Response to TV Show Viewers: Post 1 - January 23, 2026
Response to TV Show Viewers: Post 46 - May 6, 2026
As I’ve sorted
through questions leading to these response posts, I’ve been reminded of the award-winning
author’s words, but more so the understanding they aptly express.
Rather
than producers getting quick approval for the first sequence, what they needed
to return to finish in May 2014, communication dwindled within a fresh waiting
period that lasted four months.
Perhaps attitudes
and perspectives changed in the wake of August 1st when I told the
programming director I’d been contacted by another production company back in
March. I’m unqualified to say what impact my news actually had since I just didn’t and still don’t know.
This wasn’t
boasting nor bluffing, just sharing facts I felt needed to be more widely known.
There hadn’t been a strong reaction over the phone, nothing bolder or more expressive
than something like, “Oh really?” But activity picked up in other corners of
the country—the production company in Minneapolis finished the twenty-one-minute
pilot and the producers in New York had a date and probable time slot for the
introductory episode.
Weeks
later, and then also in 2015, we made it onto HGTV. And that counted to a lot
of people and still seems to. Friends, family, and strangers let me know about
watching in other parts of the country, abroad, or even on airplane seat
screens. And although DIY was great exposure, HGTV seemed to be more well known
in Berchador, so those airings held stronger significance in this region.
After hurdles,
pitfalls, and wipeouts, it felt pretty great seeing myself on our television.
It was an 11pm airing, a school night, so the kiddos were asleep. But my wife
Diann and I watched it together, and surreal is a fitting word to describe this
half hour. But the days and weeks after were what lingered and lasted longer. I
floated blissfully after coming through the trying stretch, feeling good about
what I’d seen. I knew I didn’t do all that well as we filmed, but the producers
had made me watchable. They’d smoothed out my roughness. They’d cut out my most
embarrassing flub-ups. Rather than an untrained nobody, I looked like I had a
sense of what I was doing, even though I’d been lost and confused much of the
time. I seemed tuned in and aware, and I appreciated all they’d done to pull off
this impression.
From here,
there was another gap, September thru December, a mixture of knowing bits and
pieces, waiting more, and hoping the series would get picked up. And that did happen.
Five more episodes.
Some eyes
and minds watching from the outside may have considered the time, November 2013
until the return of the production at the beginning of 2015, as some indicator
of HGTV/DIY having large plans for me. Yet, the details behind this extended
period make it clear how this wasn’t the situation.
Instead of
this being a year of careful planning, fine tuning, and mind melting, or like the
comparison to a building foundation phase prior to erecting something new and
substantial, it had been months of futility and minimal productivity, a span that
could be described as dysfunctional.
Speculating
from my position away and outside, I think there was debate between those who
were excited and others who may have been overly indifferent regarding me. This
opinion was formed by inconsistencies in evaluations and directives; the
network said one thing, the production company something else.
Early on, growing
sizably, valuable time was wasted because I had not taken steps to lead the
effort appropriately; to nail down specifics so others could move forward. Sure,
I didn’t know what I didn’t know about TV. But I knew enough and better. I should
have applied past experience to those current circumstances so all could move
ahead as needed with documents to use as a road map to guide and plan.
*
I have been
described as a hippy-ish sort of renovator. I’ve got a scrappy style, with a
methodical process, being resourceful and practical as best I can. I appreciate
much more than is necessary before and beyond the final paycheck while getting where
I need to in my own roundabout way. And for a while, it seemed as if this
chance to renovate for Scripps was kicking off comparably—free flowing, not
textbook or ideal, but eventually, step by step. In the early months, it felt
like we might be getting to something noteworthy, even if the path hadn’t been typical.
But I mishandled
this break. I needed things and people I didn’t have. One-man-band didn’t cut
it and the opportunity got away from me; I began to spin before sliding into
the ditch. It’s hard to say that I went up in flames since the shows are still
on, being seen and enjoyed by some even today. Yet I can admit to myself, and hold
an understanding I must own, that I’m aware how I didn’t measure up as many had
hoped. I failed to reach the heights others wanted and prayed I would. I made mistakes.
And thinking out this response series has even made some new ones clearer.
In the end, I was reminded how I was not much more than a home renovating husband, father, and step-father who loves the challenge of resurrecting a house left for dead, thinking my way through, working late, getting up early, stretching my budget and beating the bushes for help along the way, no acting lessons or media training—just gripping and ripping for cameras and editors. I’d used a free blog to write and coach and teach others about what and how I do and did something I really love. And more than planned, I accidentally ended up getting to do it on the four-letter home improvement channel.
Response to TV Show Viewers: Post 48 - Coming Soon
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