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After seeing the premier episode, I'd give this an 8 out or 10. I loved the concept of bringing the white box challenge out of Design Star and into a stand alone challenge. I liked the addition of a carpenter/craftsman and the back room of supplies and accessories available. I think that four contestants is a good number to work with. They can lose the overly dramatic music. Also- I don't like the side edits of the contestants either telling why they are going to win or dissing another contestant. Yes, I know that this is common amongst competition reality shows- but with the white box challenge, you can think outside the box on this! I don't mind hearing their plans, or even why they are changing them... but the "bring it" talk is fake and obnoxious. It was an interesting twist to make the challenge about 1500 stems from a flower market, and not a specific budget. I'd like to see how this applies to challenges from other locations. I didn't mind that all the contestants were some kind of design professional, but I also feel like this is not necessary. I actually like seeing what creative minds outside the design field can do! David made a great host/mentor. I was kind of surprised to see an all male panel. That didn't bother me... but it did surprise me! They didn't say whether the panel would always be the same, though. The third panel member was someone I'd never heard of, but David introduced him by saying he will have his own landscape type show... so something close to Gardening is coming to HGTV! Yay! Sorry to ramble.... just working on getting a conversation started. | |||
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I didn't realize this was the premiere of WRC. Happened to be channel surfing and decided to give it a try. (Obviously, my fave shows on other networks were not on.  ) My first impressions: A good concept, though I am getting weary of the artificial deadline-type shows; so old-school. The flower power challenge was just quirky enough to make it fun. And, yes, the crew of craftsmen makes a lot of sense. David is a good host, and the entire panel was fair and reasonable in their critiques and encouragement. I don't mind the snarky sidebars from the contestants; I've come to expect that in these types of reality show challenges. It adds another layer of dramatic tension to the show, and it's fun to see who has to "eat their words" afterwards. I don't know if I will add WRC to my "appointment TV" list, but it was a harmless way to waste an hour last night. PS -- The title of this show reminds me of "White Room," the great 60s acid rock song by the British group Cream: "In the white room, with black curtains..." I kept humming it all through out the show. I am dating myself...  This message has been edited. Last edited by: aychihuahua, | |||
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I saw it too. From what I heard Jamie Dhurie will be a mainstay and so is David but they will have a new member each week like Meg Caswell, Dina Manzo... THe new guy's show will be called Going Yard. David did a really good job as a mentor and a HOst. I look forward to watching more shows and see what the other designers will bring and what designs they will have that is outside the box. It is very interesting and enjoyable to watch the designs.This message has been edited. Last edited by: otro, | |||
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Ow! Ow! That is me kicking myself. I had this show marked on my calendar and still forgot to watch it. I was just too busy reading my Patricia Cornwell book. I got used to not watching HGTV so much in the evening. | |||
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I enjoyed the episode up to the elimination of Matthew. His design deserved first place and I really wanted to see more of his work. The decision of the judges to let him go is very telling of what to expect on this competition. David explained why he was voted off, but the lady left was so very very sloppy. I will not watch this program again. | ||||
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I liked Matthews room as well. But he barely used any flowers other than the planter box on the back wall. | ||||
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Overall it was interesting - I didn't care for either of the two women's offerings at all because they just looked sloppy. Have to admit I was glad the one didn't win who was all full of herself! Matthew's room, to me, was the best but it wasn't quirky enough for the judges. Of course, I'm one of the ones who was screaming NOOOOOOOOO at the t.v. when that DS contestant (Todd?) broke up all the furniture in the WB challenge and did a surfing thing. Maybe I'm too "safe" but things have to be functional at least! | ||||
