Dave and Jenny Marrs’ HGTV pilot gets greenlight for eight-episode series
by February 15, 2018 12:30 pm 15,626 views
Dave and Jenny Marrs (Photo courtesy HGTV)
A Northwest Arkansas couple’s shot at home improvement stardom has been greenlighted by cable network Home and Garden Television (HGTV).
The pilot episode for “Almost Home,” a reality TV show featuring Bentonville-based Marrs Development, has been picked up for a series by the network. Marrs Development is owned by Dave and Jenny Marrs, and the company specializes in the renovation and restoration of historic homes.
The pilot, produced by Tennessee-based RIVR Media, first aired in November and again in December. The 60-minute episode focused on the Marrs’ efforts to renovate an historic home in downtown Rogers.
It performed well enough for HGTV to commission eight, 60-minute episodes, all set in Northwest Arkansas. Jenny Marrs said filming for the first two episodes will begin in a couple of weeks. Taping for all eight shows should be finished by this summer. Following post-production work, the tentative timeframe to begin airing the episodes on HGTV is early next year.
“It could potentially be in the fall, but from what we hear it will probably be January 2019,” she said
Marrs said she and her husband have known since December the show was being picked up for a series of episodes. She said the first two episodes will feature two renovation projects in downtown Bentonville. She declined to give their addresses. She said RIVR Media and HGTV are putting out casting calls for interested property owners/renovation projects in the area for the remaining six episodes. The plans will be examined by Marrs and network officials to determine which are most feasible for the timeframe.
An HGTV spokeswoman said the series will feature renovations in the “greater Bentonville area,” which will include Rogers and Fayetteville.
“Almost Home” is one of five new series in HGTV’s home renovation genre in 2018, joining similar shows set in California, Texas, Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C.
“We’re keeping our focus squarely on developing the kind of content that attracts new viewers and encourages them to sample the programming on our networks,” said John Feld, the network’s senior vice president for programming.