<p>I watch all hgtv shows, mostly they are fakes, just like the “house hunters” program.</p>
<p>First of all, it is impossible to go to any town USA and has a crew work on a house the way they did, or to have the same team to know the market so well as in “love it or list it”.
Secondly, the clock they are working with is very difficult to beat. Having all the ducks lined up and execute in any town USA must be just a show.
Thirdly, regarding Flea Market flip, the selling prices of the “dressed up” items are not flea market prices. IMHO.
Forth, those Income Property or renovate to rent shows are really unrealistic, to spend that kind of money just to find “non-paying” renters? Not in my book!</p>
<p>They are for entertainment only, no one is going to replicate in real life.</p>
<p>Rather than just watching the last 10 minutes of House Hunters, I sometimes watch it on fast forward. It’s easy to get through the whole show in about 5 minutes that way and you really don’t miss anything crucial.</p>
<p>I used to watch the house shows but more recently I like cooking shows much better. I realized that the house shows make me a bit anxious as they remind me of my own “To Do” list. Cupcakes are pure escapism.</p>
<p>I was trying to find the show listing, and it’s actually on Ion Life. They don’t have some of the shows they used to do (most of them seemed to be produced in the early/mid 2000s). A brief listing of some of the shows currently on: Neat, Save Us from Our House, Sibling Rivalry, and, one that’s possibly intentionally cheesy feeling, Style by Jury.</p>
<p>I caught a newer (?) show the other day called “Anna And Kristina’s Beauty Call.” The premise was these two girls that aren’t trained in fashion would help give someone (less than desirable looking) a complete wardrobe makeover. They’d have $500 to do so, and at the end they’d be graded by a fashion expert. What disappointed me most was after the expert tore their selection apart, they didn’t change the outfit they gave to the woman at all!</p>
<p>I realize most of the stuff on HGTV is Canadian (so many great accents ;)), which is what makes it all the more surprising these things seem to be the poor man’s version of others shows that are on HGTV, TLC, etc.</p>
<p>I don’t think all the shows do the work for free. I once looked at one or two of the applications, which did mention costs.</p>
<p>My complaint is that so many of the shows feel cut of the same cloth, versus a few years ago. same with Chopped and DDD dominating FoodTv. </p>
<p>On a popular everything-home web forum, there was a first hand account of a reno show. how they refilmed the owner reactions, over and over, to get the right OMG moment. I’d certainly never be able to so succinctly convey so much enthusiasm.</p>
<p>I used to like Debbie Travers, but so many of the Brit originated shows resulted in places I’d gag at.</p>
<p>Agree about the Canadian accent giveaway. All the “oats.”</p>
<p>I mainly enjoy the Canadian shows, especially those by Mike Holmes and Sarah Richardson. I think Holmes has a new show starting soon.</p>
<p>I really miss the house shows on BBCA. Life Laundry with Dawna Walter was well done, but my favorite was Location, Location, Location with Phil Spencer and Kirstie Allsop. I’d love to find a dvd of any of their shows. Even Changing Rooms was better than the US knock-off Trading Spaces.</p>
<p>Too many of the HGTV programs have silly time limits that make it impossible to do quality work or they present implausible background stories (HH & HHI.) I appreciate our dvr when I watch them because I fast forward through all of the fake drama, back stories and repetition.</p>
<p>silpat, Mike Holmes is currently on Holmes Makes it Right and his Mike Holmes Tenth Anniversary Special, as well as the Handyman Challenge show. </p>
<p>Do those of you in the U.S. get Bryan Baeumler’s shows? The one on now is Leave it to Bryan but he’s had several others, including the building of his own family home and also his cottage. Sort of like Sarah Richardson’s but better. He is very popular here, probably more so than any other HGTV host. He’s also on the Handyman Challenge show with Mike Holmes and Scott MacGillivray.</p>
<p>“silpat, Mike Holmes is currently on Holmes Makes it Right and his Mike Holmes Tenth Anniversary Special, as well as the Handyman Challenge show.”</p>
<p>Thanks, Alwaysamom. I haven’t checked for a while and didn’t realize. Time for me to go set up some more series for the dvr to record.</p>
<p>Scott MacGillivray could make me wish I were D1’s age if I wasn’t still mad for my dh of 30-mumble years.</p>
<p>We watched Bryan’s house building show. I enjoyed it, especially since dh told me several times that he’s a lucky man. He found Mrs. B to be insufficiently budget minded and too much concerned with style over substance. I suggested that perhaps she just got a bad edit.</p>
<p>I would love to be able to hire Mike’s crew chief, Damon Bennett, to oversee work on our house. A blogger mentioned that Damon has a show of his own in the works. Hope we get to see it in the US. Thanks to Mike Holmes, I’ve learned a lot about Schluter products and other building materials and methods.</p>
<p>Curb Appeal: The Block’s John Gidding is also amazingly good looking, talented, and likeable. In fact, in 1999, he was voted one of Yale’s Most Beautiful People. ;)</p>
<p>zoosermom, I’ve migrated over to Cooking Channel too. Just tonight I caught a couple of episodes of Good Eats. </p>
<p>I’m kind of over the cooking competition shows on Food Network. What’s funny is that one night you’ll see a chef competing in one show, and the next night, you’ll see him/her acting as judge on another.</p>
<p>I can’t watch Holmes on Homes because it makes me crazy wondering what he’d find if he looked at how OUR house is constructed! </p>
<p>Also, there is some show (something like “real life renovations”) on the DIY network that follows people who have NO CLUE what they are doing, as they attempt some big project. And there are subtitles about how what they are about to do might cause the person to be electrocuted, or the house to fall down, or whatever. It’s so painful to watch. My DH watches it, but it makes me too nervous for the people I am watching. I feel so bad for them!</p>
<p>I liked Rehab Addict when I first caught it, but it’s gotten to be the Same Old, Same Old. I appreciate very much the fact that she’s rehabbing houses that would otherwise be destroyed, but it just feels to me like everything she does is basically the same – she saves the floor, stains it dark, throws in some old cabinets or stained glass from other sites, and gets lots of praise. She is adorable, I’ll say that. Maybe it’s the half hour format that I don’t like – every show of hers that I’ve seen feels very rushed, and we don’t get to see her do anything in depth.</p>
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