Today there are plenty of options when it comes to choosing what TV shows to watch. Viewers today can choose anything from scripted dramas and comedies to reality shows following the lavish lifestyles of some of America's most famous celebrities. We even get to choose where and when we want to watch TV, thanks to DVR's and streaming websites like Netflix and Hulu. With so many options, I rarely find that I am unable to find a program that interests me, but when I am at a loss, I find myself missing many of the old shows that have been off the air for years. Here are five of my favorite old feel good reality shows!
1. Trading Spaces
On this show, two teams of neighbors would each get $1,000 (later $2,000), two days (later three), and the help of a professional designer to redecorate a room in the other team's home. Trading Spaces was a feel good show and is considered to be the first home decor show that started the national interest in TV centered around home decoration.
2. Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
Extreme Makeover: Home Edition was created because of how successful Trading Spaces had proven to be. In this show, a group of designers had a week to tear down and completely rebuild houses for deserving families that fit their specific needs. In many of the episodes, the families chosen were families that did something amazing for their community or loved ones, even faced with ongoing hardships.
3. How Do I Look?
How do I Look was one of my most favorite shows when it was on the Style Network. This show focused on a contestant who made poor style choices, brought on the show by two concerned friends. Each of the friends as well as a professional stylist would create an outfit for the show's guest, and they would choose the one they liked most. The style-impaired guest ended up getting an entirely new look and wardrobe, as well as a new hairstyle on the show.
4. Clean House
This show was the precursor to Hoarders, and was on the air for eight years before ending in 2011. Each week, on Clean House, a group of professionals would go into a home overrun by clutter and mess, clean it up, and redesign the most cluttered rooms. They would sell goods that the homeowners approved at a yard sale, which is where the money used for redecoration came from. There were only a few reveals where homeowners didn't like what the professionals did!
5. Whose Wedding is it Anyway?
When I was little, I dreamt of what my wedding would look like all the time, which is why I thought Whose Wedding is it Anyway was the best show on TV. The show follows two separate engaged couples, and their wedding planners, through the planning and execution of two dream weddings. It was on this show that the Cake Boss, Buddy Valastro, first appeared, and later got his own show.