Part of the problem is that many of the items are no longer available by the time you see an episode. Also, it costs money to have someone recording all of the source data and then ensuring that only the items used in the show are posted correctly. However, I agree that HGTV is poorly managed, both in its programming decisions and its maintenance and design of HGTV.com. Whatever criticisms I might have regarding the Candice Olson of today, I will give her kudos for the meticulously maintained source information she made available for all episodes of Divine Design on its own web site.

Hmmm, I suspect that HGTV is not going to provide free advertising for anyone. I think they do have promo deals with some manufacturers and giving the advertising free to everyone else would create a problem.

I wrote HGTV 3 months ago to ask a question about the Rate My Space page and I just received a response 3 days ago. I wrote back and told them, if nothing else, you sure are punctual. LOL I've totally given up on this channel. It is such a waster of air time. One more House Hunters and I'm going to blow my brains out!!

I learned so much years ago on shows like Christopher Lowell and Lynette Jennings and even Room by Room...so many ideas, so many design principles. Now except for Candice Olson, I really don't watch any of the programs any more. So sad.

The stuff I've seen (admittedly not nearly all the different shows) is so awful I can't believe anyone would take the advice. The crafty decorators who make the homeowners participate in cheap projects to make them feel "invested in the process" are the WORST.

Once again, this thread, like the others, has reminded me that, at some point in the past, I simply stopped watching HGTV at all. I suspect that, sooner rather than later, I will even forget which channel it's on.

Hey Fox--I totally feel your pain about their website. However, I have found a solution that works sometimes.

If you are on Twitter (I don't tweet, just follow certain people) you can actually send a message directly to the star of the show and sometimes, they might just answer. I asked David Bromstad for a source for a dining table, and he sent me the info. Imagine my surprise. Twitter is not only for people with smart phones, you can sign up on your computer and follow people that way. Most of the HGTV designers do tweet, mostly silly stuff, but it is great way to get a piece of info if you need it.

Genevieve is @real_genevieve

I also love to follow Jeff Lewis, and Jenni and the Million Dollar Decorators cast. (I like that they usually let you know when they are filming and when the next season starts. I really could care less what Martyn Bullard had for breakfast, you know)

HGTV lost me a long time ago when it started losing the 'G' and being more 'H'. The only 'G' these days seems to be plunk-gardening where they just go put a bunch of plants in someone's new yard (yay for them) but don't tell you why they made the plant choices or what they had to do to the soil, etc that would really help a new gardener (or an old one for that matter). Same with home design principles. Candice is the only one that really helps in that regard. I don't have Ikea close by so that doesn't help me. Just give me some design principles I can live with.

BTW, I drank the Kool-aid and bought a subscription to the new magazine and so far have only received 2 magazines!

If something bothered me that much, I would watch something else.

Oh wait, I DO that! HGTV hasn't been watched in months, along with many other stations.

HGTV? What's that?

HGTV HAD a good idea and they blew it a long time ago. If you notice much of what they play isn't even made in the USA it's a Canadian import which means the laws which govern the remodeling of a house, building or lawn are different than in the States as are the sources for the materials.Might be why the info isn't on the web pages they are hoping we don't notice they aren't American programs.
If they had half a brain they'd be checking out sites like this and inviting posters to challenge them into creative answers for real decorating solutions.
Instead it's all about promoting a particular business, like Lowes or Home Depot. The shows are basically
nothing but extended commercials for these businesses.

I used to even enjoy having HGTV on as "background chatter" while I puttered around the house. Not anymore. Thanks to the horrid overuse of loud techno "music" on almost every single program that they air, I absolutely can't stomach it. It's sensory overload, in a bad way.

Good comment about not wanting to post items that were in stores months prior. I've always thought that was good common sense, however, in the age of 'You can get nearly anything, anytime on another site that somebody wants to sell' it gives a good reference point.

I just like to read information though. Maybe I'm an information junkie. I just like to know!

Bee - thanks for the excellent suggestion!

We used to love HGTV; it was our go-to station.

No more. I assume that GW's population isn't HGTV's target audience; we're too smart and too particular in our tastes for most of the DIY stuff they show. Also, now that the housing market is in distress, the proliferation of house-buying shows is frustrating and boring! It's also difficult to tell one staging "makeover" from another.

As far as it being one long advertisement for the Big Box stores, that's probably true; however, product placement is the reality of the 21st century. I know DH and I always DVR our favorite shows, just so we can forward through the commercials. Advertisers are desperate to find alternative avenues and unless we want fewer choices in programming or cable bills none of us can afford, we just have to learn to live with it. Or we could rid ourselves of the habit, which is probably the smarter choice!
Dee

For example - Love it, or List it... Really? Really! Does every show have to be about buying a home, staging a home to sell, or resale. Or redoing a room on a dime, with the cheaspest stuff possible, in the fastest possible time period. Some people may just like to see beautiful homes with real-life tips included. I used to love Homes Across America (I think it was called). Oh well, interesting thread.

