Well, the 1900 House, the 1940 House, the Edwardian Country House (Country Manor in the USA), and Frontier House have been done. 17th-century American (English) colonial householding is the next miniseries in production.
What should be done next?
As an aside, I got the impression that “Milady” in the Edwardian Country House was getting progressively more and more loopy as time went on (even worse than her poor sister, who had to drop out for a while). Did anybody else come to this conclusion?
Perhaps they could do something up north (perhaps in Nunavut) and call it ‘Inuit House’; basically a duplication of the old (current sometimes?) way that Inuit citizens used to live. Igloo building and ice-fishing would be a large part of the proceedings.
I don’t have a link but ITV is filming “Regency House” now. Think Emma or Sense and Sensibility. It’s a little different in that the premise is that of a house party. And the purpose of the party is to affiance the single man of the house to one of a selection of young ladies. The young ladies are each attended by a chaperone/matron whose job it is to get the gentleman to pick their protegé. Looks interesting.
“The 60’s House”: Amid all the reminiscing, in the fifth week the son gets “drafted” and is hauled away for the rest of the show.
“The Gilligan House”: On a tropical island, a set of pre-fabricated bamboo huts complete with hammocks, tables, and chairs allows the family to see how long they can stave off cabin fever. Canned food “washes” ashore every couple of weeks (but no opener), and a stationary bicycle will provide electric power to a radio and fan, if anyone’s willing to jam on it for an hour or two.
“The FUTURE House”: Stick a “modern” family in the house of tomorrow - as envisioned by those from the 60’s! The microwave’s the size of your oven. Things folding out of the walls! ‘Disneyland’ on TV!
I vote for Tudor House.
Arsenic and Old Lace House
There was a great UK series about a couple of years ago where the participants lived in an Iron Age village. I think it was called Surviving the Iron Age or something like that.
It was pretty hilarious, in the first episode there was a nasty dose of food poisoning from some badly stored meat. The group nearly tore itself apart as they’d elected a women chief who was good at calling meetings but couldn’t sem to get anything done. Some of the group were very-new agey and were very into rituals and communing with nature at first, but were soon brought back to reality with all the hardships.
It was the most fun of all these series that I’ve seen and well worth looking out for if it’s shown in your area. One of the really cool aspects was all the various tasks, making soap, forging metal and the perennial struggle for food.
Bill Gates has to live in a tiny, dumpy-looking apartment owned by one of the low paid programmers in India who actually write the code for Microsoft.
I LIKE the idea of a “future” house, based on 1950’s notions of what the year 2000 would be like! As I recall, back in the 50’s we thought that:
-mail would be delivered by sub-orbital rocket (noboy thought of the internet)!
-food would all be pre-cooked, and delivered to houses in the formof frozen blocks (blecch!I guess they thought that we LIKED TV dinners!)
-every family wouldhave a helicopter
The futurists ofthe 1950’s failed to see how LOUSY life could become…they failedtopredict:
-AIDS(to them, no disease was unconquerable)
-the epidemic of adult obesity (anybody for McDonald’s)?
-overpopulation
-teenage dispair
So Last Year House—Participants have to wear pashminas, watch season 4 of Sex and the City, and discuss the D.C. snipers.
In the UK they did 1940’s house complete with ( mock ) air-raids and food rationing, The occupants of the house even had to dig an air-raid shelter in theirr back garden.
Perhaps 19th Century Whaling Voyage? The family is shipped aboard a replica Nantucket whaler for a trip 'round the Horn. Of course, they’d not actually harpoon a real whale, but the chance of scurvy will more than make up for that.
It might be hard to get families to live in the Great Depression house.
A 1920s bootlegger’s mansion, a la the Great Gatsby or the Kennedys, would be entertaining. The family could host speakeasies & be raided by the police.
1900 Sharecropper House. See if the family can make crop while avoiding typhoid, pellagra, and heatstroke. (It will be set in the deep south and the family will not have access to air conditioning.)
Depression Era Shantytown might also be interesting.
I’m partial to the idea of 19th Century Shtetl House, where a modern Jewish family has to live in a house in Russia and fend off pogroms, poverty, and official anti-Semitism. They also have to abide by Jewish law and custom as it existed at the time. Think Fiddler on the Roof.
You could also translate the concept to the 1970s with Refusenik House, and watch as an American Jewish family has to negotiate the Soviet bureaucracy to get permission to emigrate to the West. Many of the same problems as above apply, with the addition of the all-encompassing totalitarian government.
Robin
If they really had guts, they would do 1850’s Georgia plantation.
Jetson House
Like ralph124c’s and BraheSilver’s Houses, but even more so.
Max Headroom House
Twenty minutes into the future…
Middle-Earth House
You too can cower in terror as the Nazgul ride by…
Roman House
Find out what’s really under those togas.
That was my first thought, as well as Stone Age Cave Dwellers.
I don’t think they could pull it off, unless they do a Northern one with a stop on the Underground Railroad in their basement.
How about 1620 House? From the perspective of the Native Americans?
1347 House, complete with Plague.
Actually Norman Castle would be very interesting. As would Roman Villa.
Twiddle
Animal House – everyone has to live aqs if in a 1960s Frat House. Drinking to excess encourage, with points for creative upchucking.
The Big Blue House – everyone must take the part of a different Muppet, with Mom or Dad taking the part of the Bear. Talking must be in falsetto or other contrived voice, and daily singing is compulsory. Toddler-friendly humor is required. Many who try out break down from the stress, but those who succeed win a chance at appearing in a series.
This Old House – Participants must tear down and rebuild significant portions of their house, all the while showing the proper and most up-to-date procedure for each operation. Participants must pay all their own bills.
House of Frankenstein/House of Dracula – Participants dress in gothix style and perform experiments of questionable validity and legality.
House Atreides/House Harkonnen – Families square off with one another over control of valuable and scarce spice commodoties.