HGTV Shows

[Imperfect1]

I'm so glad to have found this thread! I have become addicted to House Hunters, and sometimes House Hunters international..but not so much. I love this show but I get so annoyed at many of the picky, entitled buyers....I guess it's possible they are told to act this way but I'm sometimes astonished and appalled. I remember buy my first house as a wife and almost a first time mom. We knew what we could afford, along with our hand-me down furniture/or Salvation Army furniture and took the one that fit us the best. Would have never NOT bought a house because of paint color, regular old kitchen, or some of the other really dumb things these people complain about. Always having to have granite counter tops??? I was happy to have somewhat decent counter tops at all!
I still love the show but really don't love the buyers. Do you think it's all scripted to look that way?

Ha ha ha Dragonlady! I feel the same way, in fact, sometimes when the buyers are particularly annoying, I just MUTE the screen and just watch the buyers go through the houses. For me, it's mostly about the property, and I vicariously 'look for' houses/condos/apartments through the eyes of these buyers. When the properties are awful (and a lot of them are) I will sometimes just fast-forward through those segments, and when they're wonderful (which they often are, too), sometimes I'll go back and look at them again in slow-motion. (That's the beauty of TIVO and other DVRs -- you can do that! I guess I'm getting old and crotchety cause I don't have the patience to sit through stuff I don't want to watch (e.g. commercials and 'bad' tv) -- so now I TIVO pretty much everything that I watch.)

PS There was a bit of an exposé about House Hunters recently, in which it was charged that 'real life' is somewhat altered and is not what it seems on the show. This is one of the few times that on reality tv, I really don't care so much, because I'm not as interested in the 'storyline' as I am more interested in the property itself -- UNLIKE a show like, for example, Breaking Amish, where the storyline is so much more important, but apparently the TLC powers-that-be have completely misrepresented the truth of the situation.

[Debb70]

I have become to like HH International more than the regular one. It seems more real and interesting.

I recently caught a couple of episodes of Candice Olsen's Decorating show. I used to love her and everything she did. Unfortunately, she has changed her show. There was too much focus on Candice and her assistants and not the room designing.

They had a fake scene about getting the rooms to remodel mixed up and then all this banter about a tennis match. Then they had a tennis match. What? IT was so silly and not amusing at all IMO. Her designs are great, so why not focus more on them? There are things she could add to spice up the show without making the silly comedy routine. I'll bet her entire new season is full of that junk. I'll check out one more and if it's like that too, I'll pass on her from now on.

[Eastcoastmom]

Debb, I caught one episode of Candice's new show and didn't like it that much, either. A little banter goes a long way.

Dragonlady, yes, as Imperfect has said, there was an exposé recently about the House Hunters shows. It is all totally scripted and the buyers have already bought their homes and have moved in. In some instances, in the HHI shows, the ex-pats have even lived in their newly "adopted" country for several years! Still, I watch it for the real estate porn. I love to see how different areas of the country live, what real estate prices are going for, etc. Still cannot believe how much house you can get in Texas for fairly little money.

Fans of the HH shows love to snark on these entitled home buyers. They have to have the 'holy trinity' in their homes, which is hardwood, granite counters, and open concept. I guess it is okay if you are on your second or third house, but these twenty-something year olds are unrealistic as to what they expect in a first home. My current home is 63 years old and the home I grew up in was built in the 1920s. We were lucky each bedroom had a closet, let alone walk-ins. Each room was self-contained as there was no such thing as an open concept. We had one bath on the second floor and a make shift toilet in the basement furnace room, for emergencies. One bathtub for 4 people. In my current home, we have widened most of the openings from room to room but did not take walls down completely. It gives a feeling of openness but allows me more wall space to place furnishings. Plus, I realized that all along I had been incorrectly calling my en suite bathroom a "master bath." I never heard of the term "en suite" before I started watching HGTV. So, I take it with a grain of salt. Some of the folks are worse than others but I do love seeing the homes and different communities and lifestyles.

[Arielflies]

Did any of you catch the latest edition of All American Handyman? Mike and Scott were once again the judges and there was a new woman as host. She looked like Jillian (Bachelorette and Designer) who hosted the Canadian version. This year rather than cold, cold New York, they held the competition in LA under blue skies. Sonne, a woman!!! WON!

I liked the show last year and I really liked it this year.