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Agree, doodles, we preferred Matthew's room, also. Didn't expect him to win, however - he appeared to use very few stems. In addition, they mentioned towards the end (or at least we didn't hear it until then) that the contestants were not allowed to simply place the stems in water, in a pot/planter - apparently as he did along that back wall. Between those two things, we assumed he was basically disqualified. Never a Todd fan, either. Remember thinking at the time that he had preplanned that WB challenge. It was S2, IIRC. Didn't care for the way he switched the 2 rooms in the finale, either. It could have worked but fell flat for me. Funny how HGTV/the crashers production company hired him on RC as a host but not as designer. (Don't regularly watch it but did notice they list the actual, local designer for each episode during the credits.) WRT these hosts, hadn't seen Jamie around much, except for the GH special. Assumed they used both him and the 3rd guy (name??) for their plant/garden expertise. We'll see who appears next week. As a guy, I'm hoping for a better showing from the women next week. Gets tiresome - there are plenty of qualified female designers who can/should compete. (BTW, did you apply doodles? Don't know your age but that shouldn't dq you, either.) JMHO, as usual.This message has been edited. Last edited by: bballdays, | ||||
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I tried to watch but was glued to Dancing With The Stars and hope it will play again as a rerun. | |||
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BB - I also hope for a good showing next week and yes, I'll be watching. I think most of us do like the WB challenge part of the DS competition. I realize they want to see who can think outside the box but that doesn't necessarily translate into good design, IMO. I did receive a notice/invitation for the show but opted not to respond. Watching them scramble to get all their flowers chosen in that 15 minute timeframe made me glad I didn't apply - that would have been me flat on the floor only I'd still be wallowing around trying to get up! LOL It also takes me too long (in t.v. requirement time) to feel the space and decide what I'm doing in there - which is fine and appropriate for my normal clients, but I'd probably still be coming up with a concept while everyone else was putting the finishing touches on theirs. (BTW, I'm 67) | ||||
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doodles, happy to hear you had an opportunity to consider it. BTW, I apologize - wasn't trying to pry - from your previous posts, I knew you were older than the typical 20 or 30-somethings that they usually select for these shows. Agree, that flower shop scene was absolutely insane. Don't know how any of them did that. It's a shame, if that rush affected the women's performance. IIRC, the woman who had the most problems started with 1 concept - then changed when she heard the guy's plans. (Thought she needed to select something and stick with it.) When Todd did that nutty wave scene, I had the distinct impression from the way he completed it, that he'd definitely planned it in advance. Perhaps DS needed to alter the challenge more in S2. This winner (Matthew) mentioned he'd actually practiced and recreated some of the DS, WB challenges. They did o.k. with Ep01 - we'll see going forward. I'm definitely worried, however, that HGTV will become another competition network, similar to Scripps' FN. At least the first one was better than HH reruns. BTW, did their notice mention the extreme time challenge? Thought DS usually gave them at least 45 minutes or an hour to complete their shopping but not sure. Plus, it might vary from DS Ep to Ep and/or S to S, also. Have a great weekend, doodles!This message has been edited. Last edited by: bballdays, | ||||
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I liked the show - the first one in a LONG time that has been good on HGTV. I hope it stays on. One point though. Rather than having them work with such dumb stuff like flowers or pet shop stuff etc., I'd rather seem the assigned a particular room each week - like kitchen, bedroom, family room, etc so we can really see what they can do.Let them use real paint and real fabric and real stuff inside of the fake stuff. And yes, I"m stick of the snarky talking heads too. Every reality show does it and I hate it. But - congratulations on a good new show. | ||||
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If only Matthew had woven in some cute little flowers along with his ivy... Perhaps if his planter had been upside down? The guy that won reminded me of a contestant on last years DS. He did the same wavy colors on the wall thing that everyone raved about. I fast forwarded over the entire beginning of the show. I don't need to see people running and rushing. Just get to the good stuff. | ||||
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Anyone know what the challenge is tonight? | ||||
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I missed this show last week, so I have gone in and set my DVR for tonight. According to what I read, they will be using salvage elements as a medium tonight. | |||
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I got to watch the show tonight. I liked it. I really don't envy the designers having to figure out a room with no idea of what they will be using. I think they did wonderfully well considering everything. I think I would like to see how well the established HGTV designers would do in like circumstances. They are used to having time to draw up a plan and discuss things with their team. I know they have paid their dues, but I still think it would be interesting to see the results of a competition like that. | |||
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I got to thinking... it would be neat if they would take all of the winning designers after 12 weeks, and those will be the contestants for the new season of Design Star. | ||||
