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30 June 2008

Gene Simmons: Family Jewels

Bio, 9.30pm

The opportunity to watch a documentary concentrating on Gene Simmons's family jewels is an unusual, although not entirely surprising one.

Here is a man who, as a member of evergreen rock group KISS, has made a career out of playing a guitar shaped like a broken window pane while wearing tight trousers and waggling his unusually long tongue. But he is a family man with a rock-sold, 23-year relationship with former Playmate of the Year Shannon Tweed and their two children, Nick and Sophie.

Here, Simmons and Sophie travel to Paris to meet Henry Baddour, a fashion photographer who believes Sophie is model material. Simmons grumps through the meeting, asking Baddour to stop smoking ("I don't want to die") and warning him gruffly about exploiting his 14-year-old daughter.

"She's not going to do this," he says, finally. The shoot goes ahead, however, on a boat on the Seine, with Simmons telling every stranger within earshot, "That's my daughter."

The Apprentice UK

UKTV, 7.30pm

A spin-off from the US series featuring Donald Trump, The Apprentice UK is a grittier, less-flouncy version, revealing a more reserved, though just as fierce, form of pomposity and ambition from its contestants. Self-made millionaire Sir Alan Sugar, who is searching for an apprentice to join his company, is on the evidence of this episode fairly belligerent. "I'll shove it right up your bloody arse if it doesn't work," he growls into the phone at one point.

The 14 contestants - seven men and seven women - divide into teams to buy and sell flowers for the most profit for their first task. By the end, most come across as loud, power-hungry thugs in tailored suits.

Four million British viewers tuned into the final of this inaugural series and this first episode proves gripping and revolting at the same time.

Owner Builder Australia

How To Channel, 7.30pm

In Sydney's expensive property market, the advantages of carrying out your own home renovation seem obvious. No second-rate builders cutting corners, no shoddy refurbishments disguised as state-of-the-art design. You're in charge.

This 13-episode program will hopefully crush these fantasies, as it should if you're not a qualified builder-plumber-electrician. Home renovation experts such as builder Luke Van Dyck (pictured) and host Rebecca Harris visit real-life owner-builders as they combat issues such as insurance, hiring tradespeople, disputes, council approvals and watching your money drain away like bath water for various reasons.


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