DIY disasters makes for good TV

Would you pay $250 each for a few pillows?

Maybe it’s more apparent to me because we are building a house at the moment, but everywhere I turn, there seems to be a new renovating or building show popping up on TV.

At the moment there is The Block, The Renovators and Top Design all featuring on free-to-air channels (not including all the home and design-based shows on Foxtel) which is more than enough to choose from to get your renovating fix if you so desire.

It is also apparent to me that these shows are about 50/50 when it comes to the balance between actual building and renovating and drama and contestant diatribe. I must say I am sick to death of hearing Jenna and Josh from The Block b*tch, moan and scream at each other and, frustratingly, see them do so well with their rooms each week (I’d much rather Polly and Waz do better because they are the cutesy/fun couple that even though produce rooms that are lack lustre, you still want them to win).

Josh and Jenna from The Block - constantly bickering and questioning each other, despite winning the most amount of room reveals.

I’d rather watch a show that is just about the renovating – I’m more interesting in seeing designs, hear them talking about the latest trends in furnishings and learn more about tiling techniques.

Instead it seems that these shows are all about the personal perils of each couple or group that are competing and how they can’t figure out how to cut plaster board, they are whinging because they haven’t had their hair or nails done in a month and they are upset because they don’t have enough money to pay their chippy this week because they blew their budget buying two pillows woth $500 that would be the ‘hero’ of the room…

I get that this is why people want to tune in but for me it’s about the end result – I just want to see the room and hear the professional judges’ opinions.

And that's another thing - these contestants who have very little experience compared to the professional building teams they are working with, think they know everything!

I have had feedback from people saying that they can’t stand many of the contestants on these shows, so I say this – let’s bring back Blitz (another Scott Cam-hosted series) where it’s purely about helping a struggling family or couple get the garden and house of their dreams. People just get in and do the work, it’s all about the end result and they are actually giving something to people that deserve it.

It seems like this TV fad is here to stay (thanks to soaring ratings) but next time around, I’d love it if the producers could make it less about the rubbish going on between the personal relationships and more about what they promise viewers – renovating and building.