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That sounds like a great idea. They would save a lot of time and energy doing it that way. | |||
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I think that would be interesting also! It's not an easy thing to do, especially when you're used to having time to really feel the space and come up with a design plan of action. Also, being limited to ONE source (salvage, flowers, whatever) is difficult enough but when you add to it the pressure of the judges wanting to see "out of the box" thinking - well, let's just say I don't think I could do it as well as any of the contestants last night did. I was annoyed at David for questioning the Southwest Roadtrip picnic bench - for those of us who are old enough to remember roadtrips before the Golden Arches took over the highways, this was a pretty common thing. All she needed was a BurmaShave sign. Now, that's not to say that I thought they were wrong in who they chose as the winner - they got that right, IMO. I would have had that Indian Princess gal go first, then the guy, then the RoadTrip, leaving the winner as the one w/ the swing. | ||||
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So many positive reviews of this show! Programming DVR now... | ||||
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I finally got to watch this challenge, I liked it. And I liked the hubcap southwest room but I thought she ruined it by putting the bench dead center in the room covering up the "rug". And the chairs, to me, didn't make any sense in there. I see tonight's is a trip to the candy store...what can you do with jelly beans? | ||||
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I've decided that I'd like to see an "HGTV Designer" version of the White Room Challenge. Put three HGTV designers up against each other, with the winnings going to charity. (Don't do this on a regular basis- just for a special twist) After hearing some of critiques given by judges on Design Star, it would be interesting to see if any of them could actually do this. Vern? Gen? Candice? (but not all three at the same time) It might also be fun to do a "redemption" episode, where past Design Star contestants who totally blew this challenge get a shot a second time. | ||||
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That would indeed be interesting to see "real" designers faced with a WBC and confined to the same rules as the "real" contestants". However, I don't think they'd do it as a serious show. IMO, they'd either mess it up with fake antics like they did that Designer Showdown one a few years ago where they had 1 designer and 1 carpenter and everyone was being silly and stealing stuff or they'd bend the rules enough so the designers could save face or there would be behind the scenes stuff (such as a couple of days of planning time the viewers wouldn't see). I seriously doubt that the real designers would take on a challenge like this given the exact same guidelines. This type of stuff doesn't happen in the real design world and I doubt any of them could do any better than the contestants given the time, money and material constraints. | ||||
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This sounds like the Chopped model. Maybe they will do this in the future. | ||||
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I just saw this show for the first time--the candy challenge. I liked it. | ||||
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Saw the "salvage" episode and the "candy" episode. Not sure why, but just not feeling this show. Maybe the judges? David is the only one who has proved he can pull this kind of challenge off. I remember Jamie Drurie as the landscape guy who made at least one major mistake every episode on his show. Genevieve has questionable taste and Dina Manzo while sweet, has absolutely deplorable taste. I'll try it again, but so far it has been a waste of a half hour. | ||||
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Charles, what is your opinion of a professional designer being able to pull this off? I admit, I'd be stumped - altho I often get a full vision when walking into a client's home of how to execute the "perfect design", more often it takes awhile to really feel the space. Putting that together with the constraints on time and material I'm not sure at all I'd do any better than these contestants. I do like that they're given a carpenter, tho - the thought of nailing something heavy to the wall on my own would scare me to death. | ||||
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Doodles, I have renovated several older homes as well as a few less than fabulous apartments over the years. I can do electrical, floor refinishing, compound mitering, a little coping and minor plumbing.I am not afraid of any tool with maybe the exception of tile cutting.But... I can not concieve of being thrown in an unknown pool and pulling together a cohesive design while the "world" watched and the clock ticked. I'm sure I would choke without my scale ruler and my graph paper! I applaud the contestants, and I love the concept. For me personally it is a matter of interest, it's not about being critical of the work. There is something about the format or the judges that just drops to the floor like a dead fish to me. Can't explain it. | ||||
