# Worst HGTV show ever? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 29, 2012, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-hgtv-show-ever/636260 "2012-09-29T23:11:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Baracus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/2bfe46/32.png) [@Baracus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baracus)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2012, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-hgtv-show-ever/636260/41 "2012-10-02T12:18:26Z")
> [@PunditLisa](#): > > Besides, I don’t really understand the concept. If I have an extra $50k sitting around, I’m going to use it as a downpayment on my next home OR I’m going to renovate my existing house. I’m not going to spend $50k to renovate my existing home, then move. Ah, but in the Love It Or List It universe the renovations always have a greater than 100% ROI. My wife, annoyingly, watches this show a lot and of the times that I have watched I don’t think I have seen a renovation that increased the value of the house by at least 50% more than they spent. Sometimes the supposed value increases by more than double what they spent. You would be throwing away money _not_ to renovate your old home before moving in that case. I suppose giving naive people unrealistic expectations for the payoff on a renovation might be another reason to hate the show. ---
**Author:** ![Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bambi_Hassenpfeffer)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2012, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-hgtv-show-ever/636260/42 "2012-10-02T18:14:22Z")
> [@Hello\_Again](#): > > Anyway, what were we talking about? Oh right. Hildi. Remember her hideous grey-and-hot-pink “circus tent.” OMG it was oppressive, not to mention impossible to clean. Her voice still haunts me: “MAGENTA TAUPE MAGENTA TAUPE ALL AROUND THE ROOM.” And the look on Mindy Paige Davis-Page’s face when she said it was priceless. ---
**Author:** ![CrazyCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CrazyCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrazyCatLady)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2012, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-hgtv-show-ever/636260/43 "2012-10-02T22:21:40Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > ETA: Debbie Travis! I’ve only ever seen that woman in one episode of that decorative painting show, but all these years later I still hate her. HATE, I say. We are talking near-Hildi levels of hate. She went into someone’s house with gorgeous, pristine hardwood floors…and painted a faux rug right in the middle. A sort of Southwestern design in eye-bleeding colors. With fringe. Did I mention these were pristine hardwood floors? ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2012, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-hgtv-show-ever/636260/44 "2012-10-02T23:14:08Z")
> [@CrazyCatLady](#): > > I’ve only ever seen that woman in one episode of that decorative painting show, but all these years later I still hate her. HATE, I say. We are talking near-Hildi levels of hate. > > She went into someone’s house with gorgeous, pristine hardwood floors…and painted a faux rug right in the middle. A sort of Southwestern design in eye-bleeding colors. With fringe. Did I mention these were pristine hardwood floors? Some damned flip your house guys on back 5 or so years ago took a chain saw to pristine Pasadena Craftsman wood wall to install a freaking TV … :eek: Talk about wanting to use the chainsaw on _them_ :mad: To be honest, if I were the person they showed the house to next, I would have dropped any offer by probably $50 000, because that is probably what it would cost me to have my cousin in law Roger hunt down the wood to reasonably match the original and repair the damned wall. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Woo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7c8e57/32.png) [@Dr.Woo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Woo)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2012, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-hgtv-show-ever/636260/45 "2012-10-03T01:06:40Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > I don’t care for [Love It or List It](http://www.hgtv.com/love-it-or-list-it/show/index.html). The theory is that one host makes over your house to fix the things you don’t like about it; the other shops for a new house for you, and at the end you decide which is best. It’s presented as a competition between the hosts, and they have phony little arguments. :rolleyes: Yes. Fake arguments between the hosts, and often stunning stupidity - and arguments - between the couple. WAY too much drama for a frou frou subject. Makes me want to slap everyone involved except the tradesmen. Them I want to take out for drinks, because they need one. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2012, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-hgtv-show-ever/636260/46 "2012-10-04T22:59:22Z")
I have another one, that I believe was on TLC as well. It was a show about flipping houses. One guy ran a real estate venture, and I believe he lived in Atlanta. His wife was beautiful and he was a supreme jerk. Whenever he ran into an issue with one of the houses, such as the foundation needing to be re-poured, he’d make up his lost revenue by browbeating his subcontractors into working for less. I live in Cincinnati, and our cost of living is less than Atlanta, and some of the figures he threw out for things like landscaping and painting were eye-poppingly low. I suspected that the subs were illegal aliens. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2012, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-hgtv-show-ever/636260/47 "2012-10-04T23:51:28Z")