I've given up on HGTV. I cannot stomach one more House Hunter show especially the international ones. Enough already. I do like some of the programming on DIY. I especially am enjoying the "Vanilla Ice" Project show. What a nice person he is. I think he has to work hard to cover up how smart he is because he is seemingly very intelligent and is likely a great person. He runs a business, works like crazy on his reno/flipping business, has a nice family with children that adore him and is well thought of in his community. Nice to see a guy in the music business who isn't on drugs and clinging to the past. Who knew? He looks great in a suit at the final reveal.

I also enjoy "Bang for your Buck" and the corny "Showhouse Showdown". Bob from The Bachelor fame is an odd choice for host but whatever, he is endearingly inept which makes it more fun, lol. He makes me laugh.

I hope IceT has left his past behind, considering he used to rob banks!

ITA with Lakegirl...I love seeing real-life, beautiful homes and how the owners made them beautiful. That is why I love the local museum Tour of Homes...real houses, not for sale....lovely and full of ideas. I never LEARN anything from HGTV, which is a shame.

And why is it that almost all the shows are Canadian? Nothing wrong with Canada...but there are definite differences in home styles, etc... I just they should spread it out among different regions of North America. You hardly ever see anything in the South, unless it is Texas or Atlanta (neither of which I consider the South... :) totally j/k!!) Anyway, I do love hearing the cute Canadian accent though...love the way they say "out!"

Posted by gr8day (My Page) on Thu, Apr 12, 12 at 8:24

I've given up on HGTV. I cannot stomach one more House Hunter show especially the international ones. Enough already. I do like some of the programming on DIY. I especially am enjoying the "Vanilla Ice" Project show. What a nice person he is. I think he has to work hard to cover up how smart he is because he is seemingly very intelligent and is likely a great person. He runs a business, works like crazy on his reno/flipping business, has a nice family with children that adore him and is well thought of in his community. Nice to see a guy in the music business who isn't on drugs and clinging to the past. Who knew? He looks great in a suit at the final reveal.
I also enjoy "Bang for your Buck" and the corny "Showhouse Showdown". Bob from The Bachelor fame is an odd choice for host but whatever, he is endearingly inept which makes it more fun, lol. He makes me laugh.
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I agree with everything you just said! I love renovation Realities too!

AnnieD, Vanilla Ice and IceT are 2 different people....

ML

OMG please don't mix up Ice T with Vanilla Ice. Totally NOT the same person. Vanilla Ice has never robbed a bank that's for sure, I guarantee it! He is a nice man from South Florida saving houses (pretty horrid mansions) left to rot for as many as 3 years in high end subdivisions. It's fun because I guess he has loads of cash to do it and comes up with some crazy $h!t you would never find in a normal home. I'm kind of impressed with his knowledge of GW preferences on kitchen stuff. He did a near OTK that made me think he is lurking around here under an assumed name...

Funny nini - yeah Atlanta is not really the south anymore. Can I pick it up and move it :) I actually like House Hunters, (even though it's ridiculous to think someone only looked at 3 house???), but it's entertaining enough, and not filth like most of TV. I just wish this wasn't EVERY show on HGTV. It's left it's original vision I think.

Confession time: We watched back-to-back episodes of House Hunters and House Hunters International last night. Or rather, I had half an ear sort of alert while I read. But whatever....we both were mouthing the usual cliches before they popped out of the buyers'/agents' mouths..."open floor plan," "granite countertops," "stainless," "needs updating." Are all these shows written by an HGTV-bot?

Yeah, it's too bad HGTV is so bad. I guess I'm too old. But I am a sucker for eye candy and am endlessly enamored with how people decorate and use their houses. I occasionally will get a good idea from the shows. I enjoy Sarah Richardson (why can't they run her shows as much as House Hunters?), especially her farmhouse (more my style).

What I basically enjoy are makeovers. I'd like a show where they take an outdated, quirky or ugly house and make it pretty, but not decorate everything in a modern style. What about classic and traditional, or farmhouse-style? There are other styles than modern.

Too bad they can't combine a design show with Hoarders, cuz even after they clean up those messes the houses are usually still pretty bad!

No offense but I'm not interested in International Househunters at all. It seems to me those places are run-down and scary-looking.

we both were mouthing the usual cliches before they popped out of the buyers'/agents' mouths..."open floor plan," "granite countertops," "stainless," "needs updating." Are all these shows written by an HGTV-bot?

I think they must be. Have you noticed too how often the buyer says, "I'm not a fan of ... [insert just about anything here, even plaid curtains, because - y'know - a buyer couldn't possibly just TAKE THE FREAKIN' THINGS DOWN!] The last time DH and I attempted to watch a HH episode, he said that one could fairly easily put together a drinking game during that 30-minute span.

"open concept" "good bones" "everything we want but a long commute" "close to work but we'd have to compromise"

Sheesh.

"Or rather, I had half an ear sort of alert while I read."

...not only that, but one of the things I'd been reading was the latest issue of Architectural Digest. Talk about gorgeous rooms. Never mind whether the magazine's and the HGTV's demographics are different or not - one can always adapt ideas. (Or so I've always thought.) What's immediately evident is that the owners of the houses featured in AD are NOT AFRAID OF IDIOSYNCRATIC DECOR.