All language subtitles for The.Great.Christmas.Light.Fight.S12E03.1080p.WEB.h264-EDITH[EZTVx.to]

All: In three, two, one!

Let there be light!

Narrator: Christmas is going
to be tree-mendous...

Taniya:
That is a Christmas tree
made out of blow molds.

...as four families
with an eye for design...

Are those plastic bowls
as eyeballs?
Michael: Yes, they are.

Narrator: ...paint the town red
for the holidays...

Taniya: I feel like you
took a giant paintbrush

and just splashed lights.

...and judge Taniya Nayak...

Your name in lights.
Whoo!
Thank you for that.

...awards another
$50,000 prize.

Like nothing
I've ever seen before.

So hope you saved room
for dessert...

Lyle:
Welcome to our bakery.

How is this your house?

...because "The Great
Christmas Light Fight"...

This is gigantic!

...is on!

Is that one of your
favorite things?

[ Babbles ]

"Love it."
You love it.

-- Captions by VITAC --

♪♪

All: We're the Laakso family,
and we're nuts for Christmas.

Since this is
a "Nutcracker" theme,

we need to move
those nutcrackers

from the back
to the front.
Okay.

Christmastime, to me, means
making memories for the family.

It has to go in
a little further.

I've been doing my extreme
Christmas display

probably at least 20 years.

That looks good.
Let me move him a little.

Our display's kind of
an experience you can,

like, walk through.

There's, like, different layers,
and the more you look at it,

the more you realize
how good it is.

-This is my favorite.
-Yeah.

Jennifer: We've been coming to
my parents' house for Christmas

since the kids
were all very little,

but now that they're older,
they're part

of making the magical place.

Alright,
you got that side.

Can you take
the other side?

Everybody helps put up
the Christmas lights.

-Yeah.
-Yeah.

You don't really have
to loosen it that much.

Yeah, I just need to
pull it off.

My favorite part
of working on the display

would be the light wall.

Lisulo:
My favorite part is the roof.

You got to put all the
snowflakes in the right spot.

You got to space them out right.

Mwangala: Whenever I started
helping with the lights,

it kind of just, like,
amazed me

that Grandpa Jeremy
used to do this all by himself.

I'm really proud of him
for doing it for this long.

I think we're going to be
ready for Taniya tonight.

♪♪

[ Cheers and applause ]

Yes! Hi!

Hi, everybody.
-Welcome.

Wow. Fancy.

Trying to impress ya.
Well, we have
very classy lights,

and so we decided to dress
very classy.

Very classy.
Now, tell me who you are.

I'm Jeremy Laakso,
and this is my wife, Patricia,

and our beautiful daughters
and grandchildren.

So we have
generations here, huh?

A lot of kids. That means
there's a lot of lights.

Yep.

So, I am ready
to see it.

What do we need to do
to get it started?

My granddaughter Mwangala
is going to bring it,

dressed as Clara.

Patricia: We have
a "Nutcracker" theme going on.

Ooh,
a "Nutcracker" theme.

You look stunning.
Thank you.

Okay.
And this is the remote
to operate the lights.

All we got to do
is pull the lever up.

Okay. Y'all ready?
Woman: We're ready.

In three, two, one!

Whoo-hoo!
[ Cheers and applause ]

Whoa!

Yay!

It is sparkly.
It's bright.

Wow. And not just gorgeous,
it looks meticulous.

There's a combination
of playfulness and elegance

all rolled in one here.

Everything that I'm seeing,
from that giant orb

to the mega tree and the sheet
of lights back there.

This is absolutely
stunning.

I love it.

Do you guys want to go
take a look?

-Yes. Let's go.
-All of us?

-Alright.
-Let's go.

Yes. Wow, you guys.
Incredible job.

This is beautiful.

It is just a beautiful,
beautiful scene right here.

Where do we begin?

Let's just walk through
the soldiers here.

They kind of guard
the first path.

Taniya:
We are being greeted.

Are these something
you've had in the family
for a long time?

I got them
about 10, 12 years ago.
10, 12 years ago?

Yeah, I've been collecting
for very -- well, 30 years.

[ Chuckles ]
30 years.

Well, this sphere here --
all PVC pipes.

Do you know
how many pieces there are?

There's a lot.
A lot. A lot.

There's four controllers
that control the whole thing.

There's 6,000 pixels
on this sphere.

Incredible.

I noticed that you have
the lights

throughout the grass,
and I don't see wires.

I took chicken wire
and made wire frames.

Previously,
when I tried it,

the lights would all fall
into the foliage...
Okay.

...so I had to come up
with a way

that it would always
stay up.

Woman: They're all kind of
individual things, you see...

Oh, okay.
...and then you have
to connect them all.

