HGTV sucks (once again)
After recently celebrating the return of Erica Glasner's "A Gardener's Diary" to the daily schedule, HGTV's ever so clever programmers have once again decided to minimize gardening shows. It has kept Erica on but only once a week (Wednesdays) at 8 AM EDT.
HgTV has kept the 8 AM slot as it's "gardening" half hour. The new schedule has "Ground Breakers" (a landscaping show for rich people who want to buy a pool with some daylillies on the border) on Mondays, Paul James' s amusing and helpful "Gardening By The Yard" on Tuesdays, Erica on Wednesdays, "City Gardener", a UK show that I saw once when I couldn't sleep at 2:30 AM and it helped me sleep, and Susie Coelho's excretable, kitschy "Outer Spaces".
Now I know that HgTV likes to position itself as a "gardening" network. I've seen the ads promoting their Saturday morning lineup. Hmmmm.... Where are most gardeners on Saturday mornings. In front of the TV?
This is a network that has "Knitty Gritty" on every weekday. "Mission Organization" on every day. Out of every 21 hours of programming (they end at 4 AM and start again at 7 AM), there is perhaps an hour -- if you count "Curb Appeal" (I don't) or "Landscaper's Challenge" -- every day.
How about the old "Victory Garden" shows with Jim Crockett? Or Kathy Renwald's excellent "Gardener's Journal"? Or BBC's "Gardener's World" or "Ground Force" (which Susie Coelho so obviously seeks to copy without either the style or class). And how about starting the shows in the early evening so gardeners could get new ideas BEFORE the next day of gardening begins...
Argh. Now I'm in a great mood to weed...
Labels: Erica Glasener, Ground Force, HGTV, Kathy Rewald
posted by Garden Keeper @ 12:39 PM
10 Comments
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10 Comments:
Say it isn't so! I'd just gotten into a nice routine of watching A Gardener's Diary each morning at 6AM. Wednesdays only? Rats. Like you, and many others I'm sure, I often bemoan the fact that Home and GARDEN TV has so little "garden", and why oh why would they put the shows they do have on the air on weekend mornings? Perhaps they're assuming everyone has TiVo? I'm very disappointed.
Why this happens:
- Because gardens don't sell advertisers.
- Because big box stores sell "plant material", not plants.
- Because you only need to make a house pass to sell to the next sucker.
Possible responses:
- Class-action lawsuit for false advertising, breach of contract, emotional distress ...
- Boycott. The channel and its advertisers. (But if we don't watch, how will we know which advertisers to boycott?!)
- Launch the Gardener's Underground Video Network, which will use a viral model of videos posted with Creative Commons licenses and publicized on our blogs.
PS: I think the word is "execrable" but "excretable" serves nicely.
All good thoughts. A mild disagreement: does knitting or quilting involve more dollars than gardening? If not, then why those shows and not gardening? And no offense meant to the knitting, quilting or crafts communities.
If there is one thing that is generally true about the internet and entertainment/learning is that it is increasingly personal and niche-driven. So why not more videos about how to garden? There's a bit of that sort of thing on the terrific BBC gardening web site but little else.
And thanks for the vocabulary tip. Now that I think about it, I'm probably ok with the word that I used.
Thanks for your post... was wondering why I couldn't get Gardener's Diary the last day or so. Yeah.... that sucks.
HGTV is just a huge expanded TV ad.To bad it started out as a good idea but corporate greed wins again, YOU JUST PLAIN SUCK!
HGTV has lost touch with the viewers that made a fledgeling networks programing popular. How many design prgrams can they produce without trigering a natural gag reflex? Paul James (the compost expert of the world) is soooo tired. Erica Glasner blew him away. Obviously HDTV is soo comercial it doesn't matter. Taste went ou the window with the design shows. How many of those can an audience stomach?
So few garden shows on HGTV anymore. One of their best, always shown on Saturdays, Paul James' Gardening by the Yard, was not shown this Saturday.
They should really just rename their network, HDTV, because almost all the shows are for home decorators, virtually nothing for gardeners anymore.
Thats right HGTV does suck latley.
Bring back down to earth garden shows!I love a gardeners diary! Like the first comment not just stupid shows for only the really rich!Please show more Erica!
Right on! Right on! Write on! Everything I've been complaining about HGTV I found in your comments. Their programmers must detest gardening. A Gardener's Diary and some Paul James is all that keeps me going there. Enough with designers and McMansion pool projects. And I couldn't "give a damn" more for another Realtors Reality show. Show us some yard, baby!!
You need to bring Erica Glasener back on Thurs morning. I watched her every week. Everytime I start watching a show and get really excited about it you take it off.
I'm tired of all the house hunters and real estate shows. I've been watching HGTV for years and I'm about ready to turn it off.
Janice
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