5 Sweet Home Shows

By James Poniewozik

There is more home programming on the air today than you can toss a throw pillow at. But most of it is a bland Levittown of perky hosts, cherry cabinets and themed kids' rooms. Here are a few choices that stand out from the neighborhood.

THE ADAM CAROLLA PROJECT TLC, TUESDAYS, 10 P.M. E.T. Think of comic Carolla as the anti-Ty Pennington, whose Extreme Makeover: Home Edition leaves no tear unjerked in doing selfless deeds; Carolla buys his boyhood home and destroys it to rebuild and sell it for a million bucks. He and his crew--a.k.a. "unemployable idiots"--have made more of a how-not-to than a how-to show. (They start demolition before completing asbestos testing.) But their screwups are more fun than most hosts' competence.

FLIP THAT HOUSE DISCOVERY HOME, THURSDAYS, 9:30 P.M. E.T. How crazed is the real estate gold rush? Enough that there is also a show called Flip This House on A&E. That, produced by documentarian R.J. Cutler (The War Room), is the more appealing of the two (and half an hour shorter). Each week it follows a real estate speculator in the process of buying a wreck of a house, fixing it up and "flipping" it--selling it fast and, it is hoped, at a ridiculous profit. It's a risky investment scheme--most people should literally not try this at home. But there's no harm in indulging in a little vicarious greed.

SMALL SPACE, BIG STYLE HGTV, THURSDAYS, 8 P.M. E.T. The rambling renovations on most home-makeover shows may please suburbanites with acres of elbow room, but for apartment and small-house dwellers, they are depressing. For those folks, HGTV offers this hip, style-savvy guide with creative pointers for maximizing room. (For instance, combine your desk with the baby's changing table, below.) Some of the case studies are extreme--houseboats, studios, bungalows with barely enough room in which to yawn. But the advice on storage and simplicity will be useful to anyone with a clutter problem. (Yes, that's your snow-globe collection I'm talking about.)

THIS OLD HOUSE PBS, CHECK LOCAL LISTINGS; NEW SEASON BEGINS OCT. 6 When you've been on the air as long as TOH has, things change. Such as what is "old." After a quarter-century of restoring Colonials, Victorians and Mediterranean Revivals, Norm Abram & Co. take on their first midcentury-modern home, a Cambridge, Mass., glass-walled box from 1950 that has seen better days. Along the way, they offer viewers a modernist primer, including a visit to the home of Bauhaus godfather Walter Gropius. Still the most in-depth home-makeover show on TV, this sometimes stodgy stalwart gets a much needed shakeup from the architectural change of pace. It turns out you can teach This Old House new tricks after all.

DWELL FINE LIVING, TUESDAYS, 9:30 P.M. E.T. Spun off from the modern-design magazine of the same name, this is one of the few home shows that focus on contemporary design over old-fashioned curlicues. From Harlem to Austin, Texas, Dwell showcases renovations and new homes that boast clean lines and eco-friendly features while giving a smart, accessible introduction to architectural principles. For those leery of contemporary design, Dwell's emphasis on friendly modernism is proof that hipness doesn't have to hurt. --By James Poniewozik