the ceiling, he chooses to enlarge the hole instead of cutting his piece further down. He eventually abandons the shims and forces his drywall piece into place and applies plaster liberally. Barry – Barry did not recall the instructions provided by Greg as, ironically enough for a substitute teacher, he was not listening. He first begins cutting the drywall, which he does by using a connected propane stove as a sawhorse. Then he decides not to install a shim in his hole. To hold up his piece of drywall, Barry decides to use Scot to prop up his piece while tape and plaster were being administered and when Greg comes in to check on him, he decides to use the shim to hold his piece up from below. Jeannie – Jeannie begins by cutting two shims for extra support, but decides to hammer in her screws. Being unable to secure them, she decides to remove them. She declares herself done after wedging her piece in and applying plaster liberally.

Yardwork Challenge: Shingling