Amy... funny, I JUST turned on HGTV right before seeing your post. I haven't noticed that myself, but I've been away from my home improvement shows a lot since having my little kids. However, my son (almost 7) has taken a strong interest in the DIY type shows lately and so I'm starting to watch again... I'll have to keep an eye out for the repeaters!

Lis

There was this kid that lived next to us when we were growing up in L.A. My sister always told me that he became an actor. So, one day I'm watchin' House Hunters, and there he is. And, the episode seemed very "scripted" if you know what I mean.

several of the production companies for HGTV are in LA and when they advertise for people who would be willing to be on TV for their shows, guess who applies? there are millions of aspiring actors and singers in LA who hope it will be a break for them.

as for some of the shows being scripted......big smile:-) me thinks so. but the designers are still really talented on some of them and i enjoy them- especially david b, color design. he seems so naturally enthusiastic and genuine...not to mention talented right from his heart about design.

in the end, all reality type shows are scripted to a point and cast as well! i still enjoy the process of watching some designers bring a room to life.

I know the episode of Househunters you are talking about. I believe it originally aired a few years ago and when it did they did say he was a designer so when he appeared again on a design show I was not surprised or angry (he is a wonderful designer--but if he is also on Designing for the Sexes as a client, I think that is a bit much-I have not seen that one; I will look for it). I have also seen a House Hunters episode with a couple looking for a home in Charleston (I believe) then six months later the same person (husband) is now a realtor on My House is Worth What. I often wondered if I was the only one that noticed these things.

Are you talking about Kenneth Brown? I didn't see those episodes where he appeared before his own show came to HGTV.

I don't watch nearly enough HGTV to notice something like that. But it's tv. It's not real. Even "reality" tv is not real. TV is all about making things more glamorous and entertaining than real life. I would no more be upset with finding out a show on HGTV used an actor and was scripted than any other station.

I remember Jimmy Kimmel on that show! I thought it was very down played that it was him.

One of the gals who who remodeled her kitchen on the kitchen forum was on "What's my house worth?" with Kendra Todd. That was fun to see a gardenwebber on TV. You knew it was real.

I remember an older episode of House Hunters, I think. Anyway, the prospective home buyer, a woman, was looking at huge homes. This woman had a certain look about her that made me wonder if she were a porn actress. I googled her name and, lo and behold, found out that she is a porn actress!

Kenneth Brown is a really good designer from LA and I hope his show is coming back on! I'll have to watch for that. I don't know about Designing for the Sexes, but Kenneth was one of the "winning" designers on Designers Challenge one time and I thought that's how he got noticed for his own show. One of the designers on Design on a Dime (hate that show) was also a winning designer on Designers Challenge. Who knows how it all works! :)

Hold up a second... are you saying that Kenneth Brown was one of the house hunters?? That he was a guest on Decorating for the Sexes?

That would be just too rich!

Lisa, on Designed to Sell assisted on Designing for the Sexes one time.

I think I know which episode was the "porn" star. She had a look about her that made me think she was either a stripper or a porn star. Sorry, to make that distinction, but let's face it, sometimes looks are not deceiving.

I remember that House Hunters and was astonished (and totally envious) how quickly Kenneth did the remodel on his new house. I was also confused because he said his reason for looking for a new house was because he wanted a(nother) challenge -- it just seemed to happen so quickly I guess it wasn't a v. grand challenge!

On reDesign with Kenneth Brown there was once a v. attractive, enormously tall couple who had Kenneth redo their kitchen / breakfast room (the design was horrible -- I don't think designing kitchens for cooking is his forte [they look stunning, but appear to be poorly laid out]). Last month, or maybe it was December, anyway, late at night I caught an episode of Oprah and who should be getting their kitchen redone (by Nate) but that same gorgeous couple.

Yes, it's my green self poking through when I write that my initial reaction was "greedy!" But hey, they're telegenic and if they're able to get two kitchen remodels then all the better for them! If only I a) lived in LA and b) wanted to be on tv then maybe I'd be so lucky. Or half as lucky!

(Here is their reDesign kitchen. My main problem with it is that this couple is so tall [I think the husband, who is the sole cook, is 6'8" tall] and the counters are just average height. He also requested tons of storage around his range and, as you can clearly see, it hardly qualifies as tons. He also wanted a large, functional island. 'Nuff said. Here is their Oprah kitchen.)

