Billy the Exterminator and his brother Ricky travel to the Gulf Coast to help a family plagued by aggressive foxes and to aid in the clean up of the disastrous Deepwater Horizon oil spill, on Wednesday, July 28th at 10pm ET/PT *** Three Stars

By Robin Rowe

Billy, the "exterminator" who loves animals

HOLLYWOOD, CA (Hollywood Today) 7/28/2010 – “As an exterminator I’m called in to save families from animals causing major destruction,” says Billy the Exterminator star Billy Bretherton. “But sometimes, it’s the animals that need to be rescued from the destruction that people are doing to their natural habitats.”

From oiled sea turtles to a rescued dolphin, swamp gators to pelicans, the Billy and his brother Ricky witness first-hand the devastation the oil is causing to wildlife. Tonight Billy encounters angry oily raccoon and searches for anyone in Louisiana prepared to cope with a mammal that’s been harmed by the gulf oil spill. Birds and marine life yes, an angry raccoon ready to bite off a finger, not really.

“Billy is very different from the average exterminator because he is extremely animal friendly and compassionate,” says A&E VP of non-fiction and alternative programming Elaine Frontain Bryant. “He is fearless. In one show, his job was to get thousands of bats out of the holes in a baseball stadium. While other guys might poison them, Billy appreciates their purpose in the ecosystem…they eat their weight in mosquitoes every night…and goes to more effort to relocate them instead.”

Billy the Exterminator is often called upon to take care of Louisiana’s worst pest problems. Billy Bretherton runs Vexcon with the help of his brother Rick, his father Bill Sr., his mom Donnie who runs the offices, and his wife Mary. Although there are many pest control companies in Louisiana, Vexcon is the only one that handles all types of animal removal, from tiny ants to giant snakes.

“Shreveport, Louisiana is a hotbed for critters and bugs,” says Bryant. “It’s warm and muggy most of the year, so there is plenty of time for bugs and other nasty things to get real big. Its got poisonous snakes, rodents, alligators and any other creepy crawly things you can imagine in a rural setting. The flavor of the South really comes through in the show as well. It’s an area of the country we don’t see on TV that often, and that’s a lot of fun.”

“The show is based around Billy going out on jobs, but the family members are all involved in the business,” says Bryant. “The Brethertons are all awesome characters. Everything is right about them for a series…the organic way they work together, the accents and colloquialisms that add regional flavor and color to the show. We also really love the way they are truly helping people who are terrified of something that’s gotten into their home. Their actual family working situation has all the hallmarks of a great A&E show.”

Billy the Exterminator, once you get past the biker leather and Southern drawl, has a lot of heart. The charm of the show is that animals that would be typically be exterminated as pests are treated with care and relocated to a more natural environment. If you like Steve Irwin’s The Crocodile Hunter, you should check out this series on A&E.

Billy and his family business came to the attention of UK production company September Films after appearing on an episode of Dirty Jobs with Mike Rowe. Billy The Exterminator is produced for A&E Network by September Films, with Sheldon Lazarus as executive producer and Laura Halperin as co-executive producer. A&E executive producers are Robert Sharenow and Elaine Frontain Bryant.

Billy the Exterminator “Billy Goes to the Gulf” premieres on Wednesday, July 28th at 10p on A&E.

http://www.aetv.com/billy