Town Haul 2005
Have you ever started a project, not finished it, only to find you’re glad you didn’t waste the time and the effort on it? Have you ever started a project with the hopes of landing on a reality T.V. show showcasing your talent?
I have.
Yes, sadly I used to be addicted to reality T.V. shows when I was younger. Not just any reality T.V. shows, but design T.V. shows.
Way back when, you might remember a show called, “Trading Spaces” which was showcased on TLC before Jon and Kate +Mayhem took over. I was obsessed. I EVEN had the calendar.
The show looked so much fun, that I wanted to be one of the designers who got to travel, meet interesting families and help them design their family room, game room, kitchen, or bathroom. If I couldn’t be a designer, I wanted to be Paige Davis. We were very similar, I too had short reddish hair, was perky and a vegetarian (at the time).
Soon, for some reason, Paige Davis no longer was the host. The show lost its sparkle and everything went downhill. This is when my mom and I had the bright idea to make a video and send it to TLC in the hopes they would maybe audition me for the role of host. (That might sound funny, but actually that is how some of the carpenters got on the show!) If they couldn’t hire me as a host then maybe they could hire me as the artist with a flair for design.
On one of their many shows, they had a competition between families in which the winning family had an artist in their ranks, who was then hired to be on the show. I thought, “I could be that guy!”
Sadly, I was not.
TLC said they were always accepting applications and we heard feedback but nothing more. Then the show was canceled. After Paige was gone the ratings dropped. They brought Paige back but it was too late and there was to be no reconciling with lost fans.
Then TLC had a show called Town Haul. Just before I moved up to St. Louis my mom found out they were going to be showcased in a small town in Missouri. They were going to be here a month before I was able to move into my new place in St. Louis, and they were going to be in a couple of towns over from my current residence. My job also started a month earlier than I was able to move in and coincidently my Aunt and Uncle lived in the town where Town Haul would be working!
Town Haul was hosted by several people, including one former designer of Trading Spaces. I never did meet her, but I did kind of work next to her. (I will say this, she was using a hammer to tear up carpet strips while barefoot…not a good idea.) Long story short, I was able to help work on one of the homes on a very hot day on my day off, and realized, reality isn’t reality.
They got several shots of all of us crew running towards the house with crowbars, pick axes and wheel barrows. We had to do several takes, running, screaming and yelling in the heat, only to go into an even hotter house.
In one room we got to work with one of the carpenters (who was very nice by the way, he brought us all water and got to know us in between takes). In this room, we were supposed to rip up carpet while we were geared up with face masks, construction hats and safety goggles in 100+ degree weather. We had just ripped the carpet up when we heard, “CUT!” We were asked to roll the carpet back to where it had been and act like we were pulling it fresh for the first time. After we rolled it back, the camera man squeezed into this tiny room behind us and shot it all over again from a different angle. “Why?” I thought. Reality should be a one shot deal, not a several take deal.
Sadly after that stint of Town Haul episodes aired, the show went off the air as well.
So where is a girl to turn to after her favorite reality design T.V. shows have gone off the air? Design Star.
The winner of the season before I watched was a hair dresser. A HAIR DRESSER. I figured if she could do it, then I should be able to as well. I watched one season, and wasn’t completely hooked. Somehow I had dreamed up the idea that maybe what their show was lacking was a silly artist who could whip up a quick design.
The requirements for the show at that time were, you had to have designed at least 3 rooms, with pictures of them in your portfolio (before and after), along with some other odds and ends. This is not as easy as it seems. I had already helped design and redo my parents bathroom with slate tiling, venetian plaster etc. Now I had to find 2 more people or families willing to let me redesign their space.
I had a volunteer. She wanted to redesign her basement bedroom for a friend who would be staying in town. It was a lot of hard work, it was fun, but well worth it. However, after having said that, I accidentally spilled paint on her carpet. This is strange because I managed to spill it in a spot where the plastic had been disheveled from walking on it, and then my husband and I rigorously tried to get it out with many stain removers. (One of those stain removers which has proven to work in the past didn’t work, it only made her house smell for days which I regret.)
After this particular experience, I realized this probably wasn’t the job I was supposed to have. Not only that, but people probably wouldn’t want to hire me with a paint spill like that one on my record. Strangely, this actually panned out.
I was talking to my mom last night and we were talking about the direction reality T.V. has taken and how its no longer actually reality based. We then got on the subject of Design Star and she asked if I had been watching it. I told her I hadn’t and she proceeded to tell me about how ridiculous it had become and its more about the personalities and the drama now rather than the design aspect.
