Trentless Show-Poster Art - Response to TV Show Viewers: Post 53

HGTV New Zealand

Response to TV Show Viewers: Post 1 - January 23, 2026

Response to TV Show Viewers: Post 52 - May 25, 2026

Like so many details pertaining to the shows, I don’t hold crystal clearness as much as I or others might like, hope, or as viewers would expect. If I sidestep or try to glaze over potholes or fissures, it doesn’t sit well for me and vagueness is obvious to the soberminded, spraying a vibe of disingenuousness. But I can and have made an effort to help interested viewers understand a bit better.

Some have asked about my absence from poster art for the shows American Rehab Charleston and Restoring Charleston. Comparable programs on the home improvement networks use participant pictures to help grab the attention of potential viewers. Charleston themed shows do this also. I don't have a great answer to questions about this regarding ARC and RC, but in writing this series, I've arrived at a possibility.  

And some good news is that producers were able to capture one picture of me, happy and smiling, and not too unfortunate looking. Although this was used by HGTV New Zealand, as far as I know, this picture was not shared on streaming services or network websites here in the United States.

Questions over what some see as a peculiarity, along with this HGTV NZ usage, has led to me sorting through the potential legal reasons that might prevent HGTV USA, Magnolia, Discovery, and HBO Max from having a still shot of me associated with the shows, or at least this side view one with me wearing the black t-shirt.

If you’ve read other posts in this series, or take time to work your way through, you’ll be better able to understand the three-year adventure I experienced while making these programs. We did a test reel in 2013, a pilot in 2014, a five-episode pick-up in 2015, and then another series in 2016. This required four disconnected crews, involved two networks, using four production companies. Plus, dozens of contractors, subcontractors, tradespeople, and vendors were also used over this three-year span. I was the common thread, and as I've shared, was unable to bridge these gaps and tie all this together as needed.

I learned a lot about the legal exposure and implications, but I am admittedly in the dark on so much. Although I witnessed a solid effort to have contracts and releases signed, it was clear there were hiccups in this department. Some agreements and permissions fell through the cracks, were lost, or simply forgotten during this hectic period. And while certain documents served their purposes as intended, some were not fully executed or determined to be invalid due to fraud with intensions foggy.

So over and beyond any unattractiveness, I think strongest likelihood for my pictures being excluded from the show, is because Scripps simply couldn’t legally use it. Then these limitations were transferred to Discovery in 2018 and then HBO Max/Warner Brothers in 2023. I’m supposing that domestic and international laws differ in this area, which was why HGTV in New Zealand, and maybe other markets abroad, were able to use the face my friends and family love.

As I’ve written steadily, there is much I don’t know. But I understand more than nothing, and that’s what I’ve laid out in this article.

Response to TV Show Viewers: Post 54 - May 29, 2026 

HGTV Mismatch-Making - Response to TV Show Viewers: Post 52

Response to TV Show Viewers: Post 1 - January 23, 2026

Response to TV Show Viewers: Post 51 - May 22, 2026

In the previous post, I tried to shed some light on the troubles the production company out of Minnesota had, how certain factors adversely impacted the budget. I wish I’d been able to do more to help them manage the money better. If I knew, I could have steered them into cost saving territory. The issue was, at least in part, that I didn’t feel comfortable offering. Besides them not asking, they appeared to have things well under control. I never imagined I’d be mistakenly held accountable past initially. This fifty-second post is further insight in why producing American Rehab Charleston was more of a battle than it might otherwise have needed to be.

From the way it was explained to me, the folks living, working, creating content for TV up in Minneapolis were cooking steadily before Rehab Addict exploded in popularity in 2011. They scouted for their own home-grown talent, coaching, teaching, and grooming prospects through sizzle reels they pitched to network executives. These were hopefuls who many times had become friends, people who the producers had come to believe in, grinders they wanted to help break into television. In her memoir Better Than New, Nicole Curtis writes about how their partnership began organically as they were working on another show and in need of a realtor.

Rehab Addict was a shiny exception, while year after year, pitch after pitch, the decision makers in Manhattan shot them down. Executives found flaws, poking holes in the potentials, dismissing the short videos as wrong or simply not good enough. This was not across the board, but apparently a lot, more than the pitchers would have liked or hoped. They’d invested thoughtful creativity, funds, heart and soul manhours into these show ideas and the people featured. And it was understandably disappointing if not hurtful to be rejected. And to make it worse, they had to break the bad news to the hopefuls anxiously awaiting next steps, requiring the Midwestern producers to then explain how even though they liked them, the people in New York said “nope.”

But then, one of these Big Apple dwellers called up the Rehab Addict producers saying, “You know how so many of your show pitches suck? Well, we found a guy in Charleston that is an example of the sort of people you should be making test reels about. And we want you to send a crew down to meet him.” Then they worked out some details, connected us on the telephone, and away we went.