I love how they just kind of
add a lot of substance

to the display.

Alright, Taniya,
let's show you

where things kind of
began for me.

Was in Orlando and saw the sign
"Ultimate Yard Ornaments."

I went there, and I
bought pretty well

everything he had
in his yard.

Taniya: Oh, you did?

That was kind of the start
of my extreme decorating.

I love how you phrased
that -- extreme decorating.

Then another thing is
this wall -- 15,000 pixels.

15,000 pixels.
15,000 pixels
on that wall.

Wow.
And it's made
from safety fence,

which I had to hand-punch
all the holes,

and I had to push the capsules
through each hole.

It's really
well worth it

because it takes up such
a beautiful backdrop over here,

and it really sets the tone
for the whole display.
Mm-hmm.

This is really tall.
How tall is it?
20 feet.

And how wide?
80 feet.

Gigantic.
Yeah, it is.

Did I see my name up there
in lights earlier?

Here we go.
"Merry Christmas..."
"Christmas."

"...Taniya."
Yay! [ Chuckles ]

Your name in lights.
Whoo!

And you spelled it
right, too.
Yes, we did.

I'm impressed.
[ Chuckles ]

Thank you for that.

Well, show me this gazebo.
This is beautiful.

If I had a dime
for every picture on Facebook

of this gazebo.

Taniya: Can you imagine
how many Christmas cards

have been made
right here?

We were married
in this gazebo.
[ Gasps ] You were?

Yes, we were.
Yes.

We built it especially
for our wedding.

So this has been a very special
place for people in love.
Aww.

The little children love
to run around, too.
Right.

Yeah, we have to rearrange
all these packages every night.

You do?
Oh, that's too funny.

Now I can really see
those snowflakes

up on the roof
beautifully.

The runners are magnetic
that I put down,

and also the snowflakes
have magnets.

Ah. Put it there,
and it's just -- it's on.

We use poles
to move them around,

and then we run
extension cords

to hook everything up
to a controller.

It looks so good,
and, again, it's so classy.

Good job.

Taniya:
What I am most impressed
about this display

is the fact
that there's a lot happening.

It's playful, it's fun,
it's elegant.

From this giant wall of lights
to that huge orb

that's changing colors,

you name it,
it's all on this display,

but it is so tastefully done.

That's not easy to do.

Being with you all
is, like, so much fun.

A little bit of "Nutcracker,"
a little bit of elegance,

and I'm not going to lie,
I did love seeing my name

on a wall of lights
that's 20 foot by 80 feet.

That was pretty special.
Jeremy: Well, thank you.

And I want to thank my family
for all the time and effort.

Well, we loved it,
and we love you.

Alright.
Love you, too.

I love you guys.
[ Laughter ]

Thank you.
I need to get going.

Let me call you a sleigh.

Oh, my gosh,
look at this.

Hi, Santa.
Oh, this is fun.

I love your reindeer.

Together: Merry Christmas.

Merry Christmas,
everyone.

-Bye.
-Bye.

Jeremy:
Loved having you here.

Whoo-hoo!
Let's go, Santa.

Patricia:
I miss her already.

Jennifer: She was great.
It was a good time.

-That was fun.
-That was fun.

♪♪

Hey, I'm Mike.
And I'm Lyle.

And we take vintage...

and make it new again.
And make it new again.

Is it not working?

Nope.

You don't even
have it plugged in, Lyle.

[ Laughs ]

Michael:
Growing up as a kid,

my family would take us
to the local nursery

where they would have
animated displays.

Now that I'm old enough
to be able to afford them,

we now put them
in our own yard.

The eyes are always
the hardest part to paint.

We have the largest collection
of animatronics,

all vintage, not brand-new
out of the box store.

She's fine.

Lyle: They can come to us
armless, legless, headless,

and he can restore it and turn
it into a brand-new piece.

Alright, so looks good.

Most people aren't even going
to know that this is spackle.

They're going to think
this is actual icing.

With Mike's
competitive personality,

he wants to make something
bigger and better every year.

Whenever I do something,
I play to win.

Our display
is absolutely obnoxious.

We have a 35-foot
blow-mold tree.

We have so many blow molds
in that thing,

it's, like, exploding
in our front lawn.

I think
we're just about done.

I think Taniya's
going to lose her mind

when she sees
what we have.

We have
so many elements

that she's probably
never seen before

on the 12 years
of this show.

She gets to see
a blow-mold tree.

She gets to see animatronics
that nobody else has.

[ Both laugh ]

[ Cheers and applause ]
Taniya: Hi.

Hello.

Hi.
-Hi.

Nice to meet
you guys.
Welcome.

Wow. You got a big crowd
tonight, huh?

