Reality shows have been all the rage, with home improvement programs becoming increasingly popular at the moment. The cable channel, Home and Garden Television, or HGTV, has branded itself as a premium place to watch amazing shows. They are using high profile renovations and big dollar real estate purchases. However, everything is not what it seems; reality shows are not always based on reality. Several of the top-rated programs on HGTV have been proven on more than one occasion not to be entirely true television. Here are some of the reasons that viewers should notice HGTV programming is staged. Do not believe everything they see on TV.
The show “Love it or List it” has been sued for irreparable damages.
The show “Love it or List it” has a segment where viewers can see what goes on behind the scenes of a renovation. It was assumed that all was well after the episode. However, in April 2016, a North Carolina couple filed a lawsuit against the production company behind “Love it or List it.” The homeowners used to be avid viewers of the HGTV programming. Deena Murphy and Timothy Sullivan answered an advertisement for the popular television show. In the suit, the couple claimed that the home was left “irreparably damaged” after the show finished filming. Deena Murphy and Timothy Sullivan asked the production company to clean up the construction company’s work to complete the home.
This lawsuit revealed more than damages to Murphy and Sullivan’s home. It also shed light on other facts about HGTV’s general practices. The language used in the suit gives us a look into what goes on behind the scenes. Things look very different than the image broadly painted by many of HGTV’s reality shows. HGTV shows, as well as reality shows in other genres, present themselves as if they are showing the candid reaction of regular people who get an incredible opportunity out of the blue. What is going on, though? Keep reading for inside details from Deena Murphy and Timothy Sullivan’s tumultuous experience with “Love it or List it.”