“Hollywood Hi-Tech” shows how celebrities gadget up at home

We’re conditioned to think of celebrity homes as paragons of luxury, with all that space between the marble floors and vaulted ceilings being filled with state-of-the-art … well, everything. But none of that happens by magic.

Host Janna Robinson shows viewers how these playtime palaces really come together in Hollywood Hi-Tech, which airs Wednesdays on DIY Network beginning July 20. In it, she goes into stars’ homes and gives one room the ultimate technology makeover. While the famous clientele’s financial prowess does allow for higher-end equipment to be on display, Robinson says her show provides plenty of ideas for viewers to use in their own homes.

“You do see some aspirational things, but you also see things that anyone can afford,” she says. “That’s something that’s really important about the show. The idea is to show people how they can do this for themselves. What’s so great about the electronics industry is there’s such a vast array of products that can fit anyone’s budget.”

The clients include Entourage star Kevin Connolly, Rules of Engagement’s Patrick Warburton, Nancy O’Dell of Access Hollywood and Academy Award-winning film director Oliver Stone. Many of the stars are people Robinson has worked with over the years in her capacity as a lifestyle-technology expert.

Of all the participants, Stone might raise some eyebrows, since the director of Platoon, JFK and Natural Born Killers has the reputation of being a bit cantankerous — not your typical home-improvement-show kind of guy. But Robinson says her experience with Stone has been the complete opposite.

“He’s really more of a teddy bear, to me,” she says. “I’ve known him for several years now. I actually worked with him about five years ago on his home, so what was really cool was being able to update what I had done with him. Technology has obviously advanced since then.”

Viewers can expect to see plenty of pop-up information about the products they’re seeing, along with the tried-and-true dramatic makeover that takes a room that’s otherwise nondescript (relatively — these are celebrities we’re talking about here) and makes it into a home-entertainment heaven.