Traverse City Record-Eagle

Arts & Entertainment

Related Photos

  • John Spellman / Retna

    Oosterhouse, Carter
June 19, 2009

TC's Oosterhouse all over TV this month

He'll judge 'Challenge' finals Sunday night

By MIKE HUGHES

LOS ANGELES -- When Carter Oosterhouse reached Los Angeles, he did what most newcomers -- the young, hip ones -- do. He moved into West Hollywood, with its flashy night life.

Then his Michigan instincts kicked in.

"I thought, 'Hey, I grew up by water my whole life. Why aren't I there now?'" Oosterhouse recalled.

Ever since, he's lived in Hermosa Beach. For all of his current fame -- including cable specials on the next two Sundays -- this guy keeps his ties to Central Michigan University (he's agreed to be in the homecoming parade this fall) and to the water world of Traverse City.

"I love kayaking and sailing," he said. "I love being on the beach. That's been a major factor throughout my life."

Except now he keeps being diverted by projects on the HGTV network. They include:

-- The finals of "HGTV $250,000 Challenge," at 10 p.m. Sunday. There are two couples left, with Oosterhouse there for advice and judging on front-yard and backyard work.

-- "Green Home Giveaway," at 8 p.m. June 28. Oosterhouse hosts, giving away an energy-conscious Florida home. "It's amazing," he said. "You would never know the home is as eco-friendly as it is. It shows you don't have to sacrifice beauty."

-- And his regular gig, "Carter Can," filled with handyman-type repairs.

That's the sort of thing he learned on Traverse City construction sites as a teenager. "It was just a summer job," Oosterhouse, 32, said, "doing things my brothers had done."

Two opposite worlds seem to blend in him. His father, like many people on Michigan's western side, has Dutch roots; his mother, like many people from California, has Mexican roots.

"He rode his motorcycle out to California and that's where he met her," Oosterhouse said of his parents. "Lo and behold, somehow he convinced her to marry him and come back with him."

In Traverse City, the Oosterhouses raised four kids and his father was a nutritionist for Shaklee Corp. Carter Oosterhouse got his own nutrition degree at CMU, where he made the all-Midwest team in rugby.

Then -- like his dad -- he veered west. He moved to California and tried to be an actor. "I was working 40 hours a week and taking (acting) classes; there wasn't time."

Instead, his boyhood skills brought him into show business. He was a carpenter on "Trading Spaces" and NBC's "Three Wishes." He did talk shows, became an HGTV regular and learned design by accident. "I was put in some positions where I had to be creative," he said.

That's where we find him now: Each week, an HGTV expert advises the surviving "Challenge" contestants. In the finale, with only two couples left, its his turn.

"I love it when people have to initiate things," Oosterhouse said. "You see how they respond ... Some have great follow-through and some fail miserably."

The make-it-happen attitude reminds him of people he grew up with. "They have very hard-working, Midwestern values," he said.

Oosterhouse said he returns home often. He expects to catch part of the National Cherry Festival.

"Traverse City is super-important to me," he said. "I go back there as often as I can." And when he's there -- or in California -- he's often near the water.

Lots of Carter

-- Sunday: "$250,000 Challenge" concludes, 10 p.m., HGTV. The remaining couples - Marquez and Duverney - work on curb appeal and backyards.

-- June 28: "Green Home Giveaway," 8 p.m., HGTV.

-- Series: "Carter Can," 6:30 p.m. Thursdays and 11:30 a.m. Saturdays, HGTV; also, 1-2 p.m. Thursdays on DIY.

-- Did you know?: Oosterhouse is one of several CMU people on TV. Others include actors Jeff Daniels, Terry O'Quinn ("Lost") and Larry Joe Campbell ("According to Jim"), sportscaster Dick Enberg and Gary Hogeboom, the former quarterback who finished seventh in "Survivor," in 2005.

Text Only