We sure do.
Welcome, Taniya.
Yeah, rain or shine,

it doesn't matter,
does it?

Nope.
No, it doesn't.

I'm Michael.
And I'm Lyle,

and this is all of our friends
and our family.

Hi,
friends and family.

You guys look amazing.

Thank you.
So do you.

So, what am I going to see
today in your display?

We're hoping to show
you something you've
never seen before.

We have lots of vintage.
It's a static display...
Okay.

...but we have
some moving elements.

Alright, I like it.

Okay, are you guys ready
to see some lights?

Together: Yes!

The people
have spoken.

I think it's time.
Alright, Taniya.

Let's walk over here
and check it out.

Alright.
Well, Taniya...

What is this
contraption?

I have a very special present
for you tonight.

It's not as fancy as the one
you present to everyone...

Well, it's pretty nice,
I must say.

But we would like to give you
the honor

of actually finishing
our display

and screwing in
the very last lightbulb.

Yes. This is what's
going to turn it on?

Absolutely.
All you have to do

is just take this bulb and
screw it right into the socket.

Okay.
Want to trade?
Sure.

Umbrella
for a lightbulb.

So when we count down
from three,

what are we
going to say?

Let there be light.

Let there be light.

Here we go.

All: In three, two, one!

Let there be light!

Whoo!

Oh, my gosh,
you guys.

This is amazing.

Wow. I've never seen
anything like this before.

Never.
This is incredible.

Christmas tree made
out of blow molds.

And then you have the train,
all these amazing vignettes,

all of the animatronics.

This is incredible.

Well, I want to get in there.
I want to look at everything.

Do you guys want to come
and take a look with us?

Together: Yeah!
Let's go, then.
What are we waiting for?

Let's go.

Whoo-hoo!

Look at all of it.

What do you think?
I like the cat.

You like the cat?

Girl: Where's Happy?

-Happy.
-Well, there's Sleepy.

Come on, Taniya.
This way.

Taniya: Ah.
This is so cool

because it's not just
the animatronics,

which is amazing
in and of itself,

but even
the backdrop.

Michael: I actually
hand-painted this backdrop.
Did you?

I hand-paint most
of our backdrops

throughout
the entire display.

I actually end up painting
a lot

of the actual pieces
themselves.

Oh, you do?
Yes, we actually rehab
most of the things we find.

I just can't even stop staring
at this and all the detail.

An awesome, awesome
vignette.

As I walk through
your display,

I can really see
how much detail

is going into
every single thing.

We completely redecorate it
each year.
You do?

We will take the entire scene
out and change it each year

'cause I don't want anyone
to see the same scene twice.

It is working.

[ Singsong voice ] Candy.

It's a candy-cane forest

where they are chopping up
the candy-cane logs

and turning them
into little peppermints.

Peppermints.

These pieces don't look like
they did when we got them.

He restored them,
painted them.

Everything down
to their faces,

their clothing --
I've sewn everything.

It's amazing.

♪♪

So what do we have
here?

Lyle: We have
our tree houses here.

We have our foxes, and we also
have our family of...
Michael: Raccoons.

Wait, this is not
a real tree, right?

No, this is not.
It looks like
a real tree.

And I have never seen
a Christmas tree house before.

And it is so cool.
The fact that you have it

looking like it's notched in
to a pine tree is wild.

I'm super impressed.

We had to actually take
part of it apart in the back

to actually stretch it out,

to give this whole illusion
of it being this giant tree,

so we could hide all the
mechanisms in the back of it.

Can I see what that
looks like back there?

Absolutely.
Let's go check it out.
Yeah?

Get out of here.

Well, Taniya, this is
how we built our tree house.

Wow.
We have our panel
tree frame here.

We use some scaffolding
and some 4x4s

to kind of cantilever them
off the front,

give us that added height.

Then we have our straps
to the tree

to prevent them
from blowing over.

We took all the branches
out of the back,

as you can see from here,
and we kind of stretched them

to kind of make the full
illusion in the front.
Wow.

It's amazing.

♪♪

And then next we have
our blow-mold tree.

Taniya: I can't even believe
that you came up

with this genius idea
to build a tree with blow molds.

Michael:
It's just a little glimpse
of the inside of my brain.
Yes. [ Laughs ]

This is a one-of-a-kind.

I've never seen blow molds
used in this way before.

So we started with
a 30-foot panel tree frame.

We then started building
from the top down.

From the top down?
Top down.

Michael: Top down.
It's a jigsaw puzzle

without any
of the right pieces.

Do you have, like, a way
to get in there?

Is there one blow mold
that moves out of the way

so that you can climb in?

So right in here...

...we have
a hidden trap door.

It's like
a secret passageway.

