Billy the Exterminator


Billy the Exterminator is an American reality television series which aired on the A&E network.
The show followed the professional life of William "Billy" Bretherton, an expert in the field of pest control and the proprietor of Vexcon Animal and Pest Control in Benton, Louisiana, which serves the Shreveport-Bossier metropolitan area. Bretherton, a former Senior Airman in the United States Air Force, had previously been featured on the Discovery Channel's Dirty Jobs series on the season 1 episode "Vexcon", and the season 2 episode "Termite Controller". Both previously and in his current show, Bretherton is known for his unusual fashion style, consisting mostly of Goth-like black garments with large silver jewelry and steel studs and spikes in various configurations.
Many members of Bretherton's family, such as his parents, "Big" Bill and Donnie, and his brother, Ricky, as well as other employees, make frequent appearances. Donnie Bretherton normally acts as Vexcon's dispatcher and rarely goes out on jobs. Ricky's ex-wife, Pam, resigned during the production of the first season.
As noted in many episodes, Bretherton prefers, if at all possible, to relocate captured animals and is a proponent of natural methods of control. He frequently gives a description of the pests, their preferred environment, and any diseases associated with them. Ricky Bretherton acquired an allergy to bee and wasp stings due to being stung so many times. However Ricky recently found that this allergy has somewhat vanished/subsided as of 2015.
Billy Bretherton entered the United States Air Force at age nineteen intent on a career in law enforcement. However, his military entrance examination indicated that he had an aptitude for biology, and he was sent to study both biology and entomology. His extermination career began in earnest while stationed at Nellis Air Force Base in North Las Vegas, Nevada.

Show history

"Back in 2004 Pilgrim Films contacted us and wanted to shoot a pilot for Discovery Channel reality pest control show", said Bretherton. "They had interviewed about 200 different companies and found us and liked us. They sent scouts out that rode around with us for a day, made the determination that we would be good for filming, and we ended up on Dirty Jobs with Mike Rowe". The Spike network was also approached about picking up the series.
Originally called The Exterminators during its first season in 2009 on A&E, the show was renamed Billy the Exterminator before the second season. The title change is reflected in repeats of season one episodes.
Beginning in the show's fourth season, the Bretherton brothers go to various places throughout the United States to assist with local exterminators and wildlife rescue services in the removal of local vermin and wildlife, in addition to tending to a few jobs back in Louisiana. The program's opening credits have also been redone to better reflect Bretherton's attitude; the new credits omit Bretherton's wife, Mary, who resigned during the show's first season.
The show's fifth season ran from February 11, 2012 to March 10, 2012, with two new episodes on Saturdays at 10PM ET. The show's sixth season began October 6, 2012, in the same timeslot. On December 15, 2012, the show's sixth season timeslot moved one hour ahead to 11PM ET.
In late 2012, Bretherton left Vexcon because of personal family issues and moved to Illinois; officially ending the show after six seasons.
In October 2015, Billy's brother Ricky started hosting a YouTube series titled Vexcon The Exterminators.
In 2016, Corus Entertainment and Proper Television began airing an original series starring Billy Bretherton for CMT in Canada titled Billy Goes North. The show premiered in the United States on April 5, 2017 as the seventh season of Billy The Exterminator.

Vexcon team

DVD releases

There have been four seasons of the show released on DVD. Season five is available on instant video online.
DVD NameNo. of
episodes		Run time
Release
Billy the Exterminator Season One13286December 21, 2010
Billy the Exterminator Season Two21487December 21, 2010
Billy the Exterminator Season Three17397June 28, 2011
Billy the Exterminator Season Four12256April 24, 2012
Billy the Exterminator Season Five11400March 7, 2014