Dear HGTV,
I have concerns. I love you. No really, I think you’re great and I wouldn’t change anything about the years we’ve spent together. You’ve been a faithful companion and we’ve shared more than a few laughs and tears together, but I’m worried you’re drifting away from me. Or maybe it’s me that’s drifting.
There will always be a place in my heart for the gut remodels that we’ve shared, but I feel that you’re missing the deeper point of it all and you’ve started down a path that is difficult for me to follow. I understand there is a formula for what works on TV, but just like in any relationship that formula has to be constantly reinvented as people change and grow, and that’s where I am most concerned.
The more time we spend together lately I notice that ever since our favorite Waco couple, Chip and Joanna, with whom we used to double date all the time, came on the scene you have been trapped in what I can only describe as a rut. Every show has become a search for the next remodeling couple we can fall in love with. Whether they are married, brothers, or even just dating kinda heavy you have lost your way in this search.
Not every show needs to be a couple and not every show needs to be about a gut remodel. Don’t get me wrong, it is very satisfying to see a whole house or room transformed in less than 30 mins. for under $5,000, but that’s not all I want.
You know me, and you know ribeyes are my favorite, right? But that’s not to say that I would want to eat a ribeye for every meal. It just too much of the same even if it is the best steak in the world. Sometimes a simple bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios in the morning is all I need. I’m not being low-brow I just need some variety to mix it up from time to time.
And speaking of changing it up I know you’ve seen the kind of work my friends like Jimmy Diresta or John Malecki are doing. Why can’t we spend a little time with them and the other creative craftsmen out there doing new cool things that are doable for me. I’m not a house flipper, so full gut remodels don’t happen on a weekly basis at my house. But I would love to spend some time with you to learn how Malecki made a new table for his house that would fit perfectly in my restored living room. Those kind of projects fall under Home & Garden right?
There is just so much happening out there in the maker scene right now, and I’ve been hesitant to say anything but I’ve started seeing someone new. Her name is YouTube and she has been really great to me! I’m not saying this to hurt your feelings, far from that, but I would be remiss if I didn’t tell you why this is happening to us. I need variety. I need creativity. I need something other than a ribeye, and, lately, you haven’t been meeting my needs.
Don’t take this the wrong way. We’re not breaking up, but we may need some counseling if we can’t come to an understanding that the same things that I may have loved 10 years ago are not necessarily the same things I love today. I’ve grown and changed and I’m hopeful you can grow with me.
So what do you think HGTV? Are you open to growing with me? Can we still make this work? Do you hear my heart and what I’m trying to say? I hope so. We’ve been together for so long I don’t want to loose what we have, I just want to know you’re open to dropping the formula and really hearing me.
With Love,
Scott
Founder & Editor-in-Chief
I love old houses, working with my hands, and teaching others the excitment of doing it yourself! Everything is teachable if you only give it the chance.
I completely agree. Before I cut the cord I never really watched that much. It’s too processed and they never show what actually had to be done in order to take the home to the next level.
Now that I don’t watch network TV, the 33% of airtime devotee to ads and the lame update/review/rehash after the commercial irks me. I too much prefer the narrative style that most all You Tubers utilize.
Whenever we go out of town we watch network tv. While it’s definitely different from what we usually watch, it’s obvious we’ll never go back. A few years ago one hotel had an option to log into my YouTube channel, and after about 5 min of regular tv I switched it.
I hope you really did send this to HGTV. In total agreement.
I stopped watching HGTV a long time ago. I became utterly bored that every HGTV “project” turned out exactly the same: “open-concept” kitchen, ship lap covered walls, “mid-century modern decor –there is no variation. Trying to recall when I stopped watching… I guess it was when every HGTV room was done in the then-trendy “teal and chocolate brown” phase, so the early aughts? I am sure they have since moved on to other ghastly color combinations, thanks to the friendly sponsors at Benjamin Moore, but who cares? Not me. Hey, HGTV: I’m painting my bedroom this weekend and you will be shocked to know I did not pick the “trend color of 2020.” And no ship lap.
I’m not one to freak about painting wood. Some wood needs paint.
Some of that shiplap, particularly the antique wood under walls for 100 years? The grain and finish is incredible.
But here they go: slap some white paint on it.
So sad.
You are so correct! I hate HGTV Now. It tears at my heart every time they take a nice old craftsman and gut it instead of tastefully and respectfully renovating it. I live in an over 100 year old neighborhood and unfortunately the flippers have arrived and they are taking their inspiration from these horrible shows. If people want a modern house they should go buy one instead of destroying a beautiful and irreplaceable old one.
