Is it real? Is it Memorex? Does it matter?

What's 12 years old and follows a very familiar architecture that we've all come to know and love? No, not your parents' McMansion - it's "House Hunters" on HGTV. Most of you will probably be familiar with the show - probably moreso than I am, as I don't have cable and rarely watch television. However, this week I've gone ahead and watched about 10 episodes in a row (bleah!) in honor of the recent blog entry at HookedOnHouses.net. They interviewed a former "House Hunters" buyer who accuses the show of being totally fake. General reaction on the web has not been one of surprise, although a few people have seemed reasonably disappointed.

Given the wooden "I love it"s and "I hate it"s and the incessant repetition of certain phrases, anyone with a brain could have figured out long ago that parts of this "reality" series were scripted. However, I've seen countless comments to the recent blog entries about this latest revelation that indicate a bevy of viewers who think "House Hunters" portrays the buying process as it really happens. I've also worked with buyers who have been die-hard fans of the show, so I'm sure this news is not the happiest in the world.

HGTV responded with a press release stating, in part,

We’re making a television show, so we manage certain production and time constraints, while honoring the home buying process.

... In other words, "seriously guys? You thought this was all real? Helloooo!" (more…)