How my hate of HGTV was converted to love
It started, as these things do, on a Friday night when I had no plans.
Curled up on my couch with a glass of wine, I flipped over to a rerun of Fixer
Upper on Hulu, ostensibly for work — I had been assigned to write about the inimitable Chip and Joanna Gaines — but also out of curiosity. Why was everyone obsessed with HGTV shows?
Twenty or so episodes later, I maybe had an answer. Watching the Gaineses wreck and renovate houses in Waco, Texas, was wildly addictive. I just had to see how they could transform total pits into fabulous rustic-chic homes. And I had to see it over and over again.
Was it just Fixer Upper, or was there more to it? Next, I tried House Hunters
International. The half-hour episodes flew by. I was enchanted. Look at these apartments I mostly can’t afford in cities around the world! Look at these outrageous budgets! How could the couples pick the worst apartments and houses almost every time?
Soon I found myself sampling The
Property Brothers and TLC’s revived Trading Spaces. Hulu’s recommendation algorithm spiraled out of control. Flip or Flop. Good Bones. Tiny House Hunters.
I had long been vocal about disliking this kind of show, making fun of friends who spent so much time watching incredibly attractive people knock down walls. I have a low tolerance for unscripted TV in general. I hate canned banter, emotional manipulation and especially the catfights in reality TV. I was cynical about the entire genre, and yet I spent an entire precious weekend watching Joanna Gaines’ perfect hair and ogling Paris mansions.
I realized that there are a key few ingredients in any good home show. Regular cast members have to be good. Really good. The Gaineses and Proper
ty’s Scott brothers, Drew and Jonathan, are pros. Their dialogue usually feels natural, they’re likable, and the drama is never about arguments between them but rather their undying struggle to make the houses perfect for their clients. Tarek and Christina El Moussa of
Flip or Flop, on the other hand, bicker constantly and seem completely unnatural on camera. (The couple’s separation did not surprise me.)
I also need a heartwarming storyline. Like any reality show, the “stories” behind the real people range from cheesy to boring, but sometimes there’s a happy middle ground, as when survivors of an explosion buy a new home, or a widow makes a fresh start. And if I’m not going to cry in the final moments, I need to see something spectacular. I skipped House Hunters episodes in which buyers and renters look at homes I can afford. I want to escape to houses and places I could never dream of, or to a renovation that turns something cheap into something luxe.
I shouldn’t be so surprised I ended up falling in love with HGTV, TLC and the rest. The unscripted series I’d been drawn to in the past included Project
Runway, Queer Eye or The Great British Baking Show, which are low on drama and high on visual splendor and positivity. And when you’ve had a tough week and want to do nothing all weekend, the welcoming tone of the fixer-upper show might be just what you need.
I’ll never disparage a good reno again.