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Thanks, Charles - perhaps HGTV was counting on the appeal of the WRC from their DS series and didn't take other things into consideration like the appeal of the judges. If I'm not mistaken this is only a short series, not a full blown "gonna be around forever like HH" show. You are one of a handful of other professionals I'd trust in my own space - if I ever win the lottery and have a place back east I'd love to work with you on it! Our style isn't the same, but I would trust your eye on anything! | ||||
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I hate this show along with house hunting, all night long can you please show more shows about doing stuff on a budget remember the show for doing a room for $500. or design on a dime I like high or low but selling new your or LA million dollars room or million dollor contractor, color splash and house hunting all of those shows are stupid, and house hunting all night long please stop, you need to show rate my space, miles of style, design on a dime, high low, other shows like something I can use to fix my home up. | ||||
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Not really feeling it either for some reason. Don't know exactly why it's not clicking for me, strictly as a viewer. BTW, thought I'd seen each episode but don't remember Gen appearing. Guess that's a positive, at least - Good idea to challenge the HGTV designers but I'm sure it would turn into another "Showdown". Those were so fake. The WRC's definitely extremely difficult. On balance, I sorta' wish they'd left it for DS. That way, it's special. JMHO -This message has been edited. Last edited by: bballdays, | ||||
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Zygote, it's my opinion that even in a very high end room a person on a limited budget can often find an idea they can execute in their own home. True, none of us that I'm aware of on these boards have the money to spend a couple million on one room - or even one house - but if you look closely you can see perhaps an interesting way of arranging furniture, or a way to group a collection (they may have expensive antique snuff boxes - you may have ordinary, but special to you, snowglobes), or a lot of other examples. I've done small budget decorating for clients (it's my firm belief that everyone deserves a beautiful space regardless of budget) as well as high end, and usually it's the WAY things are displayed that captures the eye - not necessarily the most expensive piece. While I agree that there should be more "how to" shows and MUCH less RE shows, if you keep your eyes open on the few design shows HGTV has in the lineup, you may be able to find some great ideas. | ||||
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Saw the "Flea Market" episode last night and finally decided what I don't like about this show.The premise is to bring in designers,but the judges insist upon non literal spaces. By removing function from the projects,one of the main cornerstones of interior design becomes a detriment to winning. Essentially the judges are looking for sculptural installations, not rooms. Being exceptionally qualified in interior design does not mean you are a talented sculptor.The disciplines are not interchangeable. This show may be fun to watch, but it also another example of how HGTV continues to blur the lines between what is real design and what is entertainment. | ||||
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I believe the last episode was the only time they wanted a space that represented something with the possibility of it not being a functioning space. Which is fine. I don't see why people would tune in without variety. It wasnt my favorite WRC so far but I still like the show | ||||
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I just watched the first episode on line and the judge named Chis was on the Bachelorette. He lost but I've heard he is engaged now. He was a fan favorite on the show. | ||||
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Spot on, as usual, Charles. It's an intersting show - and I enjoy it as entertainment - however, it is NOT a real interior design show. Last night's lighting installation episode was a case in point. They all looked like hot messes except for the guy who won (and I was holding my breath, afraid they'd give it to the other guy who looked as messy as his project did). IRL, we're not often (or ever, in my case) called in to do a lighting installation - we have people for that type of thing. Yes, lighting is extremely important in the overall look and I'll shop with clients for just the right fixtures to add to whatever look we're going for - but not to the extent it showed last night. HGTV is trying too hard to capture the perceived audience who will enjoy this disjointed, "shock and awe" type of programming. I still say, if they went back to their roots and presented good, PROFESSIONAL designers showing viewers how they can achieve a professional look in their own homes (in various styles and levels) they'd have the type of viewers who are willing and able to spend the type of money the sponsors salivate over. Let the others go watch Swamp Hogs or Trailer Trash Tractor Pulls or whatever. | ||||
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