Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Barbie Dreamhouse Challenge’ on HGTV and Max Where Famous Designers Turn Barbie’s Dream Home Into A Reality

HGTV’s Barbie Dreamhouse Challenge (which streams simultaneously on Max) is obviously capitalizing on the excitement surrounding the upcoming Barbie movie, but this over-the-top renovation competition combines aspects of design, construction, and even – all of which are judged weekly by celebrities and designers – to create a house that’s campy and kitschy but also functional and, you know, dreamy.

BARBIE DREAMHOUSE CHALLENGE: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: “Her official name is Barbara Millicent Roberts,” host Ashley Graham explains over footage of Barbie in all of her many incarnations. “But we know her as Barbie. She and her iconic dreamhouse landed on the scene over 60 years ago, influencing generations.”

The Gist: The Barbie Dreamhouse has always been aspirational and girly and beautiful, something that blended fantasy with the height of modernity at any given time. To create this show, the producers searched for a very specific Southern California home to renovate, something with two stories, a beautiful view, and, of course, a pool. “We are bringing [Barbie’s] most important accessory to life,” Graham explains in the show’s introduction. The show has brought together a whopping eight teams of HGTV’s celebrity designers (okay, one of the teams features and HGTV star and a Food Network star) who break out to compete against one another in weekly challenges to design one specific area of the house in the style of a specific decade they are assigned. Oh, and each team has to include a “toyetic” which is the name for a functional toy feature with moveable parts. These rooms will be judged by designer Jonathan Adler, HGTV’s Tiffany Brooks, and a celebrity guest judge, and the winners will move on to a final showdown. Each pair of designers is also playing on behalf of a Barbie super fan who will get to stay in the newly-renovated dreamhouse if their design team wins.

In the first episode, HGTV’s Married To Real Estate stars Egypt Sherrod and Mike Jackson are pitted against Help! I Wrecked My House host Jasmine Roth and her partner, Antonia Lofaso, who hosts the Food Network’s Beachside Brawl. The two teams are competing to design the first-floor: Egypt and Mike have been assigned the entryway, living and dining rooms in a style reminiscent of the ’90s. Antonia and Jasmine are given the kitchen and den, to be renovated in the style of the 1960s.

The teams pay incredible attention to the period details as they design, and throughout the episode, you have to wonder (slash be a little nervous) about whether things will end up looking too gaudy and tacky. Adler, Brooks, and this episode’s guest judge, Brady Bunch star Maureen McCormick, do a walk-through of the spaces once complete and help determine which team will win the episode and have a shot at getting their superfan a chance to stay in the house.

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? The point of Barbie Dreamhouse Challenge is that the home that’s being designed is not necessarily meant to be lived in, we’re watching for the process of it all (not to mention the Barbie of it all). This show feels less like your typical HGTV fare and more like your crafty, creative (but still technically competent) shows like Making It and Is It Cake? which allow their creators to really get crazy with the Cheez Whiz.

Our Take: At one point while designing the living room, Sherrod explains that by using so many bold pinks and neon patterns, she’s going for “sensory overload.” That’s the perfect description the this show, because the designers are not really going for something truly livable or sellable, they’re designing with the aesthetic of a fictional woman from various decades in mind.

As they create their dream rooms, the scenarios play out like most other design shows, you’ve got the conversations about design plans, your demo days, your unexpected bumps in the road. But what you get from the Dreamhouse Challenge are the “toyetics” – the creative, functional stuff you’d probably never find in a real house: a purple lucite pet elevator in the living room, secret TV trays built into the couch, and a pantry that appears when you push a wall. Ultimately, the payoff comes at the very end when all the elements come together for the big reveal, and it’s admittedly very satisfying; the designers know what they’re doing and know when to minimize when things feel a little too maximal. And the toyetics, which at first felt gimmicky, are one of the more fun aspects to the reveal. And with regard to the Barbie movie, it should be said that this show is not just trying to capitalize off of it, but it’s essentially a marketing tool for it: costumes from the film are used in some of the decor, and Margot Robbie actually appears in the show briefly. This summer, it’s Barbie’s world and we’re just living in it.

Sex and Skin: None.

Parting Shot: All of the participating designers and judges put their hands and and yell, “1, 2, 3 Barbie!” Despite the fact that one team lost, everyone is still buoyed by the colorful spirit of Barbara Millicent Roberts.

Sleeper Star: The thing that gives this show its heart and resonance is the superfans that will actually get to experience this house firsthand. During each episode, the designers get to meet the people they’re competing for, and their sincere and sometimes heartfelt personal stories about what Barbie means to them lend a surprising level of emotion to the show.

Most Pilot-y Line: “Only one team’s space will be crowned the dreamiest of all!” Graham explains at the beginning if the show, and this is but the first reference to how dreamy this whole show is.

Our Call: How much do you love Barbie? Because that will determine if you want to watch this show. For every scene that emphasizes design and construction, there’s a scene that explains the history and legacy of Barbie, so you really need to care about this iconic doll to get the most out of the show. If that appeals to you, I say go ahead and STREAM IT!

Liz Kocan is a pop culture writer living in Massachusetts. Her biggest claim to fame is the time she won on the game show Chain Reaction.