# Monster House **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 16, 2003, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monster-house/182283 "2003-06-16T19:59:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Doomtrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2003, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monster-house/182283/1 "2003-06-16T19:59:41Z")
I’d dodged all the home decorating shows as lame… But oh, man, Monster House reeled me in. Saturday night, kicking back, and they’re rebuilding a house with a GIANT FRICKIN’ TIKI HEAD in the fireplace…and it SPIT FIRE! The drama! The suspense! The Giant Frickin’ Tiki Head (which would be either a great band name or a great username) convinced me… Tonight, I watch the Disco House. Man, am I hooked. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Cheatem\_Undhow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/13edae/32.png) [@Dewey\_Cheatem\_Undhow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Cheatem_Undhow)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2003, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monster-house/182283/2 "2003-06-16T20:12:37Z")
I caught the back half of what I assume was a car-themed house. The recliner-on-wheels kicked ass. ---
**Author:** ![Doomtrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2003, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monster-house/182283/3 "2003-06-16T20:21:23Z")
Yea, they do some amazing stuff. In the episode I’m babbling about, the crew took a 36’ sailboat, cut it in half(!), and dragged the front half into the backyard to serve as decoration by the pool. ---
**Author:** ![DeVena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dec6dc/32.png) [@DeVena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeVena)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2003, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monster-house/182283/4 "2003-06-16T21:49:54Z")
Yep - Hubby and I watch it! The only decorating show that he can sit through. ---
**Author:** ![TaxGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b19c9b/32.png) [@TaxGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TaxGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2003, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monster-house/182283/5 "2003-06-16T22:58:56Z")
And the theme song is pretty cool, too, in a cheesy sing-song sort of way. Sing it with me: “Our house, was plain and simple . . .” ---
**Author:** ![Cubsfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Cubsfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cubsfan)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2003, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monster-house/182283/6 "2003-06-16T23:23:54Z")
I think this show is weak. Monster Garage is a great show, but Monster House is kinda dumb. The guy that put a nail thru his finger, bone and all, and pulled it out with his pliers cracked me up. That shower looked awful too. The contrast between the foam rocks and the yellow tiles was ick. The host tries to hard to be like Jesse James. I live for American Chopper though. ---
**Author:** ![Semp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Semp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Semp)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2003, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monster-house/182283/7 "2003-06-17T00:58:30Z")
The host does kinda suck, it seems like he’s trying too hard (and yet doing too little - unlike Jesse James you hardly ever see him do anything other than bitch about the builders). But it’s mainly about watching the builders do their thing, and the results of their labor so I can’t say he’s really all that important. I wish they’d say how much the improvements cost though. If they’re paying for everything without limitation, unlike on Monster Garage, then I’d like to know how much they threw at the project. ---
**Author:** ![Doomtrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2003, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monster-house/182283/8 "2003-06-17T04:39:35Z")
I love em all. But Monster Garage’s “limitation” is kind of lame. Did you see the “Rock Crawler” on MG? $20,000+ of freebies. What’s the point of a price limit if you chuck in 20 grand of the important stuff? American Chopper rocks. Man, dysfunction and motorcycles. And the disco house was pretty cool. What I love with these shows is about midway through, when everyone stops being nice and starts hating each others. It’s like Junkyard Wars (another fave of mine) stretched over a week. ---
**Author:** ![Deadmime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90ced4/32.png) [@Deadmime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deadmime)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2003, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monster-house/182283/9 "2003-06-17T08:22:39Z")
I really dont think Monster House has a price limit at all, the first episode with the Racing theme…The one guy bought Chandalears (Sp? and i think thats what they were) that were worth 10,000 dollars and then he had to destory them because they weren’t racing like. I also must say i think that the Tiki house thing kinda sucked, it seemed pretty bland to me, and didn’t really make it look any better. The disco house was alright, but the racing themed one was the best so far. ---
**Author:** ![elf6c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c57346/32.png) [@elf6c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elf6c)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2003, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monster-house/182283/10 "2003-06-17T14:15:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by TaxGuy \* > \*\*And the theme song is pretty cool, too, in a cheesy sing-song sort of way. Sing it with me: “Our house, was plain and simple . . .” \*\* Ahhhhhhhhhh Noooooooooo!!! I **hate** that damn song. It does not match the darn show at all. Grrrr! The original Monster Garage theme is much better and it matches the show. * * * The host is a bit of a wanna-be at times- but when he relaxes and acts normally he is fine. Ever notice that in each of the 3 shows one person does alot more of the work then the others. No budget at all- which is fine because the freebies thing on Monster Garage effectively means the same thing. Ever notice the “clean up crew” actually does 50% of the actual work. The 70’s house was a riot, but most of the good things were done after the challenge was “won”. Monster Garage was **very** lame last night. Jesse was only there for 30% of the time- shoulder operation. So they had an all-girl team (with two posers- no skills). They had-- by far – the easiest challenge **ever**. And by all rights they should have lost-- the car ran like crap after midnight. But that would have penalized the hard workers. Notice the poser twins did not show to the actual derby-- nice. :rolleyes: I think Jesse was sweet on Vermont demo girl. The announcers were right-- she does clean up nice. Hubba hubba! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2003, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monster-house/182283/11 "2003-06-17T14:36:58Z")
I loved the song on the disco house. “Our house is a party how-ouse…” The floor ended up cool, but it was soooo boring to watch. Plus cabinetmaking isn’t really exciting either. Wow! A bookcase! Compelling TV, people! ---
**Author:** ![NameAlreadyTaken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/97f17d/32.png) [@NameAlreadyTaken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NameAlreadyTaken)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2003, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monster-house/182283/12 "2003-06-17T18:05:53Z")
I like Monster Garage and watch American Chopper from time to time (because they build cool bikes), but Monster House leaves me thinking… “what about the property value?” Who would really want a team to come in and do 30K in damage to your house for what essentially amounts to a theme that may be cool for a week or a few months, but is certainly going to make your house impossible to sell. I wouldn’t do it unless the show left me a large repair budget for when I got tired of the silly gimmicks. That and the fact that the host is lame turned me off the first episode. ---
**Author:** ![Doomtrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2003, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monster-house/182283/13 "2003-06-17T19:41:04Z")
I do like the houses, but I think they’re nifty as “other people’s houses”. That giant Tiki head looks cool, but when you have to change the lightbulbs, add fog to the fog machine, and run out to get propane to power the fireball, it becomes a lot less cool. ---
**Author:** ![Semp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Semp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Semp)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2003, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monster-house/182283/14 "2003-06-17T22:43:21Z")
Anyone else wonder how long it took the kids in the racing house to try out the motorized chair and crash into the wall?