How many home remodeling reality shows do we need? (1 Viewer)

[Wayne Bundrick]

I used to watch Yankee Workshop. You could be sure that no matter what Norm was building, somewhere he would need to use a "biscuit" to hold it together.

But a show where a master craftsman builds a piece of furniture is a far cry from the "we're going to remodel this person's house while he's/she's not home and the decor will be based upon our screwed up perspective of his/her personality" shows.

If somebody did that to me, my reaction would be like Chris Farley on SNL when they told him they secretly switched his coffee to decaf.

 

[Michael Harris]

Don't forget "Knock First" for the teen set. I feel dirty just knowing of the existence of that show.

 

[Philip_T]

I cant wait for the day my wife's interest in these shows dies off. I was fine watching some of them at 1st, but now it is out of control. When I recently wanted to to switch from satellite to cable (purely for HD reasons), her 1st question was "will we get hdtv and TLC?". Trust me, if Im gonna make an attempt to make a switch, Im gonna make sure we get those 2, otherwise, no deal. The survivor style one mentioned above sounds kinda kooky to be honest though. May have to check it out.

My sentiments exactly.

 

[Patrick Sun]

I used to like watching Yankee Workshop, but soon enough, equipment envy got the best of me, and I just couldn't watch it anymore...

 

[ChuckSolo]

I absolutely abhorr reality TV, mainly because it is NOT really "reality." A total waste of time IMHO. Reality TV should stick to sports programming. "Survivor" and especially "American Idol" gall the heck out of me. More so "Idol" because it shows how stupid a lot of people really are. As a musician, I feel for the slobs who have absolutely NO talent whatsoever and think that they do. It pains me everytime my wife tunes into it. Happily I can adjourn to the bedroom and watch something else. But to answer the question in the original post.......as few as possible.

 

[andrew markworthy]

Just be grateful you don't live in the UK, where they're on practically 24/7. A lot of the US programmes you guys are complaining about were originally British.

Britain has always had a fair number of DIY ('do it yourself' - our term for home remodelling) programmes. In part this stems from the post-war years, when we were financially pretty poor but with lots of social aspirations, and stylish decor on the cheap was the order of the day. Programmes showing you how to do this were eagerly lapped up, but they knew their place - outside peak viewing and limited in number.

In recent years, however, the DIY programme has mushroomed for several reasons:

(i) it's cheap to make. Redecorating a room and filming it is cheap compared with e.g. filming a drama or even a soap opera episode.

(ii) the lobotomised general public can easily follow the programmes; so much better than the elitist rubbish that used to be on (e.g. did you know that the BBC used to broadcast an original play every week?).

(iii) aspirational social climbers like the programmes so they can (God help us) get tips on how to redecorate their houses (before you accuse me of being a snob, you should see some of the stuff that's produced)

(iv) social snobs like the programmes because they can mock the people who go on them

And if it's not home remodelling it's stuff in a similar vein:

(i) garden makeovers(generally DIY carried on out of doors)
(ii) food porn (sorry, I mean cookery programmes)
(iii) reality TV following groups of publicity-seeking morons trapped in a house with no contact with the outside world (admittedly this gets the idea *half* right).

I've almost totally given up on Brit TV. It's lowest common denominator pap and when money is lavished on something it's typically an unimaginative remake of a classic novel.

 

[Peter-PP]

There is a new Trading Space:Home Free starting next month on Sundays. It is the "eliminating" type show where HOs will be booted out and the winning HOs will get their mortgage paid.

 

[DanielKellmii]

What is the difference between a reality show and a documentary?

How about a new reality show about a guy fixing up his house while the kids are running around, the wife is complaining about not enough "quality time" and you going to home depot for the 3rd time that day.

"Honey, I am using a circular saw, can you keep the kids out of the garage for awhile? ..... What? You need to fold the clothes... OK, but I don't think amputation is a possible consequence of getting in my way. "

 

[Lee L]

Don't forget there is a full complement of shows on BBC America.

