I feel so disillusioned right now. House Hunters, and especially House Hunters International on HGTV is one of my favorite guilty pleasures. I’m not sure why it’s so addicting, but it only took a few episodes for me to get hooked. It’s not just me, either. A friend of mine called it “cracktastic” and even Psych referenced its addictive-ness:

Shawn:  It’s more addictive than little crack nuggets.

Gus: And House Hunters International.

House Hunters films a couple looking at three properties to buy and then their decision process. We learn why they’re moving, what their wish list is, and how much they can spend. Then we watch them look at the available houses and discuss their options.

Except, IT’S ALL FAKE. The couples chosen for the show have already purchased a house. They have already decided on their house, which is one of the filmed properties, and then the producers choose two other houses for them to look at, create (their term is “adjust”) prices to build more suspense, and have the couple invent an entire conversation that goes through the pros and cons of each property. They act like they don’t know which they’ll pick, but they are acting. Acting! Except, we’re supposed to think it’s real, unlike regular acting, which we’re supposed to understand is scripted. So much for reality TV. This is not just the creative editing we expect in normal reality TV, this is full-on bullshit. Why, House Hunters, why?

A friend of mine said she and her husband were approached by House Hunters after they’d bought their house, and their response was, “But we’re about to move into a house we already bought,” and were told that was what the producers wanted. There are a million other comments and articles on the internet to prove that this happens frequently. It makes me sad. It’s all a big pretense. What about the part when the real estate agent comes back and says the seller didn’t accept their first offer? What about when the couples disagree about a house for a while? Lies! All of it, lies!

I feel so betrayed. Seriously. I don’t know if I can watch this show anymore. Of course, I have over 50 episodes of Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman waiting on the DVR that I  could catch up on.