Now, if you were the production company, hurt and rejected over and over again, for months, or even years, how excited would you really be for this assignment south, to film someone like me? Regardless of what they may have been told, I didn’t live in Charleston and wasn’t a historic restoration expert like Nicole Curtis. I was me, a family man trying to breathe life back into my renovation career, working to get my hands on another property and then figure out a way to squeeze out some profit. Was I more dynamic than those who’d been vetoed? I don’t know, but I’d guess probably not. It would make sense for producers in Minneapolis to be less than enthusiastic about me, even prior to arriving to meet.

Instead of jumping on a plane to come get down here in October 2013, these producers said they’d make it in November. And rather than starting a four-episode series the first week of January 2014, this company had me wait, came down to film a pilot episode in March, and then returned for the rest in 2015. The network kept handing out marching orders, and the folks in Minnesota rejected them, saying “nope” themselves by not complying.   

This back and forth was not ideal and certainly took a toll.  

Regardless of all this, these crew members we met and worked with over the span of three years, were by and large cheerful to me and my family. Still, they did have some troubles, issues that oftentimes had nothing to do with me, us, or our productions of American Rehab Charleston, some of which spilled into Restoring Charleston in 2016.

Eventually, these producers in the Twin Cities were forced to close up shop.  

Just as budget issues described last week were out of my reach, it seems unreasonable to hold me to account for the behind-the-scenes skirmishing or to say that the shows made here in Berchador were at the root of the company’s downfall. I’m sorry they went under, yet my shows and I were not the cause. I didn’t reject all their sizzles nor was I part of their attempts to send HGTV/DIY executives a message. I tried to navigate the circumstances around this opportunity, and I obviously came up short in many ways, some that I’ve been able to describe candidly in this response series. I’m not super confident about much of the short TV season of my life. But on this defense of myself, my own limited authority and influence, I stand firm.

Response to TV Show Viewers: Post 53 - May 27, 2026 

Better Than New by Nicole Curtis

Book Review

I wanted to take a few minutes to say how much I enjoyed Nicole Curtis' book, Better Than New. 

I won't share too much, but I'll provide an introduction to the book by commenting on the title, which was inspired by wisdom from Nicole's grandmother.  Initially, Better Than New made me think of the houses she does on Rehab Addict since I am someone who thinks saving an old run-down home is 'better than new.'   I've lived in old houses and I've lived in new ones.  For me, older is just better... than new.  

Beyond her house rehab stories and lessons, Nicole describes in candid detail how her personal life is interwoven intimately with what the world has witnessed on HGTV and DIY in her shows.  So a second layer within the title hints at what the reader learns inside, that Nicole had been tuned in to how much she has learned with each of her home renovations.  Not simply construction lessons, but much more personal lessons on life and relationships.

One more thing about the many layers within her three word title.  Viewers have seen Ms. Curtis as a mom on the show, but she explains about becoming a mother for a second time in Better Than New.  Although I am sure that she did a pretty admirable job as a parent in her twenties, I'll bet she's determined to do an even better job this time.  Just like she learned some lessons from project house #1 to her second rehab, she'll apply what she's learned with her first child as she get's to do it for the second time.  Experienced Mother will in many ways be better than new Mom was decades ago. 

My televised renovation work is minor in comparison to Nicole's, but I've had the chance to work with some of her production crew plus we obviously share the passion for taking on old homes in really bad shape.  In these ways, I was clearly reading Better Than New from my unique perspective. Simply stated, I really enjoyed the book, but it ended up being more than that for me because I came away feeling as if I needed to read it.  It was good for me.  I needed to have her explain some of the things she's worked through and read between the lines to get answers I've been curious about with regard to my own experiences in the world of TV.  I needed to understand her side of multiple stories.  The renovation stuff I knew.  Not that I didn't totally enjoy her heartwarming reflections or her crazy job-site stories, but the behind-the-scenes TV production stuff, that's what I needed.  It was meant a lot to learn her side and I'm thankful this book has recommended to me.  

I'm always happy when someone takes on an old house.  I'm excited for them, even if they're strangers.  I'm comparatively happy for Nicole.  I love being a Dad so I can relate to how excited she is about getting a chance to be a Mother again.

So, that's all I'm going to say folks.  Now, go buy her book!  ( ...or get on the list at your local library.)  Lots of great pictures and a bunch of stuff you won't ever get from the TV shows.  Great job, NC!

Trent F.
bloodsweatandpigsears@hotmail.com

Rehab Addict Nicole Curtis on DIY  (April 24, 2012)

NC's Bathroom Redux on DIY  (May 5, 2012)

Nicole Curtis Going Non-Conventional on Rehab Addict  (May 10, 2012)

Welcome Back Rehab Addict (February 9, 2013)