For awhile I watched **Color Splash** , because I was fascinated with the host’s biceps. But criminy, “Color Splash” is right. The rooms he designed were like being smacked upside the head with a can of primary red or green paint. His rooms may have been perfect for a hipster ad agency front lobby, but I couldn’t bear to live in them. He did paint nice original paintings, though. ---
**Author:** ![medstar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f07891/32.png) [@medstar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/medstar)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2012, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-hgtv-show-ever/636260/48 "2012-10-05T01:38:00Z")
> [@PunditLisa](#): > > I have another one, that I believe was on TLC as well. It was a show about flipping houses. One guy ran a real estate venture, and I believe he lived in Atlanta. His wife was beautiful and he was a supreme jerk. Whenever he ran into an issue with one of the houses, such as the foundation needing to be re-poured, he’d make up his lost revenue by browbeating his subcontractors into working for less. I live in Cincinnati, and our cost of living is less than Atlanta, and some of the figures he threw out for things like landscaping and painting were eye-poppingly low. I suspected that the subs were illegal aliens. I believe that show was “Flip this House” and the host’s name is Armando Montelongo and his beautiful wife, Veronica Montelongo. He is quite brusque and penny pinching but his wife keeps him in line. I’d be afraid to buy a house from him because I believe he cuts corners to keep his costs low. He also has infomercials running to show how you can make a fortune by flipping houses and hosts seminars around the country to drum up business. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2012, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-hgtv-show-ever/636260/49 "2012-10-05T11:44:51Z")
> [@Rick](#): > > I think it was design on a dime that would blatantly cheat every week. > “We found these two perfect Louis XVI chairs in the basement to complement our design” and not include the value of the chairs in the grand they are supposed to have spent. > It got so bad my wife and I decided that before they tackled a project they would stash shit in the homeowner’s garage so they could “discover it” and use it in the show. The biggest cheat on that show was the friggin carpenter. If all I had to pay for was the cost of materials, I, too, could live in a custom palace. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2012, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-hgtv-show-ever/636260/50 "2012-10-05T12:22:23Z")
> [@medstar](#): > > I believe that show was “Flip this House” and the host’s name is Armando Montelongo and his beautiful wife, Veronica Montelongo. You are right! He makes my skin crawl. Okay, now I’m on a roll. Another HGTV show that I like, but that I believe spews out misleading information is Scott McGillivray’s “Income Property.” If you’re not familiar, he is a contractor who fixes up people’s (basements/second floors) so that they can rent them out and generate income. On the one hand, I like the show. I think he does quality work. He’s diligent about getting Certificates of Occupancy, building permits and fire inspections. He identifies and addresses structural issues, even if it means taking a hit on his reno budget. He steers the homeowners towards upgrades that he knows will attract renters (e.g. washer/dryer). The renovations always end up looking really nice. And he’s soft on the eyes, which I appreciate. However. When he presents his two renovation options to the homeowner, he uses fuzzy math! And it drives me insane. This is an example of his typical spiel: “Your current mortgage is $1200. Renovation A, which costs $20,000, will convert your basement into a one-bedroom apartment. This will net you $800 per month, which brings your mortgage down to $400. Renovation B will convert the space into a 2 bedroom, and will cost you $30,000, but will net you more per month: $1100. Meaning your mortgage will be only $100 per month! How does that sound to you?” Now, anyone with half a brain can see the HUGE, GLARING hole in this presentation. (If you don’t see it, he doesn’t include the cost of the renovation into his figures.) IMO, his presentation is disingenous at best and deliberately misleading at worst. ---
**Author:** ![Mattie\_Blue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71c47a/32.png) [@Mattie\_Blue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mattie_Blue)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2012, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-hgtv-show-ever/636260/51 "2012-10-05T12:48:40Z")
I rarely watch HGTV anymore and it used to be the default channel in the background on Saturday mornings. My main beef with them is that they seem to have abandoned the “G” in their name. I adored Paul James in\*\* Gardening by the Yard\*\*. Yes, he could be silly, but I enjoyed the occasional goofiness and he always gave sound, practical advice. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2012, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-hgtv-show-ever/636260/52 "2012-10-05T13:04:10Z")
> [@Mattie\_Blue](#): > > I rarely watch HGTV anymore and it used to be the default channel in the background on Saturday mornings. It’s still our default Saturday morning background noise. At least it’s always cheerful, constructive (ha!) noise. If it’s not that, my husband will get stuck into a Law & Order marathon, which is a gory and depressing way to start the weekend. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-hgtv-show-ever/636260.md?page=2)