Brutuses... Just the right size for lap dancin', isn't she?

Dang, they *did* get two kitchens!

There is a poster on the pool and spa forum here on THS that is a regular designer on Landscaper's Challenge. I don't think she's an actor, but a very good pool designer!

Then again I think that people who are trying to break into show business see reality TV as an easy way to get some exposure (and it is).

I'm sorry to say that I watch Supernanny and Wife Swap. (Don't make fun of me! I love those shows!) Anyway, I have noticed that quite a few of the wives seem to have had boob jobs and wear very low-cut, tight and sexy clothing to hang around the house trying to manage the unruly kids. I'm pretty sure they're hoping they might be "discovered."

From Wikipedia:

Kenneth Brown (born March 16, 1971) is an American interior designer and decorator. Born and raised in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, he attended Louisiana State University and graduated in 1995 with a degree in interior design. Brown currently resides in Los Angeles, California, where he runs his own design firm, Kenneth Brown Design.

Brown's work has been featured in numerous newpapers, magazines and television shows.

In 2001, Brown appeared on HGTV's House Hunters, which followed the search for his first house. Brown later appeared on HGTV's Designer's Challenge, winning 5 out of the 6 times he appeared. In 2004, Brown was featured in his own interior design show, called reDesign. As of 2007, he had completed 52 episodes.

In 2005, Brown was listed as one of the top designers and architects by Western Interiors and Design magazine.

In 2005, Brown was included in the top 100 list of American Interior Designers by House Beautiful magazine.

In 2007, American Express Open selected Brown to share his success story as part of their ongoing Iconic Open Forum series.

He is currently the interior design expert on msn.com shopping.

As far as I know, they use real couples on House Hunters . . . BUT they've already bought the house they ultimately choose and just have to go out and find two more similar house to use on the show. That I know for a fact.
As far as the Brown guy, they recycle these shows forever to save money!

Rmkitchen and chicoryflower - I didn't see these shows but I looked at the pix you have provided. How did they pull off 2 of the "before" kitchens being the same OLD, OLD kitchen and then get it done twice? I guess, did they use the "old" kitchen photos to get Nate to come in, THEN spring ReDesigns bad kitchen on him? I'm not doubting you, I'm just trying to figure it out. Once your kitchen is redone, unless you saved the old cabinets,,your Old kitchen for the next shmuck would have to look like your 2nd kitchen,,not your first. I'll try to catch these. I want to see how they pulled that off.

I would love to know, like on Candice Olson shows, who pays for the materials, furniture etc.? Do the homeowners just say, here, I have XYZ amount of $$, do what you want or does the show pay for any part of what they end up with getting in the design? She comes up with some great stuff I think. Even when I don't like the style that comes out of it, I usually like what she's done.

How about the House Hunters with the young woman who wanted to be a singer. She later turned up in a later episode of HH in Tennesee where she was pursuing her singing career.

Well, if I ran HGTV...

:D

piper101 -- the couple I mentioned moved out of their Kenneth Brown reDesogned kitchen into another house -- that's why the "before" pictures are different for both programs. I don't have a problem with them redoing kitchens in every single one of their homes, I just found it interesting they'd get two (out of how many is anyone's guess) kitchens done for them by tv designers. That's all! (I saw the entirety of both programs which did show their homes' exteriors -- that's how I could tell they are different houses.)

Having produced a couple of make-over shows, I can see why production companies recycle. It's much harder than anyone would think to find telegenic people who understand how the show is going to work. I did a Clean House with a guy who works as a director in TV and he was the most unreasonable "client" ever. Wouldn't go away, insisted on micro-managing the makeover part, and then couldn't act "surprised" at the reveal. I'd rather have had an actor. Only once did we use someone who wanted to break in to the business, and she wasn't very good.

On most shows, the homeowner has to kick in some money (usually around $5000), the shows get trade-outs from various vendors, the designers get deals, and so on.

FWIW, a couple of years ago on the website for Divine Design the call for guests/projects included a mandate that you have a "reasonable" budget for the room in question - CDN $30,000 for something like a living room or bedroom! I was stunned that they considered that "reasonable", but I guess they have to pay for those hundreds of yards of silk and custom furniture somehow. Interestingly, the website no longer says anything at all about a budget, I just looked, but that $30k always stuck in my mind.

