TV home-improvement shows don’t ignore real estate slump

I’m no fan of the slew of home-improvement shows that have sprouted on such cable channels as HGTV, Bravo and A&E. The shows feel like they’ve been cranked out of a factory somewhere, a place able to stretch 15 minutes of actual footage into half-hour time slots.

But at least the home-improvement shows are starting to reflect realty reality.

The Learning Channel, better known as TLC on your cable system, has created the new Hope for Your Home. The show, hosted by real estate expert Kirsten Kemp Becker,  gives homeowners $10,000 to make improvements to their residences. The goal is to help the homeowners, all of whom are in precarious financial situations thanks to the housing market slump, add enough value to their properties so that they can either sell them or refinance their mortgage loans.

W0w! Who would ever have thought that the glamorous world of mortgage refinancing would ever be a main focus of any TV show.

I guess I should credit the makers of Hope for Your Home for taking a realistic approach to homeownership.  Too many of its fellow shows still act as if homes are giant piggybanks. But to me, this show sounds like just one more in a long string of blandly produced fix-it shows.