This morning, Buzzfeed had a list of 17 Reality Shows that Need To Come Back. Now, most of these were forgettable tripe, but there was one, oh one, that really needs to come back: “Trading Spaces“, with the wonderful Mindy Paige Davis Page (a/k/a Paige Davis).
For those of you not old enough to remember, Trading Spaces was a home-improvement show that had two neighbors trade spaces in their house. TLC brought in a decorator and a carpenter, and they had $1000 per room to redo the room. Simple concept, and it would work well in today’s economic times with constrained budgets. Trading Spaces had a mix of designers each with their specific quirks and styles, and would mix them up on the different shows. It spun off a number of variants (including a children’s version), most notably WYWO (While You Were Out).
A number of things killed Trading Spaces , but they all devolve into “tinkering with the format”. They over-emphasized two of the designers — Doug and Hildi — and their outrageous designs. They kept playing with “surprise” rooms and larger budgets. They had contests to find new designers. They even eliminated Paige for a year! These all hurt the show and its viewership.
Still, I believe that a back-to-basics Trading Spaces would succeed these days, especially on a network such as DIY or HGTV. I’d love to see it… and I’d especially love to see it with Paige!
Remember that “Trading Spaces” was the USA version of “Changing Rooms” from the BBC. I think the same issues killed it.
I’m aware of that. What issues do you believe killed it, other than declining viewers (probably due to tinkering with the format).
Pretty much the tinkering, and overemphasis of designers who did outrageous designs (think Hildi). I remember hearing about one tabloid headline “Changing Rooms turned my parlor into a bordello waiting room!” or something along those lines. (Lawrence was the designer on that one.)
Also, I think the format got tired.
For both shows, the recession certainly hurt as well – donations for free mention I’m sure dried up.