Why I (Still) Watch HGTV

Hint: It’s not about the real estate

The Napiers put Laurel MS on the map for fans of their show Home Town. Photo by Brent Moore.

Two decades ago, before HGTV became RETV, I watched shows that focused on design: Small Spaces, Big Style; Decorating Cents; Design on a Dime — shows that I could relate to as a graphic designer living in an apartment and not having $650,000 to drop on a fixer upper.

Still, I kept tuning in. Yes, I went through the Fixer Upper stage, which ended when Joanna Gaines turned into a Mean Girl right before my eyes. First she started bitching about homeowners turning their own property into AirBnBs; then she left the show under the pretext of “spending more time with her family” and proceeded to launch a network, multiple shows, a restaurant, a line of merch, and god knows what else — an artisanal shiplap company? I’m sure she has a lot more time for her family now.

I broke up with Chip and Jo before they broke up with us. But there are still a few shows I look forward to, and I realized why: they are hosted by married couples who seem to respect and genuinely like each other. Couples who discuss and arrive at decisions mutually. Kind of like my parents. Watching Erin and Ben Napier (Home Town), Dave and Jenny Marrs (Fixer to Fabulous), and recently, Egypt Sherrod and Mike Jackson (Married to Real Estate), is a little like being around my folks again, in spirit.