Ame-a ou Deixe-a: Vancouver

Chemistry between presenters is great, but the show seems to follow a pre determined blue print> House in need of renovation>Always an unforeseen problem>Owners,despite living in houses many times above $1MM, can´t step in with extra $10K?! How come?>Something gets taken off the original plan(by the way, the construction manager seems to have a great pleasure in finding a problem and is always negative) I do not believe Jill is not capable of building up some reserve or antecipate problems either with the building or the city Anyway, I love to watch the show,mainly because the presenters,they have good rapport with the audience I believe.

Is it fake? The home owners are real and so are their houses. Having said that, the rest is scripted for gawd sake. I've done renos. They really are a pandora's box - full of nasty surprises! And, these guys have to do it by code and often the labour aint cheap. That makes it much more expensive than you casual DYI'ers think that it should be. What makes it scripted is the fact that they often know in advance where some of these surprises might be and they make it seem like they found it in the middle of the reno for the dramatic effect. That's show biz.

I have enjoyed this show quite a bit and it is very impressive how Gillian can transfer ugly houses into very welcoming homes. Todd is a hoot to watch with his witty comebacks and antics. What is getting frustrating is the constant repetitive theme of "hidden problems " that become major issues. I have never watched one episode where the homeowners get everything they asked for. Every show is scripted exactly the same where Kenny finds problems, Gillian pulls out her "acting" shoes and pretends to be shocked, disappointed and angry. It is always the same. Homeowners are providing renovation budgets of 120,000 and much higher, sometimes up to 200,00 but it's never enough. Shake it up a bit. How about the homeowner gets everything they asked for and there's money left over to do something extra for them or give the extra money back. It just seems to be that every show is predictable and never falls off script. Only difference is different homes and different homeowners. Getting a bit boring.

I'm a huge HGTV fan, especially Love it or List it Toronto. Hillary and David are great. They're not too plastic and fake and they feel comfortable ribbing each other. Todd is okay but Jillian is hard to watch. She's so busy flicking her hair and pouting for the camera (seriously, is she in high school?) it's really distracting. It pulls me out of the show because she's playing to the camera more than doing her job. Obviously someone who does a stint on the Bachelor franchises just wants attention. It's gotten her this show but I'm not sure she's got the goods to back up her ego. That $190k budget for one floor mentioned by another viewer is a joke. You can do a whole house for that even with contingency.

I always watch the show to see the final "reveal". Jillian seems to have a knack for decorating and the final results are quite impressive. What is less impressive is the amount of money these people put upfront to have the changes done to their homes. Each and every time there is this "eye rolling" scene with all these "little surprises" that seem to crop up on a regular basis ($$$) More and more money to pay for extra unforeseen improvements. It is unnerving at best (Hillary Farr used to always fall short of finishing her projects on her show "Love it or List it"). I would never hire anyone like that. That's a huge disappointment and a let down. I can only see how these people feel.

So who is pocketing all that money. I assume that in the end Jillian gets what she wants from that project but it's all water off her shoulders if the project is not finished.

I have never seen anything like this on Jonathan's and Drew's show. Occasionally, there are things that crop up but options are being given and they work around the issues if necessary. Also, they get a lot more done with a lot less money. So what gives?

Here, you gotta pay more or things get done to a complete 100% satisfaction. And even at that, projects are left undone with all the additional out of pocket expenses.

It is hard to watch the show because of the price gouging and the horrible unprofessional approach.