So I can just climb in?
You sure can.

Just be careful.
Watch your head.

Okeydokey.

She's been doing
her yoga poses.

[ Laughs ] Whoa!

This is awesome. The tree
frame itself is pretty wild.

But, yeah, as you can see,
we do our best

to try and hide
every little spot.

It's wild to see how
you attach them all
with zip ties, right?

Yes, hundreds and hundreds
of zip ties.

The outside is
one magnificent thing,

but to see how you did it
is another thing.

Very cool. Alright,
I'm coming out, you guys.

You are little.
Can squeeze in there.

Oh,
that was awesome.

We got more to see.
Let's do it.

♪♪

So, the train.

The train came about
with another collection

we found of pieces,

and they weren't originally
supposed to be a train set...

Okay.
...but we turned them
into a train set.

Random pieces of wood
we had, and scrap metal,

an old fiberglass mold.

So cool.
We come on down.

The caboose.

We can see what
the elves are cooking up.
Ah.

It looks like they got
some cookies going.

It's so fun. Did you make
all the cookies and everything?

I actually piped out
all of the edges...
Wow.

...to actually make these
look like realistic
oversize cookies.

Taniya:
What'd you use for it?
Just joint compound.

[ Chuckles ]
It's a lightweight --

just put it through
a pastry bag,

kind of the same texture
as icing, but it's --

Mmm, tasty.
[ Laughter ]

Joint-compound icing.

And then you have all these
awesome animatronics,

and they're just so vibrant.
This is great.

We can head off to
the driveway to see more.

Okay, let's go.

Look at this.

This is like a whole
"Alice in Wonderland" scene.

Sure is.

Oh, my gosh,
it's beautiful.

Look at that.

Did you make that
with twigs and stuff?

Like, how did --

The actual cat
is all zip ties.
What?

That is zip ties
creating the fur?

Are those plastic bowls
as eyeballs?

Yes, they are.
[ Chuckles ]

The entire structure underneath
is built out of PVC pipe

that we melted to heat
into the right structure...
Okay.

...covered the
whole thing in carpet,

spray-painted
the whole thing.
So cool.

Lyle: So, Taniya, we tried
to save the best for last.

We got one more thing
to show you,

if you have the time.
I sure do.

Alright, let's go
this way.

So, Taniya,
this is our bakery.

Yeah, let's go.
Do you want to go inside?

Welcome to our bakery.

Look at this.
How is this your house?

Lyle:
Welcome to our bakery.

Taniya: Look at this.
What? What is it?

What? How is this
your house?

Oh, my God.

I'm, like,
looking at everything.

I didn't even notice this
in the middle, the giant cake.

Michael: We took the piping
you saw out on the cookies

to a bit more
of an extreme here,

and made all the cakes.
No kidding.

Wow. You have
a gingerbread factory.

We actually handmade
each gingerbread house

moving on each conveyor belt.

Stop.
This is so fun.

We wanted to give the effect
of them not being decorated

and then coming out
completely decorated.

And each one's an original,
different look.
Incredible.

So they're actually
on a belt,

and then they're going
down, recirculating,

and those are going --
it's just awesome.

And the timing of it
really works.

It's, like,
you nailed it.

It took a lot of time

to figure out the timing
on the two.

This is amazing.

We got Mrs. Claus
over here,

baking you up --
serving you some cookies.

Did you decorate
all of these yourselves?

I handmade
all of the outfits,

painted all their faces.

All of these pieces
in here look vintage,

but they were
just made this year.

I can't even believe that.
I love it.

Taniya: Cakes moving,
Mrs. Claus baking,

a gingerbread factory.

Everything just came to life,
and it was good enough to eat.

I had so much fun tonight
with Lyle and Michael.

This display was incredible.

The McCarty-Williamses
have definitely left

a sweet impression.

Wow.
I'll tell you what,

a little rain could not
put a damper on tonight.

You promised me
that I would see things

that I have never seen before,
and you came through --

the Christmas-tree
tree house.

Seen a tree house
before.

I've never seen
a Christmas-tree

tree house before.

Have I seen blow molds
before? Yes.

Have I seen a blow-mold
Christmas tree before? No.

We really enjoyed
just being able to show you

all of our skills and talent
and all the hard work

we really put into this.

And for you to enjoy it,

it makes it that much
more enjoyable for us.

You guys, thank you.
We'll see you.

Merry Christmas.
Merry Christmas.

Bye.
Bye.

Whoo-hoo! Wait.

[ Chuckles ]

Oh, my goodness.

I can't wait to see
if she comes back.

Let's get out
of this rain.

[ Chuckles ]

♪♪

All: We're the Hetheringtons.

And we shape lights
from above.

