House Hunters

Especially when you get to see the interiors of so many differently styled homes, some with breathtaking oceanfront views or distant mountains and valleys providing the terrace with eye candy.

What gets me is the insistence that no kitchen is complete or saleable without granite counter-top, that every home has to have at least three bathrooms, that a master bedroom is too small if it's anything less than 14' x 18', and that any room featuring wallpaper is an absolute no no.

Interesting too, to see couples (interracial, hetero or gay) viewing the properties together, some couples looking about as ill-matched as you could possibly imagine but obviously each couple totally committed to living together indefinitely in homes that range from 200,000 to 1.5 million of U.S. dollars, and often basing their decisions on how big the yard is for their beloved dog or how safe the yard is to accommodate kids and pets when it lacks a proper fence.

Even more fascinating is House Hunters International which shows the vast difference in standards between European and American real estate markets, along with some gorgeous scenery in exotic settings which compensates (sometimes) for a certain lack of craftsmanship in utilities.

"House Hunters" is a great show on HGTV with a simple concept - house hunters look at three homes and choose one, discussing the pros and cons in between.

Hosted by the lovely Suzanne Wong, there is something very involving about this show and some other HGTV offerings, such as Designed to Sell, Buy Me, and How Much is My House Worth.

I think it's the couch potato aspect combined with fantasy that works well for this show and others on the network. We can pick our own favorite house and then say things like, "I knew they'd pick that one," or "They're idiots" when they choose, and we can also discuss how much money we think they have while asking the age-old question, "What is the big deal with hardwood floors and granite countertops?" (Without them, your house may as well go into foreclosure.)

And we can listen to them carp about the color of the rooms - as if they aren't willing to paint. When the home owners are revisited in the new place later, we are able to analyze their taste. This all easily replaces looking out the window while the new neighbors are moving in.

The house hunters themselves are usually delightful people with whom the audience identifies, though not only. Many of them have pets, and if they don't, they usually acquire them once they move. So one can ooh and ah over babies and puppies. HGTV is onto a good thing.

My friend TIVOs this show so I am subjected to it every time I visit. Will somebody please tell these annoying crybabies to shut the flock up already? For God's sake, people are losing their homes every day and all they do on this show is hiss and moan about the counter tops, the paint, the appliances...You have all this money to buy an otherwise really great house and you are worried that the stove isn't pretty enough? Hello, here is a scientific breakthrough--wait for Home Depot to have one of its no interest for 12 months deals and get the one you want. Oh, the family room is too small! You know what is small and uncomfortable? The tent cities that once-proud homeowners are forced to live in now.

I agree with a lot of the other reviews. I love seeing all the different homes and places. But I can not stand the people. Complain about everything. I am not using that bathtub cause it has a gold faucet and so on. I am getting to where I turn it a lot. I cant handle all the negativity through the whole show. I understand there are things you may not like but these people just acting ungrateful!

I've been watching House Hunters for years. It's time to stop watching is because it's not realistic at all. Most of the time they're not shown what they want. Choices are given but it's far reached and the things that they're scripted to say is either dumb or not the way the average person talks when deciding on their home. The show should come across as real as possible and don't show the home that they're going to choose in the beginning. Sometimes I think that the home is already theirs and that they just remove everything and then put it back after the choices are made. We realize that it's tv and people can't say anything, but come on, sometimes they say the silliest things.