Home Town Rescue

I loved the initial season of this show, currently the only ones shown in the episodes list, but this 2nd season seems to be just phoning it in with minimal appearances by the HGTV 'stars' and not a lot of substance.

The prairie garden "maze" area is a good example. While it celebrates the spirit of the area, I really can't see anyone congregating in such a space, especially youngsters. And the 'windchimes" are just tacky bits of wood hung too low on what resembles my grandmother's old clothesline.

The biggest visible change is at the bowling alley with new paint, the addition of outdoor space and an art installation by a local artist. While the outdoor space is nice enough it will be unusable more than half the year due to the weather and bringing in items on a nightly basis to preserve them from weather damage, loss or theft will get old.

The family home is very nice with a lot of curb appeal though again, the outdoor space & hanging garden will be largely unusable for half the year without even so much as a pergola or other covering. The interior space looks nice but very bland and impersonal and scarcely reflective of the occupants and without adequate seating for a family of 7. The family room is styled more like a small urban loft than a family home. And the kitchen & dining alcove... Ugh! A very small glass top table with 4 chairs for a family of 7? Get real!

I realize it's all staging but it's bad.

We feel in love with season one, the Ben and Erin helping revive a small town that went through a lot and really seemed to have a sense of community working to recover. Season 2 is missing the elements that made season one so good. The town does not seem small nor like a tight knit community. The people they are helping seem less like they revigorate the town as much as random people. Not having Ben and Erin hurts as well. They feel very genuine in their desire to help, the others from HGTV seem more like they are doing it for Attention.

Really hoping if they do ac season 3 they go back to what made season 1 so great. I would love to see more of Ben and Erin getting engaged and more of the sense of community that made Wetumpka so great.