Start it about
right here,

get them sideways,
and just go straight down.

We own a landscaping service,
and we're contractors.

It's fun
doing Christmas lights.

And I can quickly design
something in my mind

and start laying it out.

Remember what we did
last time with the roof

running the lights?

This year I want to do that
on the ground.

And the nightmare begins.
[ Laughter ]

Our Christmas lights
are lawn lights

that are laid
on top of each other.

There's five different layers,
but they all go

in a different direction.

Alright, you got it
in the right line?
Yep.

He's the go-to guy for
his welding. He can weld.

Got about
50 more stars to go,

and you ought to be
alright.

It's going pretty good.

I can cut it,
pretty much bend it,

and I'll lay
everything out for him,

and then he welds it up.
Keep it up.

He doesn't cut it,
and he doesn't lay it out.

It's not exactly that way.

There's not so much a plan.

Michelle: We build
all of our things

except for the few inflatables
that you have.

Everything else they have
made here on the property.

Everything we have is out
on our lawn.

Everything that
I ever thought about is --

Put it all out there,
literally, on the lawn.

It's out, yes.
It's all out there.

♪♪

[ Cheers and applause ]

Hi.

Well, I am
so happy to see

your big, bright, shiny, sunny
smiles on this rainy day.

I'm Kevin.
Kevin,
nice to meet you.

This is my wife, Michelle.

This is
the Hetherington family.

Hi,
Hetherington family.

We are going to actually get
in this little lift truck.
Okay.

There's half-a-million lights
on each side, pretty much.

A lot of these lights
are in the ground.

You can see everything
from walking through,

it's no problem,
but you get a much better view

when you're up in the air.
Much better view.

I can't wait.
Shall we get it started?

Alright.
Yeah?
Alright, let's do it.

Alright, are you really
taking me up on this thing?

We are. Get your hat
on first. There we go.

I love it.

Alright, we got to have
our safety vest

so everybody
can see you.

Okay.

[ Engine starts ]

Ooh, ouch. [ Chuckles ]

Thank goodness
for these hard hats.

[ Laughs ]

[ People cheer ]

Whoa-oa-oa!

What do I need to do up here
to get it started?

All we got to do is push
this little red button.

Okay.
Here we go!

Together: In three, two, one!

Whoa-oa-oa!

Oh, my goodness.
[ Gasps ]

Together: In three, two, one!

Whoa-oa-oa!

Oh, my goodness.
[ Gasps ]

Your entire lawn
is covered.

Incredible.

Yes!

I just can't even believe
how perfectly straight

these lights are.

Wow.

And I see a mega tree.

You even have lights
on the roof dancing around.

No way.

Whoo-hoo!

Ah.

This is beautiful.

Look at that.

Amazing. Whoa.
[ Cheers and applause ]

Like nothing
I've ever seen before.

Nothing.
Thank you.
Thank you very much.

How do we get down
from this thing?

Ah! [ Laughs ]

Whoo-hoo-hoo!
I loved it from up there,

and I know I'm going to love it
from down here.

You guys want to come along
and take a look?

Woman: Yeah.
Come on. Let's go.

Whoo-hoo! Yes!

Oh, wow. I mean,
it's just as cool down here.

That was just the coolest
experience, to be able

to go up on the lift
and see all of this.

That was a good idea.
Well, thank you.

This is artwork,
what you did here,

using lights
as your medium.

I feel like you took
a giant paintbrush

and just splashed lights across,
you know?

Did you draw this out
on a computer

or by hand or anything?

No.

All of this stuff
is just his imagination.

He can envision things
and then make it come to life.

Proof is in the lights.

Yeah, and he changes
it every year.

Oh, you do?

I get bored too easy
looking at the same thing,

and so I was like, "Eh,
let's do something different."

Yeah.
Well, I love it.

You have everything out here.
You have inflatables.

But what really caught
my eye,

especially from up there,
was the rooftop.

All of the lights
on the roof are L.E.D.

Every color you see
is an individual strand.

I thought that they were
changing colors.

No.
Very cool.

♪♪

Taniya: Whoa.
How are you?

How's it going?
Okay, I got to say,

this little thing right here,
it is incredible.

This is one of my dad's
wild ideas.

Rebar is not something that
is a very flexible material.

So how do you bend it?

I actually built a tool...
Oh.

...that rolls this stuff out.
You get the circles.

There's a big, old crank,
and it rolls it up.

You welded it
all together?
Mm-hmm.

This is really spectacular.

Whoa!
This is gigantic!

How tall is that?
Kevin: 50 feet.

50.

How do you even
get up there

to build this
and create this?

We have a bucket truck.

Kind of like
what we were in earlier?
Yes.

