TLC's "4 Houses"...A Great Concept, A Great Show

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I am a big fan of TLC's "4 Weddings" and with this new offering- "4 Houses"
I am positively enchanted.

This show is based on the same concept as 4 weddings in that there are four "entrants" to a weekly competition that has them in a contest with each other, and judging each other-more on this later.

In the wedding show, of course, the four contenders attend each other's wedding. They then grade each other on various criteria….out of a total of ten. One is for the bride's dress, one for the wedding venue, one for the food and one for the overall experience. The claim is that to keep the contenders from inflating their own scores, they only score the other contenders by placing them….best dress, best venue, like that. I suppose these "places" are given some kind of numerical score as the contender with the highest score wins the prize.

So it is with the "4 Houses" series. Obviously somewhat kooky or over-the-top houses are chosen for this contest and so it is. One episode had a lady who lived on a boat. Her entire living area was composed of many items she made herself, all from recycled materials. The contender herself was a bit of a nut.

The houses chosen for the show are a visual treat, the owners are proud of their creation and the results are intriguing. The contenders at first state their most important element in their home. Thus an amiable fellow might vow that home is comfort to him and as example there are large reclining chairs, beds as big as city parks, comfortable eating nooks and a simple, even unimaginative, décor.

Each contenders welcomes his or her three challengers to his or her home. He or she will summarize what they consider the essence of the house, the feeling and ambience said contender wants to project. The home owning contender then leaves the three challengers to themselves so they can wander the home, free to comment without fear of offending or hurting feelings.

The commentary of the challengers as they tour their opponents' homes is as interesting and funny as the seeing the often unique home design and décor. These contenders are very individualistic type of folk, else they wouldn't have such notable homes and a compulsion to show it off.

Not that there's anything wrong with this.

I rate TLC's "4 Houses" as a winning concept, an intriguing show and a really great idea. The mind boggles at the possibilities. How about "4 Chefs" where four cooks compete to create a multi-course meal and rate each other? How about "4 Fashion Stars", with four women who dress for office, dates and exercise with such flair and fashion that they show it off and compete against each other.

I recommend this show to anyone whoever watched an HGTV show but….no wait!

This is TLC. And way better than most anything currently on HGTV may I add?

I'm jus' sayin'.

Four Houses airs on TLC, Monday nights, at 10 pm.

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