TV
Couple Sues HGTV Love It or List It Producers Over Poor Renovations
Published
6 years agoon

A North Carolina couple is suing the popular HGTV Show “Love It or List It,” claiming the show made “shoddy” renovations to their home and subjected them to unfair trade practices.
Deena Murphy and Timothy Sullivan turned to the the design show after deciding to start another renovation project on their home. According to The Charlotte Observer, the couple was drawn to a show advertisement encouraging homeowners “whose home, for whatever reason, doesn’t suit their needs anymore,” to apply.
The premise of “Love It or List It” is simple: After a homeowner decides they aren’t in love with their current living conditions, a crew will come in and begin renovations. During the remodel, the homeowner tours comparable homes in the area. Then, at the big reveal, the homeowner decides if they should “Love It,” and stay in their newly-remodeled space, or “List It,” and move into a home that suits them better.
Murphy and Sullivan filed a lawsuit in Durham County Superior Court against the show’s production company, Big Coat TV, and the contractor hired to do the remodel, Aaron Fitz Construction, reported the Observer.
According to the lawsuit, the couple claims the construction company did shoddy work, broke contract and violated North Carolina’s general contractor laws.
Not gonna lie, we think our newly released logo looks pretty great. #loveitorlistit#LOLVH@w_networkpic.twitter.com/jhT9ySOvyT
— LoveItorListItVH (@LOLVacationHome) April 15, 2016
In the lawsuit, Murphy and Sullivan contend that the floor was “irreparably damaged,” and duct work left holes in the floor “through which vermin could enter the house.” They also claim low-grade industrial carpet was installed, and many windows were painted shut.
In a statement to the Observer, Big Coat TV CEO Maria Armstrong said the company was aware of the lawsuit. “Because this matter involves ongoing litigation, our attorneys have advised us and we feel that making a comment would be inappropriate at this time. However, we do intend to vigorously defend what we consider to be false allegations,” Armstrong said.
The lawsuit shines a light on the amount of staging and fabrication involved in reality television.
“These characters are actors or television personalities playing a role for the camera,” the lawsuit says of the show hosts Hilary Farr and David Visentin, as well Eric Eremita, who is portrayed as the general contractor (though the suit claims he is not licensed to work in North Carolina). The lawsuit alleges that none of the “actors” involved played more than a casual role in the home’s renovation.
Filming something today with contractor Jay! More details soon. #behindthescenespic.twitter.com/Vh6nLT0mEn
— Big Coat Productions (@Big_Coat) April 6, 2016
The Observer reports that, as part of the agreement with Big Coat, the couple would “deposit” $140,000 with the production company, who would then use the money to pay for construction work. Aaron Fitz, the contractor, was hired by Big Coat to do the renovations.
The couple claims that Aaron Fitz was not the couple’s choice, and that they were concerned with his below-average ratings on line. Additionally, they say that they were never shown any homes on the market by a real-estate agent who would actually be able to broker the sale.
Big Coat TV, the lawsuit says, “admits that it is in the business of television production, not construction. The homeowners’ funds essentially pay the cost of creating a stage set for this television series.”
Entrepreneur, contributor, writer, and editor of Sostre News. With a powerful new bi-lingual speaking generation by his side, Sostre News is becoming the preferred site for the latest in Politics, Entertainment, Sports, Culture, Tech, Breaking and World News.

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The 2019 Emmys have arrived. The 71st annual Primetime Emmy Awards will air live on Fox this Sunday, September 22, at 8 pm Eastern / 5 pm Pacific, and honor some of the biggest television achievements of the past year.
As usual, the major awards will be split into separate categories for comedy and drama. On the drama side, the 2019 nominations are both dominated by Game of Thrones — which is expected to set a new record for most Emmy wins by a single season — and unusually wide open. Many shows that would otherwise be contenders — including The Crown, Stranger Things, and The Handmaid’s Tale — did not air during the eligibility window (June 1, 2018 through May 31, 2019), either because they wanted to avoid competing against Game of Thrones or because they simply couldn’t produce a new season in time.