I love it.
It's so fun.

Everywhere you look
on your property,

there's something
different to see,

and it all showcases
your artistic mind.

Taniya: Kevin's display was like
a painting on a canvas,

and seeing Kevin's display
from up in the air

did not disappoint.

It was huge.

Kevin is truly an artist,
and his art supplies are rebar,

PVC, and, of course,
Christmas lights.

That was amazing.

Guys, I really had
such a wild ride.

Literally, you guys put me
up on that thing.

Kevin, you're a man
of few words

but a man of great talent.
Truly.

It felt like
a painting coming to life

with Christmas lights.

It just makes me
proud of them --

all the time and energy
and effort they put into it.

It's nice to see him get
the recognition he deserves.

I loved what I saw.
So impressed with you.

Thank you.
Thank you so much.

Can I have a big hug?
Yeah.
Yes.

Aww. Alright,
Merry Christmas, you guys.

Merry Christmas.
Bye.

Oh, cool.
She called it artwork.

-Oh, yes.
-How cool is that?

♪♪

Both:
We're the Kittell family,

and we turn trash
into Christmas treasure.

Alright, we got to get
all these finished.

146 trees.

When a person comes
and sees our lights,

they're going to see
a very eclectic display.

You're going to see
mega trees

and a lot
of small trees

that I built out
of PVC pipe.

1 down, 156 to go.

You're going to see
dandelions

that I created
from water bottles.

And then I put it
through here.

We have a green wreath
that's made out of soda bottles.

A lot of the things you see
are reclaimed.

Barb: Here are the rest
of the milk jugs.

Thank you very much.

Keith: Everything you see
out there

has to be done
in a special way

to make it fit
in our budget,

so I build
a lot of the things.

I don't do it cheap,
I just do it inexpensive.

90% of what you see
out there, I built.

You're going to see
some things

that are just going
to knock your socks off.

Whoa! Hi!
-Hi.

Hello.
Can I have a hug?

Barb: Nice to meet you.

Nice to meet you.
Hi, everybody.

Hi. My name's Keith.

This is my wife, Barb,
and all of our friends.

Yes.
Hi, everybody.

Hi, cutie pie.

Say, "Hi."
[ Chuckling ] Hi.

I'll take that big smile.
[ Laughter ]

So tell me about
your display.

Each year, Barb comes up
with an idea,

and I make it happen.

But we built most of this
with our hands.

Oh, wow.
So you guys are some DIYers?

Yes.
I love that.

Ready to take you over
there so we can get
these lights started?

Yeah, you want
to get it started?
Alright, let's go.

Come on.
[ Cheers and applause ]

So, what do we do
with this?

We built
a candy-cane switch...

...and all you need to do
Ooh.

is turn on the power
and turn on the lights.

Y'all ready to do it?
[ Cheers and applause ]

Let's do it.

All: Three, two, one!

Whoa!
Oh, my gosh.

All: Three, two, one!

Whoo!

Whoa-oa-oa!

Whoa!
Oh, my gosh.

Keith, Barb.

Look at that archway.

Oh, my gosh.
And all these cutouts.

They look hand-painted.
Christmas trees everywhere.

Wow. And I am seeing
some DIY,

which I'm really
excited about.

A giant mega tree,
a big cross.

Incredible.

I'm ready to go
take a look.

I feel like we should
all get in there.

Let's do it.
Want to go in?

Come on.
Let's go.

Yeah,
this is awesome.

♪♪

♪♪

This is so grand.

You feel like a celebrity
walking through here.

So how do you do this?
How do you build these arches?

Keith: Three 10-foot pieces
of PVC pipe.

But what we do is I drive
this big PVC pipe down...

Okay.
...and then I put
that one in,

so now it's like this,
feed that one in, screw it,

then we put
the crossbeams in.

It didn't go unnoticed to me
that you painted them all red.

I like color.
I can tell
you like color.

And I noticed these right here
are very colorful.

How'd you get
that many milk cartons?

I went to the local dairy.
I said I wanted to buy 200.

And so then I cut them in half,
drilled holes in the lids,

and drove
landscape staples down.

Okay.
And so the lightbulb's
in there,

and that way
they stand upright.
Looks awesome.

I mean,
it's a really cool effect.
Yes.

And it's sturdy
and it's weatherproof.

We call it Liliana's Way...
Aww.

...so she always knows
the way to Grandma
and Grandpa's house.

Is that one of your
favorite things?

[ Babbles ]
"Love it."

You love it.

Oh, I love you.
Woman:
Speaking of Lili's Way,

it's time for us
to be on our way.

Can you blow a kiss?
Mwah.

See you later.
Aww. Thank you.

[ Chuckles ]

Bye.
Can we walk a little?

