Grand Designs
7.40pm Sunday, ABC
It's been 20 years since Kevin McCloud began Grand Designs, the series that follows the design and construction of an unusual and usually ambitious home project.
"I'd like to think we have promoted quality and craftsmanship in building." McCloud said recently of the anniversary. "I'd certainly like to think we've furthered the causes of sustainability and green construction. And I still get such a kick when a 30-year-old stops me to tell me that they're an architect and that watching the series aged 10 got them hooked."
When McCloud visited Australia in February for a series of live shows he didn't hide his disdain for the suburban "McMansion".
"All of us can naturally recognise something greedy," he said. "When buildings take up too much space, too much light, block out the sun, deny you access, consume vast quantities of planet resources both in the construction and in their running, I don't like that."
Likewise, the modern trend for multiple toilets in a house. It was "bonkers", he said, to "build a house for four occupants and put six toilets in it".
"You can't use two toilets at the same time, I challenge anyone, and it just seems to me to be enormously wasteful. Having said that, you know, the soft-close toilet seat is one of the greatest inventions of all time."
The latest season of Grand Designs opens with a cliffhanger: A Yorkshire couple building a dramatic glass-fronted house on a wind-swept Scottish cliff edge in a plot originally occupied by a military listening station.
Andy Stakes and Jeanette Hardy stumbled upon the land on holiday in Galloway while walking their dog on rugged coastal path.
Filthy Rich & Homeless
8.30pm Tuesday, SBS
Screening over three nights - June 9, 10 and 11 - the third season of this documentary series follows another five high-profile Australians as they swap their privileged lifestyles for 10 days of living on the streets.
Filming took place before the COVID-19 pandemic in multiple locations across NSW, including central Sydney, Western Sydney and regional cities and towns including Newcastle, Wollongong, Dapto and Nowra.
Living among the homeless are emergency medico and TV personality Dr Andrew Rochford, Melbourne Deputy Lord Mayor Arron Wood, restauranteur Pauline Nguyen, comedian and radio presenter Ciaran Lyons, and actress and model Ellie Gonsalves.
Guided by journalist Indira Naidoo and social researcher Dr Catherine Robinson, the participants hear first-hand the heartbreaking stories of survival of homeless people and meet the professionals and volunteers striving to support the needy and find new ways to create affordable housing and services.
Celebrity Gogglebox USA
8.30pm Thursday, WIN
When reality TV shows came along, actors had to get used to being upstaged - and often out-rated - by programs starring nobodies whose personal stories were crafted into often compelling television.
Then the notables got in on the act with celebrity versions of Big Brother and Survivor and, of course, I'm a Celebrity ... Get Me Out of Here. Now, not even the Googlebox couch is safe from celebs. Instead of ordinary folks lounging around cracking wise or shedding tears over TV shows - all caught on camera - now we have the stars on the sofas.
This show features actor Rob Lowe, model Tyra Banks, singer Meghan Trainor, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniack and Aussie chef Curtis Stone, among others.
Sharon, Ozzy and Kelly Osbourne, for example, watch scenes from Indiana Jones, RuPaul's Drag Race and Dr Pimple Popper from the comfort of their Beverly Hills cinema room. But can Tyra and her mum, Rob and his sons, Meghan and her brother and the rest of these celebs and their kin cut it as armchair critics?