The thought held by many was that Game of Thrones would turn in an unbeatable swan song and the race would open up again in 2020. In hindsight, that final season was widely criticized and not nearly as unrivaled in its Emmy worthiness as many expected it to be. Nevertheless, Game of Thrones is still the frontrunner in multiple drama categories.
Game of Thrones is also the only show to be nominated in all seven drama categories. In addition to nods for Outstanding Drama Series, Directing for a Drama Series, and Writing for a Drama Series, stars Kit Harington and Emilia Clarke are nominated for Lead Actor in a Drama and Lead Actress in a Drama, respectively.
And the show has pretty much overwhelmed the final two drama categories, with Gwendoline Christie, Lena Headey, Sophie Turner, and Maisie Williams all nominated for Supporting Actress in a Drama, and Alfie Allen, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, and Peter Dinklage all nominated for Supporting Actor in a Drama. In total, between the Primetime Emmys and the Creative Arts Emmys, Game of Thrones’ final season earned 32 nominations, the most received in a single year by any show in the history of the awards.
Having already won 10 awards at the Creative Arts Emmys — which were held last weekend and mainly honor the technical elements of TV production like cinematography, editing, and visual effects — Game of Thrones needs just two more to tie its own record for most Emmys won by a single season of any show. It needs only three to break that record.
The few contenders looking to upset Game of Thrones include This Is Us, Better Call Saul (returning to the race after being nominated in 2017 and sitting out last year), Killing Eve, Pose, Succession, Ozark, and Bodyguard.
Perhaps the biggest player on the comedy side is the final season of HBO’s Veep. After star Julia Louis-Dreyfus’s cancer diagnosis and treatment, Veep, the reigning comedy champ, sat out the Emmys in 2018. And in its absence, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel took home the major awards.
With Veep back in contention this year — and for its final season, no less — the series easily snagged a nomination for Outstanding Comedy Series. Its fellow contenders in the category include last year’s winner, Mrs. Maisel; returning nominee Barry; and newcomers to the race Russian Doll, The Good Place, Fleabag, and Schitt’s Creek.
Louis-Dreyfus is also nominated for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy, an honor she has as already won six times for her role as Selina Meyer (on top of a Lead Actress in a Comedy win for The New Adventures of Old Christine and a Supporting Actress in a Comedy win for Seinfeld). She’ll go head to head with Russian Doll’s Natasha Lyonne, Mrs. Maisel’s Rachel Brosnahan (who won last year), and Schitt’s Creek’s Catherine O’Hara, among others.
Here’s the list of 2019 Emmy nominees in all the major categories:
Outstanding Comedy Series
Barry
Fleabag
The Good Place
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Russian Doll
Schitt’s Creek
Veep
Outstanding Drama Series
Better Call Saul
Bodyguard
Game of Thrones
Killing Eve
Ozark
Pose
Succession
This Is Us
Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie
Mahershala Ali, True Detective
Benicio Del Toro, Escape at Dannemora
Hugh Grant, A Very English Scandal
Jared Harris, Chernobyl
Jharrel Jerome, When They See Us
Sam Rockwell, Fosse/Verdon
Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie
Amy Adams, Sharp Objects
Patricia Arquette, Escape at Dannemora
Aunjanue Ellis, When They See us
Joey King, The Act
Niecy Nash, When They See Us
Michelle Williams, Fosse/Verdon
Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Movie
Ben Whishaw, A Very English Scandal
Stellan Skarsgard, Chernobyl
