Ugliest House in America

They get a $150,000 for the renovation. Some of the houses are going to take a lot more than $150,000. So that eliminates some of the houses. Like this first season one house would of taken $500,000 easy.

HGTV can afford to renovate all these ugly houses. Do it !!!

Don't leave these houses ugly. Fixing 1 isn't enough. 11 more houses to fix.

HGTV can afford to renovate all these ugly houses.

Let's be real. They picked the house that they thought would be the easiest to design and gain all this glory.

Binged watch season two to see what it was all about and it was the biggest disappointment ever. The only great part was the host Retta.

Let's truly pick the ugliest!!! Let the viewers decide. Come on, make this a REAL challenge. Let the viewers vote and really see how good of a designer she is. Not "Let's pick the one we know we can design the easiest because it is not much work".

Just my opinion and will not waste time watching season one or any other.

Retta is the greatest thing about this show! She's really funny and her commentary and reactions are enjoyable to watch. I really enjoyed season one. It was new and different. However, in the most recent season (aired early Jan 2023) they're showing mostly giant houses owned by upper middle class people that really are not that ugly. I'm sure they could find truly ugly houses - perhaps with people who really need the $ for the renovation. I like the rapport between Retta and Alison Victoria in the final episode of each season; however, the biggest drawback for me is Allison Victoria's designs at the end of the season. She basically takes away all the charm of the house and makes it as bland as possible. Disappointing after all the build up.

I loved the array of houses here. Not many were "ugly," but rather thematic or unique - making for a fun walkthrough of nontraditional houses and aesthetics. The host and the designer are fun and enthusiastic, with Retta's facial expressions being top-notch on numerous occasions. The editing is also enjoyable, offering both facts/tidbits and sass (such as the counters for various features and reactions).

But I think it leans into the "ugly" bashing a bit too hard considering the houses in question. This show's definition of ugly seems to take on the broader meaning of "in need of updating and improving function." I'm not personally a fan of the designer (her style isn't my sort of thing, and I feel like she leans too hard into making everything have one style throughout the finished product), but the end results are typically quite pretty. Although, with that in mind, I can't help but wonder if some of the final choices were made according to who was open to letting the designer run with her preferences. Perhaps we would have seen more houses or more ugly winners (pointed look at season 2 in particular) if each season had a different designer.