HGTV’s ‘Holmes Family Rescue: Holmes For The Holidays’ – ‘My Dad Is Clark Griswold’ (Exclusive)
HGTV’s Holmes family could give Clark Griswold from National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation a run for his money when the family embarks upon an outdoor decorating challenge like no other.
Holmes Family Rescue gets lit up on Saturday, Dec. 18 at 8 p.m ET/PT on HGTV for the family’s special, Holmes For The Holidays
Sherry Holmes challenged brother Mike Jr. and dad Mike to a competition that will determine who is best at decorating for Christmas – and the siblings are up against their dad who is a serious contender.
Sherry and Mike Jr. learned holiday lighting from the best – dad Mike
Contractor Mike Holmes, known for his home repair and construction expertise, typically goes all out during the holidays. “My dad is Clark Griswold,” Mike Jr. told Showbiz Cheat Sheet. “There’s lights in the interlock. There’s lights on the roof. There are a lot of lights. It’s a bit … much [laughs]. But it’s beautiful.” Sherry recalled there being “lights in lights.”
However, Mike Jr. and Sherry said they didn’t always have all the resources to create that shock and awe Christmas house growing up. “It’s funny because a lot of people don’t know that we grew up poor, to be honest,” Mike Jr. said. “So my dad didn’t own a house until –” Sherry said, “We were teenagers.”
“We moved around a lot when we were younger,” Mike Jr. continued. “But once my dad got to his place where he settled and, you know, close to where he is now, then what I like to say about my dad is you can see his house from space during the holidays.”
‘Holmes For The Holidays’ was Sherry Holmes’ idea
Sherry said the Christmas episode was something she’s always wanted to do. “I am so excited for everyone to see it,” Sherry exclaimed. “Christmas is my favorite time of year. I always go a little over the top, whether that be the decorations … presents.”
“I just I’m so excited,” she gushed. “I’m like a little kid myself. I mean, now that I have kids, I get to finally push that and have that and it’s thrilling.”
“But I had this idea and I wanted to do a family competition show and, you know, a friendly, competitive family competition show,” she said. “To see who could do Christmas better, essentially. And we all have our own different styles and feelings towards the holidays. So it was great to get to do our own thing and have each other experience that.”
Let the Christmas Holmes games begin!
The family threw down a few rules to make the competition fair. “We had a timeline,” Mike recalled. “We had to pick up our own ideas and run with it. There was no cheating or trying to look at anyone else’s place. So we had to do something, build a gingerbread house, add something else to do it. So there was a list of rules which we tried to break along the way. I mean, rules are made to be broken right [laughs]? OK, bent!”
While the show will be holiday illumination eye candy, in true Holmes fashion, the family plans to offer insider tips along the way. “That’s the wonderful part is that I think that what we’ve accomplished here is not only to make what I believe is going to be one of the best Christmas shows out there this year. But through what we are doing, we’re teaching why we’re doing it,” Mike said. “For example, how to light and do it safely for 20 years. Rather than getting up on a ladder, putting it up, taking it down, and causing a possible safety hazard for you.”
“And how to use your imagination and use something really incredible and then reuse that for the rest of the year for something else,” he added.
Mike, Sherry, and Mike Jr. said the entire family will have as much watching the special as they had filming it.
Tune in: Holmes For The Holidays, airing Saturday, December 18th at 8 p.m ET/PT on HGTV.
