Dear HGTV: Don't forget the little people

HGTV is an old friend.

The network of home makeovers and remodeling shows debuted in 1994, and Ive been a faithful fan ever since.

Ive daydreamed about which show Id apply for and mentally drafted many a heart-tugging letter to the producers.

Ive drooled over the HGTV dream home, imagining life in the low country of South Carolina, the mountains of Utah or the beaches of Marthas Vineyard. (Do you think anybody random really wins, or is it some producers sister-in-law?)

Ive camped out in Home Depot, just waiting for the Bath Crashers or Kitchen Crashers team to find me pretending to look at sinks or cabinets.

Lately, though, our relationship has been troubled. My favorite escapist network has morphed into the Realtor Channel, as one blogger put it, or more accurately, Rich Home TV.

Originally, the network lineup included shows with affordable advice for real people with normal incomes Designed to Sell, the cheesy Room by Room and Decorating Cents.

That was before House Hunters and its spinoffs were on eight hours a day (we all know its staged, by the way). If I hear one more 20-something complain about the lack of granite or talk about entertaining Im going to hurl the remote at the big-screen. Pay your dues, property virgin.

In between theres a proliferation of shows about people with budgets of $800,000 not a penny more or $1.5 million for a vacation home on some island paradise.

Now I love Property Brothers and Love It or List It as much as the next homeowner. But honestly, where are all these people? A long way from This Old House, the grandfather of home-improvement shows.

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Dear HGTV: Don't forget the little people