Just how bad is that master bedroom, back yard or den?
Bad enough to allow a redesign by decorators known for walking on the wild side, executed in 48 hours or less with–let’s be blunt–a mostly amateur crew and a really tight budget?
With boffo ratings for TLC’s “Trading Spaces” (an average of 18 million viewers a week), cable networks are bubbling over with derivative series focusing on redecorating jobs done on the fly and/or the sly. They are not really instructional programs, but they could inspire a viewer to pick up a how-to book.
“I think it’s absolutely, positively true that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery,” said Paige Davis, host of “Trading Spaces.” “I boast with pride that it was able to set the bar for a whole new genre of television.
“I think, in a way, all those shows help each other,” she added. “People get swept away with the whole transformation television movement.”
“It seems like the number of these things doubles every three months,” said Robert Thompson, director of the Center for the Study of Popular Television. “What surprises me is it took so long for this to happen. It’s such an easy thing to make, it’s comparatively cheap, and there’s an appetite for it.”
A grand remodel
“Trading Spaces,” in which a pair of couples move into each other’s houses for 48 hours and redo a room on a $1,000 budget with no input from the homeowners, is the Americanized version of Britain’s “Changing Rooms.”
TLC’s “While You Were Out” has one spouse surprising the other with an ambush redo, as does Discovery Channel’s “Surprise by Design.” TLC’s “Clean Sweep” is a co-habitant’s therapy (or revenge) for living with a disorganized pack rat.
Discovery Health springs a room makeover on a family member who never saw the old one in “Make Room for Baby.” A designer, carpenter and a few relatives whip up a too-cute nursery starting when the mom leaves for the hospital and finishing before she comes home with the bundle of joy.
HGTV’s “Date With Design” could be described as blind-date decorating. A single man or woman tours the homes of three singles of the opposite sex (while the resident is away) and chooses a room to redo. The decorator doesn’t meet the “decoratee” until the work is done.
Discovery Kids’ block on NBC Saturday mornings has “Trading Spaces: Boys vs. Girls.” ABC Family takes it to the teen level with “Knock First,” allowing the subject and his or her friends to reinvent the kid’s inner sanctum. VH1’s “Rock the House” has unleashed the outrageous tastes of artists such as Sammy Hagar or Tommy Lee on a devoted fan’s room.
And on the Style network, “Guess Who’s Coming to Decorate” involves a homeowner allowing a designer to redo a space with input and sweat equity provided by a person from the homeowner’s past–maybe an old flame or a long-lost relative.
Perhaps the best indication of the new genre’s cultural impact: These shows have made the word “reveal” into a noun, in reference to the moment when the “surprisee” sees the completed work.
Original studs
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“This all really goes back to `This Old House’ on PBS, which made Bob Vila a whole career,” TV historian Earle Marsh said.
Of course, where all these next-generation fixer-upper shows depart from “This Old House” is that the most meaningful how-tos are left out–and virtually everyone on camera seems to be running on pep pills washed down with grande double mochas.
And where there was respect with a touch of awe on Vila’s part for his master craftsmen, the new shows seem to thrive on periodic clashes between strung-out designers and carpenters who would rather not cut corners.
Thompson said the evolution of home improvement shows has followed the path of cooking series.
“It used to be a food show was about teaching you how to make things, such as Julia Child’s show,” he said. “By the time you got to `Iron Chef,’ which was a huge hit, it was about watching people cook as a spectator sport.”
As for the great outdoors, HGTV’s “Ground Rules” has neighbors redoing each others’ back yards and being graded by a landscape designer. On Discovery’s new “Rally Round the House,” the homeowners are sequestered inside their house for two days, with all windows covered, while friends and relatives help experts rework the land. In HGTV’s “Curb Appeal” the redesign of the front yard and home exterior is all on a computer program; it’s up to the homeowner to shell out for the paint, siding, plantings and labor if he so chooses.
`Survivor’ with saws
A couple of new series have blown the roof off the conventional budget constraints. TBS’ “House Rules” and the just-concluded first season of USA’s “House Wars” both give amateur teams a shot at winning the house they refurbish. “House Rules” throws in a “Survivor”-like aspect as teams compete in challenges, with the winners getting a bigger budget for the next phase of their project.
Davis said viewers seem to be most attracted to the shows’ entertainment value.
“I think they look for the human drama and the connection of the people who are working,” she said. “I often joke that `Trading Spaces’ is a design show that has nothing to do with design, which is an exaggeration, of course.”
Thompson predicts that, even with multiple cable channels specializing in nesting interests, the genre may hit its saturation point in a year. But until then, they’re good fun for the handy and the not-so-handy.
“You don’t even have to know which end of the screwdriver connects to the screw to enjoy these programs,” Thompson said.
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Most of the programs mentioned in this story air multiple times each week. Check local listings or network Web sites for show times.