Paul Dano, Escape at Dannemora
John Leguizamo, When They See Us
Michael K. Williams, When They See Us
Asante Blackk, When They See Us
Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie
Emily Watson, Chernobyl
Margaret Qualley, Fosse/Verdon
Patricia Clarkson, Sharp Objects
Patricia Arquette, The Act
Marsha Stephanie Blake, When They See Us
Vera Farmiga, When They See Us
Lead Actor in a Comedy Series
Anthony Anderson, Black-ish
Don Cheadle, Black Monday
Ted Danson, The Good Place
Michael Douglas, The Kominsky Method
Bill Hader, Barry
Eugene Levy, Schitt’s Creek
Lead Actress in a Comedy Series
Christina Applegate, Dead To Me
Rachel Brosnahan, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep
Natasha Lyonne, Russian Doll
Catherine O’Hara, Schitt’s Creek
Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Fleabag
Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series
Stephen Root, Barry
Henry Winkler, Barry
Anthony Carrigan, Barry
Alan Arkin, The Kominsky Method
Tony Shalhoub, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Tony Hale, Veep
Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series
Sarah Goldberg, Barry
Sian Clifford, Fleabag
Olivia Colman, Fleabag
Betty Gilpin, GLOW
Kate McKinnon, Saturday Night Live
Alex Borstein, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Marin Hinkle, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Anna Chlumsky, Veep
Lead Actor in a Drama Series
Jason Bateman, Ozark
Sterling K. Brown, This Is Us
Kit Harington, Game of Thrones
Bob Odenkirk, Better Call Saul
Billy Porter, Pose
Milo Ventimiglia, This Is Us
Lead Actress in a Drama Series
Emilia Clarke, Game of Thrones
Jodie Comer, Killing Eve
Viola Davis, How to Get Away with Murder
Laura Linney, Ozark
Mandy Moore, This Is Us
Sandra Oh, Killing Eve
Robin Wright, House of Cards
Supporting Actor in a Drama Series
Jonathan Banks, Better Call Saul
Giancarlo Esposito, Better Call Saul
Alfie Allen, Game of Thrones
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Game of Thrones
Peter Dinklage, Game of Thrones
Michael Kelly, House of Cards
Chris Sullivan, This Is Us
Supporting Actress in a Drama Series
Gwendoline Christie, Game of Thrones
Lena Headey, Game of Thrones
Sophie Turner, Game of Thrones
Maisie Williams, Game of Thrones
Fiona Shaw, Killing Eve
Julia Garner, Ozark
Outstanding Reality Competition Series
Amazing Race
American Ninja Warrior
Nailed It
RuPaul’s Drag Race
Top Chef
The Voice
Outstanding Variety Talk Series
The Daily Show
Full Frontal
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
Last Week Tonight With John Oliver
The Late Late Show With James Corden
The Late Show With Stephen Colbert
Outstanding Variety Sketch Series
At Home With Amy Sedaris
Documentary Now!
Drunk History
I Love You, America With Sarah Silverman
Saturday Night Live
Who Is America?
Outstanding Television Movie
Bandersnatch
Brexit
Deadwood
King Lear
My Dinner with Hervé
Outstanding Limited Series
Chernobyl
Escape at Dannemora
Fosse/Verdon
Sharp Objects
When They See Us
TV
Disney’s Live-Action ‘Aladdin’ Looking at $100M+ In Memorial Day Riches
UPDATED, 1:17 PM: At this time we can tell you that Disney’s Aladdin is off to a healthy start at the domestic box office with a $28 million-$30 million Friday (including $7 million in Thursday’s previews). It is now expected to hit $80 million over three days and $95 million over the full four-day Memorial Day holiday weekend frame.
Published
3 years agoon
May 24, 2019
UPDATED, 1:17 PM: At this time we can tell you that Disney’s Aladdin is off to a healthy start at the domestic box office with a $28 million-$30 million Friday (including $7 million in Thursday’s previews). It is now expected to hit $80 million over three days and $95 million over the full four-day Memorial Day holiday weekend frame.
