Is ‘Fixer Upper’ Losing Its Soul?

I love and hate the new season of Fixer Upper with equal amounts of passion. Okay, I love and hate all of HGTV programming with equal verve and vigor — it is the one channel specially designed to highlight the crumminess of my cramped New York City living arrangements (and to take me away from all of it) — but lately Fixer Upper has gotten me particularly incensed. No, I’m not complaining about whatever is going on with Chip and Joanna and their church. I’m talking about the show itself. In its fourth season, Fixer Upper is simultaneously hitting its creative zenith and threatening to lose its soul.

Let me explain. Fixer Upper debuted as a pilot on HGTV in 2013. We followed fresh-faced couple Chip and Joanna Gaines as they helped clients Doug and Lacy find a home in the pricey Castle Heights neighborhood. The set up of the show was simple: The clients would choose between three “fixer upper” homes well under their budget and Chip and Joanna would use the remaining money to renovate the homes to look new and dreamy. Fixer Upper was brought back for a full season in 2014 and became an immediate hit. Sure, it helped that Chip and Joanna were incredibly telegenic, but they also had a distinctive design style and magically managed to stay in budget. Since then, the couple have arguably become HGTV’s biggest stars. Their own company, Magnolia Realty, has expanded into a lifestyle brand and realty juggernaut. This hasn’t gone unnoticed by the show. The interstitials have kept us updated on Chip and Joanna’s business success, but usually as a framework to the events of the show itself. Usually.

Which brings me to the moment Fixer Upper almost lost me forever. A few weeks ago, I stumbled into a Fixer Upper marathon and was surprised to see that Joanna was focusing on her life-long dream of opening a bakery. Yes, a bakery. Not a design studio or marketplace (because she already had those). She wanted Chip to buy an old florist shop and flip it into her dream cupcake shop. “Okay,” I thought. “This interstitial is taking a while, but soon we’ll cut away to a family looking to buy their dream house.” About 35 minutes passed with Chip restoring the shop per Joanna’s persnickety wishes and then I realized: There was no couple or client or family to help. I was watching an hour-long commercial for a bespoke cupcake shop in Waco, Texas. I was beside myself with anger, nay, rage. I felt tricked. I had come for Fixer Upper and got “The Chip and Joanna Show.” In fact, when I did some deep digging (on the HGTV site), I discovered that I had just watched one in a series of “specials” featuring just Chip and Joanna.

This is why I’m worried about Fixer Upper. It’s becoming more about Chip and Joanna’s personal lives and professional ambitions and less about the work Chip and Joanna do on other people’s dream homes. Chip and Joanna Gaines are a charming enough couple. Their kids are cute. They are living the dream. That’s appealing TV content to a certain set. I get it! But I don’t tune into Fixer Upper to watch the Gaines family expand their shiplapped empire; I watch it to watch Chip and Joanna Gaines help a client flip a stinker of a house into a gorgeous dream home. I’m watching for the construction ideas, the design tips, and most of all, to envy people who have the opportunity to buy a big, beautiful home in Texas.

What makes this push towards the personal all the more frustrating is the fact that Chip and Joanna Gaines are doing some amazing creative things with architecture and design this season. In particular, Joanna seems to be challenging herself with new projects that push her out of her white wood-paneled comfort zone. In Season Four, she’s tasked with designing and decorating a sleek, modern house (that winds up looking different and great), pushes for built-in reading nooks and murphy beds and craftsman detailing, and shocks Chip when she starts calling for things to be painted black. Don’t laugh. It’s a big deal. There’s even an entire episode devoted to Chip and Joanna rebuilding a house boat from almost scratch. She pulls in experts from Austin to teach Chip an ancient Japanese weather-proofing technique! This is cool stuff! And it’s pushed aside in favor of watching the kids watching the goats on their family farm.

Generally speaking, HGTV is at an interesting crossroads. The cable channel has built up an impressive stable of irresistible content, but as its hosts become more famous, they veer closer to being tabloid personalities first and professional experts second. Flip or Flop is the prime example. The show might still be all about the flip, but google its hosts, and you’ll see tawdry and dramatic gossip reports about suicide attempts and divorce. (Interestingly, HGTV announced last week via press release that the franchise is expanding to other markets with new flipping couples.)

If you host your own television show, then, yes, you are probably looking for fame or exposure. But the charm of HGTV’s hosts has long come from how they straddle the line between being totally relatable and mystically able to manage design miracles on a tight budget. This extends to HGTV as a network. There are tons of reality shows about rich families bickering amongst themselves as they build up a business. I don’t tune into HGTV to watch typical reality fare, though; I watch HGTV because I like watching shows about houses. I don’t begrudge Chip and Joanna chasing their dreams — I watch their businesses grow in the interstitials and think, “Good for them!” I just hope that Fixer Upper continues to be about, well, fixer uppers.

Where to Stream Fixer Upper