I love this show - but suggestions for the producers
I recently watched all of season 1 on Netflix and have seen maybe 6 episodes of season 2. I noticed a change between the seasons, a change for the worst - but it's NOT Chip and JoJo that's bad - it's the format changes.
1)You don't need the kids hanging with the parents at the beginning in every episode.
The kids are a big part of their lives, but it seems like it's an artifice sometimes. I like the kids, but in the first season they seemed integrated into the show - and in the second its like they're being showcased.
2)We don't need to spend too much time with the buyers at the beginning.
Some of the episodes spent 2-3 minutes on showing the buyers hanging out with family/etc. I don't need to see that unless they're super fascinating.
3)Stop the un-necessary repetition.
In the first season you'd show a house, talk about the price and then go to the next house. In season 2 Chip announces it before going in, then before leaving the house, then when the people call with their choice. Its too much - I can remember it. Maybe before going in the house and after a home is picked - so we don't hear the stats on the two that aren't picked again.
Don't repeat the last 20 seconds you showed before commercial when you get back from the commercial.
And please edit the show for Netflix. I've seen other show like Storage Wars that do this and it get rid of a lot of that repetition - like the logos going to/from commercial.
4)Show what you've done to other/all areas in the house.
Sometimes they enter a 2 story house and we never see upstairs. If there's 3 bathrooms in the house and you turn one into the master I want to know if at least fixed the existing hideous bathrooms. Or do the couples have a great first floor and an awful second floor? Like the pink tile and green toilet - are they still in that old bathroom?
5)Spend more time with Chip in the house. It takes weeks for the construction on some of the houses and its gets the same amount of air time as the decorating does. I'm interested in see more of what they do - because they do a lot more than Demo Day and a phone call about replacing a header and then the group of them duck-walking a beam into place.
6)Don't have buyers with a lot of money
The projects where the couple is loaded with money is less interesting to me - harder to relate to.
A few comments:
a)Living in California its fascinating how cheap the real estate is in Waco.
b)I don't understand how redoing a kitchen has to cost $30,000? Are they getting titanium shelves? Just weird how much money goes into the kitchen in most episodes.
c)Can you share the incentives? I find it hard to understand how someone with a budget of $200,000 can get a loan on a $75,000 house. Are these buyers who don't need financing? Does the show pay for it ALL? Is there a financing program where the show guarantees a certain portion of the mortgage? Does the show actually provide the mortgage?
And realize I'm posting these comments to IMDB BECAUSE I like the show. On the off chance anyone sees them from HGTV or the production company. (Maybe a direct email to the production company might be more effective - but I'm interested if people on IMDB share some of the same sentiments.)