Some see the Guy Ritchie film besting Solo: A Star Wars Story‘s four-day Memorial Day start of $103M last year with a potential $104M gross, but this holiday is so wonky it is too soon to call it at that. There can be fall-off as people become distracted by holiday activities.
Regardless, it’s a better than anticipated start for Disney’s latest live-action remake, on which critics are divided but exit polls show audiences love. Aladdin is a brand that is fresher than Dumbo and hipper, being a fave of Gen X and Gen Y audiences.
We will have more box office updates later today.
PREVIOUSLY, 7:36 AM: Disney’s Aladdin is off to strong start after $7 million in Thursday night previews that began officially at 6 PM yesterday, preceded by 5 PM fan events. That figure is exceedingly better than the frumpy Thursday night start of Dumbo, which only snorted up $2.6M for a $46M weekend.
Last night was also the best preview start for director Guy Ritchie at the domestic box office; two summers ago, his King Arthur: Legend of the Sword tanked with a $15.3M opening, leading to a $39.1M domestic finish and $148.6M global off a $175M production cost.
Tracking is between $73M-$85M on Aladdin over the Friday-through-Monday stretch of Memorial Day weekend. Critics are split about the live-action reboot of the 1992 Disney classic at 60% fresh. We’ll see whether the die-hard Aladdin fans dominate or remain divided as the weekend continues.
So far, so good: ComScore/Screen Engine PostTrack exits show general audiences giving Aladdin 4 1/2 stars and a solid 69% definite recommend. Females over 25 lead at 34% (98% positive grade), followed by females under 25 at 25% (97% grade), men over 25 at 21% (88%) and Men under 25 at 20% (83%). Parents gave the pic four stars after turning out at 12%, and kids under 12, who repped 20% of the crowd and loved it at 4 1/2 stars.
If those figures maintain, Ritchie is bound to see his best opening at the domestic B.O. after 2009’s Sherlock Holmes ($62.3M). We went into the weekend projecting on the low end, given the funkiness of moviegoing over the Memorial Day stretch. Since Marvel movies have taken over the earlier part of the month (or late April), Memorial Day has increasingly become anti-climactic at the box office. Disney has traditionally tanked over Memorial Day weekend with its event attempts, but this year might be different.
Aladdin‘s Thursday also bests that of Disney’s 2017 Memorial Day attempt Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales ($5.5M off 7 PM shows for a $78.4M four-day opening) as well as late May 2014’s live-action Sleeping Beauty spinoff Maleficent ($4.2M previews from 9 PM and midnight, $69M opening). Many are comparing Aladdin to the female-skewing Cinderella, and Prince Ali also beat her 8 PM Thursday showtimes of $2.3M, which turned into a $67.8M opening.
Among the preview nights for the live-action remakes of Disney’s toons, Beauty and the Beast is still the fairest in the land with a huge $16.3M from March 16, 2017 shows.
Those who’ve seen the top sheet of Aladdin say it cost around $182M net, which is cheaper than Pirates 5 ($230M production cost net before P&A), and a little higher than Beauty and the Beast ($160M).
Atom Tickets saw Aladdin presales outstrip those of Dumbo and Mary Poppins Returns. Based on Atom’s recent Summer Movie Survey, Aladdin was in the top 10 Most Anticipated Summer Movies list in addition to the top 5 Most Anticipated Family Summer Movies. Of those that voted for Aladdin as their top summer movie, they also said they are most excited to hear the song “A Whole New World” from the movie. The majority (70%) are really excited to see Will Smith as the genie. In terms of the survey demographics, 50% were 25-34 years old, 26% were in the range of 35-44, and 12% were 45-54. Also based on the survey, fans of the movie also skewed more female (~60%), which was what tracking spotted and what last night’s exit polls indicated.
Sony Screens Gems/The H Collective has the James Gunn-produced superhero horror pic Brightburn, which drew $950,000 last night from 7 PM shows at 2,257 locations. Pic’s opening is projected at $8M over three days and $10M for four days. That’s ahead of Warner Bros’ R-rated July 2015 horror pic The Gallows, which opened to $9.8M. Brightburn cost an estimated $6M before marketing and distribution costs.
