Cable networks each have brands they have developed over the years. Three new reality shows with strong Atlanta ties follow each of those network’s distinctive DNA.
For Discovery, whose audience tends to skew male, Suwanee’s Matt Paxton hunts for gold amid junk in “Filthy Fortunes.” TLC, which has featured little people on multiple shows over the years, brings us “Jay & Pamela,” two little people from Canton. And Hallmark+’s streaming service pushes emotional buttons with its first home makeover show, “Home is Where the Heart Is,” featuring families in metro Atlanta.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution spoke to personalities from each show.
Credit: DISCOVERY
Credit: DISCOVERY
Discovery’s “Filthy Fortunes”
How to view it: 10 p.m. Sundays on Discovery and on demand on Discovery+
Who hosts: Suwanee resident and Richmond, Virginia, native Matt Paxton, best known for his 15 seasons on A&E’s “Hoarders” but also hosted five seasons of the PBS show “Legacy List with Matt Paxton”
What’s the show about: Paxton and his crew go to a deceased person’s home to clean it up and find value among the detritus. Family members of the homeowner — usually a baby boomer or a member of the Greatest Generation — hire Paxton to make the place sellable. Paxton will sell everything from guns and cars to stamps to scrap metal and split the proceeds after a cleanup fee.
Paxton’s pitch: “It’s ‘American Pickers’ meets ‘Hoarders.’ It’s not a difficult concept. It’s what I do in the real world. It’s a treasure hunt, and we’ll sometimes find cool stuff.” (His business is called Clutter Cleaner, and he travels all over the country.)
Time flies: “I pitched the show back in 2011 and Discovery passed. Here we are in 2025 and they said yes. Of course, it’s a new team there.”
What’s hot on the sales side: “We’re finding Atari 2600s (video games consoles) and incredible vinyl and vintage 1970s and 1980s clothes. People want furs again. Jewelry has never been hotter. Gold is through the roof. Grandma’s costume jewelry often has a lot of gold in it.”
TLC’s “Jay and Pamela”
How to view it: 10 p.m. Tuesdays on TLC, available on Max the next day
What’s the show about: The show follows Canton-based Jay Manuel and Pamela Chavez, a couple who both suffer from osteogenesis imperfecta type 3, which is also called brittle bone disease. Jay is a 28-year-old music producer and Pamela is a 30-year-old customer service agent. They live in Jay’s parents’ home and during last year’s taping were preparing to get married.
How they met: Pamela caught Jay hosting a web series and liked what she saw.
“Our first conversation on the phone was two hours,” Jay said. “We were pretty much locked in after that. We had a lot of commonalities outside of the disability we share. We share music interests and a similar sense of humor. We really are best friends. Then it developed romantically.”
Pamela: “I haven’t laughed so much with someone before.”
Parental estrangement: Pamela’s parents, who live in Kansas City, Missouri, have had a hard time accepting that Jay is a transgender man. They have yet to visit Pamela in Georgia. “There will always be love there,” Pam said. “It’s new to them. It has been different because of who Jay is.”
Jay on being trans: “I’m just big leaning into that authenticity and being myself. I’m very grateful I have the opportunity to do that and the platform to do this. I don’t take this for granted.”
Living challenges: Pamela and Jay need to travel in wheelchairs. They can break a bone just changing clothing or bathing. Combined, they have broken more than 200 bones in their lifetimes.
Hallmark+’s “Home is Where the Heart Is”
How to view it: Available on Hallmark+. The first two episodes can be seen now with additional episodes every Thursday for the next month.
Who is on the show: Atlanta designer Olivia Westbrooks and Luke Macfarlane, a veteran actor who has helmed 14 Hallmark movies but is also an interior designer and carpenter. Macfarlane is also an executive producer.
What the show is about: Over six episodes, the pair renovate rooms in different houses around metro Atlanta with a focus on how the changes will impact families who care deeply about the homes. “Someone is giving the key to their house,” Macfarlane said. “We don’t want to mess it up.”
Why Macfarlane did this show: “I have this interest in woodworking. It’s something I do and something I love. I wanted to showcase this other part of myself.”
The classic home renovation reveal: “I was nervous every time whether they liked what we did,” Macfarlane said. “We wanted to capture authentic reactions. Fortunately, every episode, I was genuinely relieved people liked it.”
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