Since I don’t have access to the channel now, my comment may not be pertinent. The only show I did watch, and fell in love with, is Nicole Curtis’ Rehab Addict. I thought (and still do) that her’s had heart, as does she. The skills she and her crew have is great to see, while saving old houses makes it even better. I don’t need to see couples discussing the next trending color, etc.
Now, granted since I don’t own a TV and don’t watch ANY TV programming cable or broadcast, occasionally I am part of the captive audience at doctor’s offices where they usually have HGTV playing. What I have seen there bores me to tears with all the trendy new crap they are showcasing. The show really reminds me much more of a movie set “house” where everything can be changed at a moment’s notice to fit a certain scene. Almost none of the houses are any place I would want to live. The focus of HGTV has always been very progressive as far as the demographics of the people owning the houses, which is a major turn-off when they show something other than a man & woman married together.
So, yes, instead of the makeovers, focus on just how some of the crafts people perform their magical feats and the tools they use. Landscaping is barely mentioned and never shown the process. Cabinetry is almost never built in place and uses mass produced junk.
Spot on! I used to love HGTV but the lack of diversity in programming just leaves me cold.
I personally don’t want to watch hours and hours of the “same” show. And don’t get me started on the bickering and arguing on “love it or list it”. STUPID!
The HGTV “format” is now so dull and repetitious that I don’t bother to even check it out anymore.
It’s not ME it’s YOU 🤣🤣 letter
As with any relationship, you can’t make the other person change. You have to recognize the only thing you can control is YOU. So moving on…I also left HGTV years ago, it was hard at first. They were familiar and comfy…break up is never easy, but I’ve moved on and exploring other craftsman avenues like yours!!
Thanks Scott.
Thanks for the support! Breaking up is hard to do!
Where were you when HGTV and DIYNetwork switched from fun make-over shows (non-gut shows) to House Hunters?
These couples of all sorts only whine about t”heir” Palladian windows, or some granite countertop on a stupid island they must have.. Paint color? Oh, the horrors. Carpet? “ewwwww. We can’t buy this house because we want hard wood floors.”
The workings and makings of a home? Hang a La Cross stick on the wall and call it a den.
Put a giant TV over a fireplace and call it a decor piece.
I don’t care that these whiners are now International.
I don’t care they can now live on a beech forever. Just get ’em out of this country.
So!
While I totally agree and support your beautifully written letter, I wonder where you were when the Whiners took over the networks?
I stopped watching HGTV years ago for just these reasons. i suppose they are following the trend of their sponsors, and the small scope sponsors we used to like don’t have lots of money. However, if what they do generates no audience, the formula breaks down.
The parallel suggested with magazines is interesting. We know that magazines are paid for primarily by ads as are TV shows, but they have to have content too or they lose their subscribers. TV shows don’t have subscribers to supply feedback so they may be at greater risk. We have see rag after rag disappear from the shelves and it looks like the same trend is being set up on the DIY TV shows, possibly without their awareness.
Rehab Addict is the best show on TV right now. She makes it a point to keep things as original as possible. I’m not sure if she’s making any new episodes right now but she’s definitely helped our cause by showing the value in keeping things the way they are and maintaining and repairing your house instead of covering it with God-awful stucco and Styrofoam or vinyl and replacing old double hung windows with plastic windows. Nothing looks worse or stands out more than a historic old house in a historic neighborhood covered in awful brown stucco.
Now, if we could stop people from tearing out beautiful old fireplaces and painting woodwork……
Yeah, but she’s not on “right now.”
Not a new season in a while.
I know she was dealing with a new baby, which might have put things on the back burner.
I like her, too, but even she does some things that don’t mesh.
I’d really like to teach her how to use Citristrip correctly, come to think about it.
Yes, I support her preservation attitude, but I’d like to teach her how to paint and stain correctly. She shows more than the other “renovation” shows, but it’s still misleading.
Your perspective writing is on mark. Wake up HGTV. As in all relationships, you must know in your heart that something is wrong and perhaps you don’t know how to fix. So read the posts above. For myself, I would love to see actual ‘how did they do that’ shows rather than a ton of demo and banter. Has anyone noticed that all we see is demo. This Old House will explain techniques, not just swing a sledge hammer or rip up floor boards. Even I can do that.