House Invaders
Changing Rooms
Ground Force
Homefront in the Garden (the best show EVER!!!)
House Doctor
Life Laundry

Probably some more I forgot.

 

[Jeff Gatie]

"Hi! I'm Norm and I'm here to show you how to make this elegant rolltop desk. Step one, spend $100,000 on a custom workshop and $50,000 on tools. Are you done? Okay, step two ..."

 

[Michael Hughes]

This Old House became irrelevant when they started remodeling $2mill homes, thats not much of an old house is it?

Trading Spaces had the right idea with a cheap redo with some good fun design characters and a perky host. But they suffered from Millionaires disease and overexposed it. Now it seems redundant and boring.

Design on a Dime is a ripoff of Trading Spaces with a more boring crew. But HGTV has to provide you with content for design shows, they are a home remodeling design network and is The Learning Channel and to some extent Discovery.

I like these home improvement shows they offer some good clean fun and alternative to the real world theatrics on the news and people based reality shows.

 

[MickeS]

I find most of them generic but fun.

I used to watch "Decorating cents" a lot with my wife, when they redid a room without showing the homeowners. When the new season started, they had redone the show so it was like all other stupid remodeling shows where they introduce the homw-owners, talk to them, they have a carpenter on hand, and they do the boring reveal at the end.

Actually, this is how Decorating Cents was when it started out years ago, but they quickly dropped it in favor of more time spent talking about the decorating ideas and such. Now that evey other show is doing it, I guess they felt the need to do it too. Too bad, because I don't care for it that much anymore because of that. Joan Steffend is still a great host though.

 

[Jerome Grate]

I have to say, thanks to some of these shows, I was able to re-decorate the kitchen and den while my wife and son was gone for 4 months for their transplant surgery. I enjoy most and hate some.

Likes:
Design on a Dime
Hometime (my personal favorite since it was their video that helped me finish my basement)
Before & After (wishful thinking show)
Mission Organization (forgot to mention this one)
House Detective
Divine Design (some really good ideas from that show, but in the words used to describe one of Deuce Bigelow's date "That's a huge B.... )
Weekend Warriors that a real show with real people.
Kitchen Renovations, (after my renovation, I'm hooked)

Dislikes:
Trading Spaces (well I like the designer with the big boobies that look like an earth child)
Changing Rooms
Landscapers Challenge (I just cut the grass, I don't mold it)
Designer's Challenge (not enough how to info just some rich people that have big bucks to spend)
Weekend Handyman, good show, just don't like the guy.

 

[MickeS]

I agree 100% about this one. While it's fun to compare the three different designs and guess which one they'll choose, it's always annoying to hear stuff like "and they have to complete the bathroom remodelling on a budget of $50,000 dollars. Will the designers step up to the challenge?".

 

[David WS]

There is also:

Debbie Travis' Facelift. (She's OK somtimes goes over the top.)
Dream House (this is not on very much but intesting when it is.)


Candice (Divine Design) and Michael (Designing for the sexes) are the best designers on TV.

Everybody on Trading Spaces are the worst designers on TV.

My wife finds EVERY decorating show and adds a Season Pass on the DirecTivo for it. We could definately stand to lose 2/3rds of these shows.

I can't watch Joan Steffand on Design on a Dime because she used to be a local anchor on KARE 11 (NBC). It always feels like she is faking it on her show. Must be because I got used to her being in the News vs "entertainment".

 

[MickeS]

Definitely, especially Michael. I don't necessarily agree with what the clients wants, but he always delivers spectacular designs. I don't think I've seen him do a single bad room (based on the requests of the home owner).

 

[JasonALL]

I'm proud to say that my wife has finally burned out on watching them. In the past, it was nothing but home makeover shows all day each weekend. I think that she eventually learned that her sitting around watching them wasn't going to make it magically happen around the house.