United Artists’ release of Annapurna’s Olivia Wilde-directed teenage comedy Booksmart took in $875K in previews. The R-rated film is tracking towards a domestic four-day weekend opening in the mid- to high-single-digits.
Sports
Aaron Rodgers Goes on Epic Rant Blasting Game of Thrones Ending
The “Game of Thrones” series finale arrived on Sunday and let’s just say that plenty of fans and critics had problems with the ending.That includes a man who actually made an appearance on the show, Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
Published
3 years agoon
May 21, 2019
The “Game of Thrones” series finale arrived on Sunday and let’s just say that plenty of fans and critics had problems with the ending.
That includes a man who actually made an appearance on the show, Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
(Warning: Several “Game of Thrones” spoilers are mentioned here, but you were smart enough to know that.)
Aaron Rodgers blasts ‘Game of Thrones’ finale
Speaking with reporters during Packers OTAs, Rodgers was initially asked to clarify where he actually showed up in “The Bells,” the fifth episode of the “Game of Thrones” final season.
Rodgers confirmed he was neither the archer (“that person definitely looked like me”), nor the man incinerated by dragon fire (“I’m disappointed in every person who would say that was me … total non-athlete.”) Rather, he was the one by the bell tower.
Once that was settled, Rodgers was asked if he actually liked the ending of the show he has watched for years. What followed was a lengthy, point-by-point takedown of the finale’s biggest decisions.
.@AaronRodgers12 clarifies his acting role in #GameOfThrones and then goes off on an epic rant about how the series ended.
“You come down to the ending and Tyrion says the person with the best story is Bran?!” pic.twitter.com/F9OhCWbrZh
— Stephen Watson (@WISN_Watson) May 21, 2019
A full transcript of Rodgers’ comments about the show’s ending:
Were you satisfied with the ending of “Game of Thrones?”
No. I love the show and it was a great 10 years, but no. You come down to the end and Tyrion says the person with the best story is Bran? Who, by the way, three episodes said he wasn’t Bran Stark anymore. No. Jon had a better story. Dany had a better story. Arya had a better story. Sansa had a better story. Tyrion had a better story. Varys had a better story. Bronn, a lot better story. Jaime, better story. Cersei, probably a better story. Any Baratheon, better story.
Who should have been on the throne?
I think Dany should have been on the throne. Here’s the thing, though. Here’s my last theory about it. If Bran, the Three-Eyed Raven, whose all about the health of the realm. Let’s think about what he did. He basically wanted the throne the whole time because he’s the one who told the Starks, knowing that Sansa would tell Tyrion, knowing that Tyrion would talk to Varys, knowing that he’d scheme for Dany’s death, knowing that would piss her off, which led her to be the Mad Queen. So he, the entire time, set the whole thing up and then at the end goes ‘Oh yeah, I don’t want to be king. Oh, but why did I travel all this way to be here?’ No. Look, I love the opportunity to be in the show, which most people probably don’t think I was, but I was there. I love the show, but the writers are also doing Star Wars, so I think they might have been a little busy.
Clearly, Rodgers is a little upset.
Aaron Rodgers is not alone in hating the ‘Game of Thrones’ ending
That last comment alludes to the recent news that “Game of Thrones” showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss will helm the next “Star Wars” movie, which led to backlash from many fans over the perception that the show’s final season was rushed as its top decision-makers prepared for their foray into science fiction.
Really, Rodgers’ comments match up with most fans’ biggest criticisms, mainly the implications of Bran Stark king-taking the throne and the handling of Daenerys Targaryen’s transition into villainy. Petitions have already been started to redo the show’s final season.
“Game of Thrones” is finally over as a television series, but the discussion around the show and story will likely live on for years.
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