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'House Rules' may fix house but ruin relationships

New show on TBS combines home improvements and reality to come up with 'House Rules,' a 12-week series.

ROB HEDELT •   Rob Hedelt's archive •   E-mail Rob Hedelt

Date published: 10/5/2003

By ROB HEDELT

IS THE RISK of destroying three relationships--two of them marriages--worth ratings points on a new reality show?

In "House Rules," a new "reality-competition" series Friday at 8 p.m. on TBS, that danger is part of the formula that could well make this show one of the next big things.

Combining the reality and home improvement genres, "House Rules" may well be a hit for TBS and Lowe's, the sponsor that's part of the show itself.

Here's the gimmick: Three couples--one, longtime marrieds; another, newlyweds; the third, singles living together--are each given empty, existing homes to remodel.

Each week on the show, they'll remodel another room, living within an allowance for each project.

By the time the 12-week competition is done, the couples will have completed their whole-home renovation.

At that time, the studio audience will vote on which couple they think has done the best job, has exhibited the best attitude getting there, etc.

The winner in that voting will get to keep their house; the other two will get sent back to their old lives.

Of course, on this show from the makers of "Fear Factor" and "Big Brother," they're liable to get something else as well, or nothing.

That's the cutthroat nature of these reality/competition shows that makes me sad for the folks involved.

And, judging from the opening episode, these are some pretty nice folks we'll be watching for 12 weeks.

Katie and Adam are young newlyweds who hope to win a home with which to start their lives.

Cindy and Bill have been together for 11 years and hope to use the home to start a new chapter in their lives.

And the couple I already like the most, Rebecca and Joseph, are trying to make up their minds about a lasting commitment.

In previews of the entire show that were flashed at the end of the opening episode, we see that this 12 weeks of competition will strain all the relationships, perhaps to the breaking point.

Is any show worth that?

Sure, the winner will get a home worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, so there's gain to be had.

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Date published: 10/5/2003