Now when I watch design shows, I watch it with a grain of salt and skepticism. I no longer view them with the naivety I once had when this all started with Trading Spaces.
My new guilty “reality design T.V.” pleasure is Clean House. However, I think this is primarily because: 1. I love the host, she’s from St. Louis 2. I hope their crew can come by and help me organize my closet and get a functional art space going!
What is your guilty “reality T.V.” pleasure?
Creatively Put 
19 Kids and Counting.
On a different note, I think that I could do anything better than Samantha Brown, except be annoying.
Hee hee hee…I take it you didn’t care for her much on Veronica Mars either? 🙂
I too love 19 kids and counting. I also will catch The Little couple (the wife is a doctor) and Little People Big World. I also like Clean House (The host I also watch on Reno 911) but due to my grandmother being such a pack rat Hoarders is my current guilty obsession.
Hoarders is VERY hard to watch sometimes. There have been a couple of episodes of Clean House that have been hard to watch as well. They have had hoarders on the show and the host burst into tears out of fear for the homeowner! Sounds like 19 kids and counting is a fun one to watch!:)
I watch Design star but your right its not about design. I actually auditioned for American Idol and it was not at all like what you see on TV. It ruined the whole show for me and I don’t watch it anymore either. Love your blogs!
Thank you!:) Thank you for confirming what has become a growing epidemic in reality T.V. and thank you for commenting on the blog! If its alright to ask, what happened in your audition? I get so aggravated when they turn people like you away who obviously have talent! (By the way folks who are reading this, Rebecca can SING AND WRITE music! 😀 )
Thanks! Reality TV SPOILER ALERT! Don’t read if you are a big fan of American Idol!
Well… they (the junior producer’s) who heard me sing, sang along with me and then said “that was really beautiful, but your not what we are looking for.” – You see, you wait in line for no reason because they give you and about 15,000 other people a ticket to the audition. Then they tell you to come back the next day. The next day you and the other 15,000 people all audition for the “junior producers” (there were 12 of them) and you sing at the same time as 11 other people! We started noticing that the only people they sent through were the wacko jobs. Those people went on to audition for the Main producers and if they felt that they were “worthy” they would invite them back at the end of the week to audition for Randy, Simon, and Paula.
WOW! So thats how it REALLY works! Its sad they would be willing to pass up on a talent such as yours for someone who is out just for attention. Its their loss and I can tell, you will be on to bigger and better things! 😀 They can’t expect everyone to be a wacko, otherwise the show would become very bland and no one would stand out! Its really aggravating when some of these people get through and they don’t even have talent, and the rest of us know someone like you out there who would love to be in their shoes. Thank you for staying true to yourself, that is the most important thing. It sounds like even though it was a bad experience, you still got something out of it and know integrity is worth more than fame. 🙂
Did you see any of the “wackos” you were in line with make it to the final round? (It’s O.K. you don’t have to name names! 😉 )
what not to wear.
since they’ve now done episodes in stl, i got to see some raw footage where they try and get the crowd going when they first surprise their makeover volunteer…and then do multiple takes of that. it’s so forced and silly. and then to see the final cut…it’s so hacked. they all think they need the added drama, but those moments are not why people watch the show. the hosts are quirky, and the people want to see the before and afters! that’s all!
AGREED! Why do they need tons of people to come around and cheer a complete unknown stranger who is embarrassed for being called out for having a bad wardrobe? First off, you can’t embarrass someone into having taste that isn’t theirs. Second, why make it worse than it is? I do like the show at times, but then sometimes I feel the person is robbed of their individuality! Do you ever feel that way with this show?
nah, i don’t think so. they’ve had a lot of quirky, indie people on who were so threatened that they’d lose their individuality, but i haven’t seen it happen. i think i’ve ever only seen 1, maybe 2 people that weren’t really happy with how things turned out. i think they do a good job of explaining things to people and working with them on what is really important to that person, and keeping that in their new wardrobe. plus stacy and clinton are just awesome. 😛
Do you think anyone has ever purposely faked having a horrible wardrobe to get these two to come in, guide them and give them $5000 for a new wardrobe? Hee hee hee 😛
i don’t think so…that would be a lot of work to accumulate such bad stuff, have bad hair, etc.
Not if it was the combined effort of all of your friends and their worst outfits. The hardest part would be the person receiving the $5000 acting like they didn’t know about it the whole time! 😉 You know…your birthday is coming up, we can arrange this! 🙂
what are you saying?! 😉
I know, you know, what it is, that I know! Just sayin, if you want to meet Stacy and Clinton, and happen to want $5000 worth of new clothes…