'Cause I want to talk
about these dandelions.

Because they are fun,
and I don't think

I've ever seen anything
like this before.

Is that water bottles?
Keith: Yes.

Each one has over
90 water bottles in them.

Cut the ends off.
Then I sliced them.

I designed a bracket.
It goes inside...
Yeah.

...and then I put
a light socket on top of it,

so I pop-rivet the cap in
and screwed --

And then you screwed
them back in.

Yep.
That's awesome.

I just like
the fact also

that you have it
on this PVC pipe

where it's specifically
moving in the wind.
Yes, yes.

And I can tell
that's by design

because you have
this larger one

and then the smaller one
in it

so it is allowing it
to move and bend,

which is very cool.
Gives it movement, and
it gives it enough stability

that it controls
the movement.
Yes.

'Cause if I just drove
the PVC pipe in --

It'd be all over the place.
Exactly.

Right. So smart.

You know, I noticed
that you have this wreath

and now I'm noticing a theme
with you guys.

There's a lot of DIY
and a lot of recyclables.

Tell me how
you made this.

Well, it's kind of the same
concept as the dandelions.

I cut the bottom
off green soda bottles...
Okay.

...spliced them up, moved them
to a metal frame inside.

Oh. Where'd you get
a metal frame like that?

Well, I taught metalworking
for a lot of years, so...

Ah, well, that comes in
handy, doesn't it?

Shop teacher.
Yeah.

And how big is it?
Four foot.

Four foot?
It takes two people
to get it up there.

Never seen a wreath made out
of recycled soda bottles.

It's kind of
who we are.
Yeah?

We like to invent things.
If Barb sees something,

she says, "Can you do that?"
And I said, "I think so."

Yeah.
It might take
a year or two,

and I finally
come up with it.
Figure it out.

Come on. We got more to see.
We only just started.

[ Chuckles ]

The whole yard is covered.
Covered.

Hey, this is more recycled.

Ah, good.
What is this?

We volunteer
at a food pantry,

and they're taking
all of their TV antennas down.

And I walk by and I said,

"What are you going to
do with those?"

Did you know right away
when you saw it...

Yes. Oh, yeah.
...what you wanted
to do with it?

It just -- I said, "Oh,
this is going to be awesome."

Oh, yeah.
First thing to do --

had to figure out
how to put it in the ground.
Okay.

I went to a welder
and I said,

"I want a piece
that's this wide

and comes down
and it forks out."

And he made me three of them,
and I set them in.

And then I put concrete in
so it stays there.

So this thing
ain't going nowhere.
No.

This is awesome.

This is so beautiful,

and it has such presence
in your display.

Keith: This is
one of our first sets

that we bought
after we got married.
Oh, wow. Nice.

And so we've had it for
probably close to 40 years

or maybe
a little bit more.

Incredible.
They've held up well.

The stable --
recycled wood.
Yep.

We had a bad storm here
two years ago,

and it blew
our gazebo down.

So I took the pieces
of the wood.

Turned it into a crèche.

Okay, and it looks great.
And you know what?

It wouldn't feel right
if it wasn't a little patinaed

and a little aged,
so that's great.
Little rustic.

It's amazing.

The Kittell family's display
was filled with ingenuity, love,

DIY, so many fun elements.

Somehow, Keith found a way
to incorporate milk cartons,

recycled bottles, and a recycled
broadcasting antenna.

That's ingenuity.

What a tour.

You guys put a lot of work,
a lot of heart,

a lot of soul into your display,
and I can feel it.

Barb comes up
with some fun idea,

and you will
figure it out.

DIY is meaningful to me.

It's my happy place
when I design these things

and I build them and stuff.

And when you do something
like this out in the open,

you're sharing.
Yes.

But it's nice
to have someone come in

and really look at it
and say, "Wow."

Well, I had so much fun.
Thank you both.

Keith and Barb's display
was filled with so much love.

Can I get a big hug
before I go?
You can.

But I've seen four
incredible displays,

but only one can be the champion

of "The Great
Christmas Light Fight"

and take home $50,000
and the trophy.

Thank you. Merry Christmas.
Merry Christmas.

Both: Bye.
Bye!

Barb: Whoo.
Merry and bright!

Keith: That was fun.
That was fun.

Let's do it again.

Narrator: Want to throw
your Santa hat in the ring

for another season?

Apply now at abc.com/casting.

♪♪

♪♪

[ Snaps fingers ]

[ Engine starts ]

[ Ting! ]

This competition has brought
Christmas magic to life.

All: Three, two, one!

[ Cheers and applause ]

Taniya: The Laakso family
from Titusville, Florida,

decked the halls and walls

with an elegant
postcard-perfect display.