There was a marathon of Candace's new take on a design show last Saturday. This is the second season with the format - Candace Tells All. I do like the light-heart banter and the shopping trips, but I do miss her sitting at her desk drawing a space plan and searching the drawers for material samples. The last episode two guys from her previous series, Terry, the sewer and Chico, the electrician made guest appearances as specialists helping out. Rudy, her long time carpenter still works for her, but she has new production/design assistants.

They are trying to disguise Property Brothers by giving their show a new title, Buying and Selling, and a new format. I still don't like them. I wonder if David will film any episodes of his show for this season? He has become the network's Clive. Last Friday night I accidentally ran into another episode of The White Room Challenge - the short lived show that was on before Design Star began. Once again, David was host and mentor.

They are also showing Chris Lambton giving yard tips then an advert saying his show is on Saturdays at 5/4 Central. Well, no...it's not. I think their first season ended toward the end of July. It is so odd that they are showing those tips with a "watch the show, Going Yard."

Anyway, as you can probably tell, HGTV is my go to station for passive viewing. I set my cable box to open to that channel whenever I turn on the TV.

[Dragonlady]

Imperfect1 & Eastcoastmom, we are all in sync here regarding this show. Although I do get impatient with these picky buyers, I really watch because I get to see inside lots of homes. I love house hunting, as long as I don't have to do it in real life because I absolutely need to.

I guess I'm mostly surprised at the really young folks who are so picky, remembering my first homes when money was at a minimum, esp in So Cal where they cost so much. So I'm probably just a cranky old lady who says, "Back in my day.............."

But it's surely very scripted. In fact, I once saw one located in a neighboring city and there was a friend of mine and I know she's not moving and lives in a huge house that she loves. She told me that she got asked to appear, along with others that worked for a mortgage company. The house had been already sold and none of it was real except the viewers got to see a very historical house.
I like to guess which one they will pick and I'm usually wrong each time.
Almost forgot to mention that I'm in the process of buying, installing one of Candice Olson's wallpapers....it's really gorgeous.

[Bearcata]

When I see how large some of these houses are and the finishes they have and hear the couples complain I just want to hit them.

Don't like Candice's new shows and the crappy banter with her crew.

Luv'd the mini marathon of the latest Sarah's House where she improved on a builders house in the 'burbs. Still I would like to see her renovate a house that is less than 3,000 sq ft and more affordable for those of us who cannot afford an $800,000 home.

[coltnlasma]

I caught a bit of an episode of Candice's show recently, too. She was talking so much to everyone about a gift for her husband -- I didn't realize this was her new format, but agree that it's distracting. I couldn't even tell you anything now about the room she was doing, but that extra banter still sticks with me. I don't want that in a decorating and design show.
Sarah's House is my fav, although I rarely seem to catch her shows. Bearcata, I'm jealous that you found a mini marathon. Will have to seek that out as it sounds like a good one.

[inthegarden]

They are also showing Chris Lambton giving yard tips then an advert saying his show is on Saturdays at 5/4 Central. Well, no...it's not. I think their first season ended toward the end of July. It is so odd that they are showing those tips with a "watch the show, Going Yard."

I like Going Yard but I was hoping for a show that involved more planting design and tips. There are already shows on HGTV that show the same type of work. You have many homeowners that can't afford hardscapes and just need ideas on what, where and how to plant and how to take care of the softscape once it is planted. Also, there are many people who don't have a yard and depend on containers and pots for their landscape.

[candor]

Fans of the HH shows love to snark on these entitled home buyers. They have to have the 'holy trinity' in their homes, which is hardwood, granite counters, and open concept.

That's so true ... with stainless steel appliances. I think it shows a total lack of imagination on the buyers' part. They want it because everybody else has it. But granite is already on its way out, and hopefully it will be followed by pedestal sinks (where do you put your stuff when you're getting ready?!).

If I want to see the next thing in design I watch Jeff Lewis' show. I love what he does with figures and paint. But I can't find his fixtures anywhere -- certainly not at Home Depot.

[Bearcata]

I caught a bit of an episode of Candice's show recently, too. She was talking so much to everyone about a gift for her husband -- I didn't realize this was her new format, but agree that it's distracting. I couldn't even tell you anything now about the room she was doing, but that extra banter still sticks with me. I don't want that in a decorating and design show.
Sarah's House is my fav, although I rarely seem to catch her shows. Bearcata, I'm jealous that you found a mini marathon. Will have to seek that out as it sounds like a good one.

I was really lucky and about 2 Saturdays ago and caught 5 of the last episodes about the Builder's House that Sarah improved.