You are falling behind the curve ball and need to get out in front of your audience before they all leave you for YouTube.
Well written. Great thoughts and really I couldn’t agree more. Well, I could if you said the Ribeye was medium rare. 🥩 Thankfully my friends Jimmy and John are on YouTube and I get to hang out with them next week. Will I see you as well?
I’ll absolutely see you at WorkbenchCon next week. Looking forward to it as always!
Couldn’t have said it better myself. Well put. I also wish they’d add more gardening stuff, too. You’re right when you admonish them to do things we also can do at home!
Well I want to know where the G ( garden) is in HGTV. Hasn’t been a decent gardening show on the channel in YEARS 😡
Love this post and I hope HGTV listens! I didn’t hop on the Chip and Joanna or Property Brothers bandwagon, so as you can imagine, it has been a LONG time since I have regularly watched anything on HGTV. I really enjoyed the series Sarah’s House – where is Sarah Richardson these days? I would love to see her back on HGTV here in the states. Our Hometown is a standout. It truly shines among others in the current line up. Ben and Erin do a wonderful job of fitting into the cookie cutter formula of a couple renovating/flipping a house on a budget. However, they are AUTHENTIC, warm, kind, respectful of one another and their team. I can’t tell you how tiresome it is watching people with HUGE egos and trendy ideas – it is quite simply a waste of my time! Do you remember when HGTV’s programs were diverse and included all subjects that fall within HOME and GARDEN? There were room makeovers on a budget (or not on a budget!) magazine style programing, home buying, gardening, and even historic home tours (that, gasp! – didn’t involve demo or decor!) The early programs certainly are “hokey” by todays standards – but they were onto something and could have easily polished what they had instead of programming weeks of back to back House Hunters, Property Brothers and Fixer Upper – which are boring & uninspiring at best. The scripted trendy ideas and snarky attempts at humor are the worst! I say look back at gems such as If Walls Could Talk, Kitty Bartholomew, Gardening By The Yard, Decorating Cents, Curb Appeal, Carol Duvall, Interiors By Design, Simply Quilts, Mary Emmerling Country At Home, Rebecca’s Garden & Country Style! The format of Country Style was reminiscent of a magazine – there are so many people they could profile for a program like that today – come on HGTV – mix it up a little!!
So you’ve been watching as long as I have. 🙂
I miss that funny Clive on Designed to Sell. Didn’t like that Roger guy who would strip a house, put a bed sheet on as a table cloth and call it more sale-able. But there were personalities. Chip Gaines was endearing in the beginning, then something happened.
I find the “Brothers” to be an ego-stroking bore. Mike Holmes does some good things, but the ego on those shows is tedious, as well.
And soooo many open kitchens to living rooms to front doors to the neighbor’s windows or whatever. How awful and predictable. Not everyone wants to rip down those walls.
Teach me.
Give me ideas.
Entertain me with problems to fix.
What’s sad to me is that we’re all preaching to the choir. The networks don’t care.
It would be refreshing to see other topics and how to’s. It doesn’t have to be remodeling all the time, there are so many clever people out there who have the skills to remodel HGTV why not use them?
Thank you for “going there” and saving the rest of us.
I’m also over all the Dream Home thing, seriously time to change it up.
I wouldn’t be nearly so kind. HGTV is designed to be entertainment, and as such provides the equivalent of fast food. I too would like to see more “nuts and bolts” of home ownership. The DIY movement should open opportunities to do some mindful restoration & reclamation instead of the usual plastic quickie projects HGTV promotes. Watching their programming helps me with one thing … identifying the trends to avoid.
Good luck, Scott. HGTV was never about you. Hate to be the one to tell you. It’s about selling stuff. Restoration is not where the big bucks are. As Bluezette noted, trends are always changing, so much money to be made over and over again. But I love you.
I divorced HGTV years ago and rarely visit Houzz anymore. By showing the “current trends” exclusively, both encourage folks to tear out perfectly good, high quality items and replace them with mass produced, inferior junk. And the lifespan of these trends seems to be dropping, so as soon as folks have replaced all their brass accents with nickel, painted their beige walls grey and their wood kitchen cabinets white, their changes are “dated” and here we go again. Every featured house and room looks like every other. So much waste, so little originality and personality. Fortunately, my recently trendy 1924 Craftsman has now been eclipsed by farmhouse style but, to prove the point, Houzz recently featured a vintage Craftsman with it’s new farmhouse kitchen. It breaks my heart to see the original style of any house destroyed by these updates.