Best dessert ever: A Shakopee couple went out to dinner and returned home to find a shiny new kitchen, courtesy of the new HGTV show Renovation Raiders.

Last winter, Peter Soderberg and his fiancee, Lauren Haverstock, went out for a long, leisurely dinner at Spill the Wine in Minneapolis.

When they returned and entered their Shakopee split-level, Haverstock was sure they were in the wrong house. "It was shocking and confusing to see a different kitchen and dining room," she recalled.

The couple's home had been raided and remodeled by an HGTV crew of contractors. Soderberg, wearing a big grin, was in on it. "Then I realized I was on TV," said Haverstock. "He pranked me."

At 8 p.m. Thursday, you can watch the Soderberg-Haverstock transformation and reaction on the entertaining new HGTV series "Renovation Raiders."

All eight episodes were filmed in the Twin Cities by Magnetic Productions, a Minneapolis cable TV production company. For local viewers, it's fun to see familiar suburban neighborhoods, green freeway signs with recognizable exit names and the Minneapolis skyline in the distance.

Like many cable home-improvement reality shows,"Renovation Raiders" has a gimmick to entice viewers. Homeowners leave for an extremely long dinner at a restaurant. Enter a crew of electricians,...