Patricia: We were married
in this gazebo.
Jeremy: Yes.

You were?
Yes, we were.

Taniya: Their 20-foot-tall,
15,000-pixel curtain of lights

took Christmas to new heights.

Your name in lights.
Whoo!

And you spelled it right, too.
I'm impressed.
Yes, we did.

[ Laughs ]

All: Let there be light!
[ Cheers and applause ]

The McCarty-Williams family
from Pitman, New Jersey,

created a vintage
animatronic wonderland

like the most festive department
store windows I've ever seen.

The actual cat is all zip ties.
What?

And that one-of-a-kind
blow-mold tree

absolutely blew me away.

It's just a little glimpse
of the inside of my brain.

Yes. [ Laughs ]

All: Three, two, one!

Taniya: Whoa!

The Hetherington family
from Crawford, Texas,

lifted my Christmas spirit

with a geometric light show
that was totally unique.

All of this stuff is just out
of his head, his imagination.

It was like Santa took a
paintbrush of lights to the lawn

and left his mark
with every stroke.

This is beautiful.

All: Three, two, one!

The Kittell family
from Chester, Illinois,

bottled up their love
of Christmas

and recycled it to shine bright
throughout their yard.

It's kind of who we are.
We like to invent things.

Taniya: Their innovative DIY
reusing plastic bottles and jugs

proved that one person's trash

can be turned into
a holiday treasure.

Okay!
You love it!

Santa, that's it
right up there.

And now one
very deserving display

is about to get a new piece
for their collection.

♪♪

Okay, hit it, Santa.

[ Horn plays "Jingle Bells" ]

Thank you.
Merry Christmas.

♪♪

Hi, Mike.
Holy jingle bells.

[ Laughs ] Hi, Mike.
How are you?

Hello, Taniya. How are you?
I'm good.

Would you go get Lyle
and meet me outside?

Oh, my gosh, Lyle.
You got to see this.

Oh, my gosh.
This is crazy.

Wow.
Hey!

I almost didn't recognize you
two without your costumes on.

Oh, my gosh, we didn't
recognize you dry.

We had some rain.

We did.
Oh, my gosh,
it was a monsoon.

Well, your restored
vintage display

could restore even Scrooge's
love for Christmas.

And that is why
you're the champion

of "The Great
Christmas Light Fight"!

And the $50,000
is yours.

Yeah!
Yeah!

That's amazing.

Oh, my gosh,
this is incredible.

In a million years,
we never thought

we would be able
to put on something this big

to the point that we would be
at the level to win this.

I mean, the things that I saw
in this display blew my mind.

You took elements that I've seen
in other displays,

like blow molds,
but you used them in a way

that was so unique
and creative and different.

I loved your animatronics
and how you displayed them.

The Christmas-tree
tree house --

another something
I've never seen before.

I was obsessed.

When we went into
the bake shop,

it was unique,
it was different.

I mean,
there is no question

that you pulled out
all the stops,

and the level of artistry that
you put into this is next-level.

I just -- It's just nice
to finally have a platform

that I can show off
my talents.

Like, there's lots of shows
out there

where you can go onstage
and show a talent

in like a minute
or two minutes.

My talent's something
you literally need

to take time to paint it,
put it together, build it.

And this show gave us
the opportunity

to be able
to show that off.

Oh, my gosh.
Actual little teardrops.

Oh, my gosh, thank you.
Aww! That means so much.

It means so much that you're
able to show off your talent.

Thank you.
Thank you.

I know your yard
is packed,

but do you think you'd have room
for one more thing?

Oh, there's always room
for more.

Yeah. Alright,
I'll be right back.

Got a little
something-something for you.

Yay!

Yes!
Both: Yeah!

Here you go.
Congratulations.

Yeah!
Yes!

"The Great Christmas
Light Fight" is the validation

that, like, all of this time,
work, energy

that we put into this
was all worth it.

We started out with,
you know, a little display,

and it's grown into
this grand spectacular

that everyone can enjoy.

This is awesome.

I think we should
do Halloween.

[ Laughs ]

No, we're not
doing Halloween.

Before I go, I would love
to go back to the bakery.

Well, I heard Mrs. Claus
is making some cookies.

Is that
what I'm smelling?

Oh, my gosh,
let's go check it out.
Let's go.

Ah! So excited.

Let's get in there.
I smell cookies.

I do too.

Smells so good
in here.

Hey, Taniya, how about a new
cake topper for us up here?
Yes!

Take it off.
Oh, my gosh,
it'll be the perfect spot.

Perfect.

Let's look at this.

Yeah!

Both: Whoo! Yeah!

This is amazing, and I
can't think of a better spot.

Yes! Oh, yeah!

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