I remember one guy who popped up on like three different HGTV shows a few years back. First he was remodeling this urban flat with stone walls inside and no parking (one of the flip shows maybe? I remember discussions about the lack of parking affecting saleability) with his girlfriend and then on another show he was buying a country house (it was a yellow farmhouse, I think) with said girlfriend who dumped him halfway through the process, and THEN he turned up on another show as a realtor. His mother was the realtor for the first two shows and was a bit of a harpy.

I haven't watched HGTV in ages, though. I surfed through that millionaire-kitchens show that was on the other night a few times (I guess I'm just too low-class to really appreciate a kitchen that costs several times as much as my entire house) and watched some of the show on log cabins last night because there wasn't anything else on and I'm a ho for lots of wood. :-) Sometimes watch the programs at the trade shows. But the usual run of shows? Fuhgedaboudit! Lameness abounds.

Am I the only one who thinks there's been a real nosedive on the quality in general of HGTV shows? I think Divine Design is fantastic and so is David Bromstead's show and Designer's Challenge, but the majority of them are so cheesey lately. It makes me kind of sad because I love decorating shows . . . good ones, that is. Don't get me wrong, they don't have to be spending gazillions of dollars to make them good in my mind; I just want to see good quality decorating and usable ideas.

ideefixe,
what you said cracked me up because i've worked on a few reality shows and with all of the people, equipment, etc things can get a little crazy. is that what you meant by finding people who understand how it is going to go down? i am sure if that were my home and i didn't know the deal going in, i might freak out.

lynninnewmexico,

i agree with your show choices, those are my favs too. i used to watch it a lot more than i do now. i'd like a little more how-to and hosts like david and kenneth and candace who seem to really love their jobs but get that they are designing for real people, too. you never see anything scary on their shows...:-)

i know the singer who moved to TN! she is pretty outgoing and really enjoyed her stints on the shows. i couldn't believe how quickly she made those houses over....it takes me years to decorate. she is a perfect candidate for that show. me, i'd be like you want to have it all done in a month? are you kidding?

still in boxes a year later....

I knew I would get some interesting info here!

You know, why not just let the ppl act how they would and not have things scripted? Sheesh I missed my calling... I could easily thrown together some lines for househunters... like "this house is okay - but rather dated, however, I can see ripping out some walls and really rennovating it!"

Got to give it some drama in the voice and lots of hand gestures!!!! ; 0 haha

I hate the monotone. "Let's keep it on the list and go see some tomorrow." Husband: "ok"

Ugh!

I think I can answer the question about who pays for the makeover on a show like Divine Design. I saw Candice Olson in person at a local furniture store last year for a book signing and a question and answer session. Someone asked about who pays for the makeover and her answer was that the homeowner does, but they work with various budgets.

An HGTV show I've been enjoying is Find Your Style. I'm torn about the hostess, Karen McAloon: I think she has a terrific personality and I like the way she appears to have no ego; I also like how she helps the homeowners figure things out for themselves. However, her hair (deeply hennaed mid-90s style [think Meg Ryan's short feathers in You've Got Mail]), too-short skirts (in general, way too-young outfits) and embarrassing over-accessorizing (the printed boots, oodles of necklaces, big dangly earrings and too-colorful makeup) drive me batty. I'm not able to make it through an episode without commenting on her appearance. It's ridiculous (of me), but true.

Anyway, I do like the concept of the show and like the "rules" she gives the homeowners to aid them in defining their style and outfitting their space. I also enjoy seeing that each space looks different, because they reflect the homeowners, not her. (I read that many of you like Divine Design, but I don't because every single room I've seen looks just like the one before -- it's all about the hostess and her aesthetic. I've never seen her synthesize the homeowners' tastes. Just strikes me as myopic / solipsistic.)

HGTV used to be on from morning til we went to bed, if only for background noise.
I'd hear something interesting coming from an HGTV show, it was really easy to turn on the TV in the room I was in or go running into the TV room to watch that particular part of an episode.

The last couple years, HGTV is only on in the wee hours of the mornings on Saturday and Sunday while husby and I wake up over coffee.

I will watch David Bromstead's show, Devine Design and Landscapers Challange because I can usually see where I could incorporate one of those hosts' ideas into my own home, even if my version doesn't cost nearly what theirs did, the idea is doable.

But seeing this post, it reminded me of some posts I read the other night/wee hours of the morning.

Seems IRS has caught up with Banyan Productions via Discovery Channel and the homeowners are getting big surprises in their mailboxes in the form of 1099's.

From what I read, the homeowners themselves are writing about their experiences and about receiving the 1099's.
Some of the homeowners were never informed....ouch!

Wonder if HGTV homeowners are seeing the same in their mailboxes?
On Designer's Challenge where the cost of a landscape re-design costs as much as my whole house did, I feel for those folks if they weren't notified in advance.

Here is a link that might be useful: Posts from Trading Spaces Participants re; Taxes

Oh, the confoundedness of erudite vernacular utilized irrespective of necessity! Where's my aspirin?

1099 the homeowners? oh my gosh.....that's a new one on me. i just worked on one of their shows not too long ago and i'm sure i'll hear something from the homeowner if i run into them....wow. that really isn't too cool because some of these folks are on very limited budgets and even a 5k makeover is going to impact their bottom line. ouch.

i love the british landscaping show-- the host is so down to earth and he does terraces, balconies, whatever and makes them gorgeous. i haven't seen this for a while-- ring a bell for anyone? i liked it because he would explain what plants he was looking at and why....then you saw him actually doing work on it with the homeowners.

Ooooh...sort of puts a new perspective on some of Hildi's wild designs. I actually have liked quite a few of her rooms but wouldn't you be mad if she did one of her weird wall treatments and then you were taxed for it?!

I think there an IRS law somewhere which says - "You can claim capital losses if Hildi was in your home". Upto $5000 per room and $25000 for emotional distress...

Maybe she is ahead of our times, but fake flowers on every inch of the bathroom ?...

Re: Ideefixe and his/her comment on "telegenic" people.

Does HGTV think that viewers will only watch shows on decorating and renovation if the participants are good-looking? I personally could not care less what the homeowners look like. In fact I think it is much more interesting to see what "real" people are doing in their homes rather than some wanna-be actor/model.

The worst example of this is a show on HGTV Canada called "Marriage Under Construction" where a young couple buys a house and fixes it up. Turns out she is a Broadway stage actress and he is an actor and former boy-bander. They are both American and the show is set in Toronto, Canada...guess no Canadians were telegenic enough!

It is clear she has no real interest in the house..feigned enthusiasm at best. He seems into it...but more to try and please her. The final episode *spoiler alert* shows her getting an offer for a Broadway show. I doubt that they ever had any intention of living in this house and were just using the program to further their careers.

Is this a crime? Of coures not, but it seems many viewers are losing interest in these so-called "reality" shows.

Here is a link that might be useful: Marriage Under Construction

Another family of repeaters....

This family was featured on HH about 5 years ago or so. I remember them well, right down to the house they purchased (it had a 3/4 wall in the form of "step-ups) between the family room and kitchen area. The mom kept commenting on how busy her children were with "show business".. doing commercials etc etc.

Low and behold, about a year ago, that same family was featured on Supernanny!! I just about laughed my arse off!!

I know Mom was trying to get her "showbiz" kids on TV to add to their resume, but honestly... Supernanny??? Just wait until *that* pops up on their E True Hollywood story 20 years from now LOL!!!

I watched an old episode of Designer's Challenge a few months ago, where someone I'm pretty sure was Kenneth Brown..was in a lighting store. Selling lamps.
Maybe it was where he started, working retail??

If it wasn't him, it was definitly another designer from one of these shows you see all the time.

I do agree, they're all reality shows. I don't buy any of them. I hear so many stories about Designed to Sell, where the couple smiles for the camera, pounds in a few nails, then leaves and lets the pros take over. Read from someone here on gardenweb who was on, that the people in the end that walk through the house and ooh and ahh were friends and family, lol.

Chris61

For every 6 homeowners we'd submit to the network, the executive would pick one. Yes, they do care if people have teeth, are able to look somewhat natural on camera, and aren't too stiff or too manic. Of course it's shallow, it's TV. (I've never worked on talk shows, but I know that Sally Jesse had a dentist on standby for guests who needed some replacement teeth.)

But it's not just good looks, it's being flexible, being animated and being able to have your whole house taken over by a crew of mad-men and somehow project that it's all great fun and that you love it. I'd never do it, that's for sure.

Suzanne Whang that host House Hunters, is the Crazy Polly on Las Vegas! Yes it is true! We love Las Vegas, and after watching an episode that she was prominent in, I could swear it was her! It is! She is a hoot!

Love HGTV, but I do agree some of the shows, come on really!