Monday, August 15, 2011

HGTV Does The Double D Season

What is happening at HGTV? Design Star continues to be a snooze and a loose. The Novogratz came on board at HGTV this Summer and if you like them, you'll like their show. But there have been some sneak peeks to a couple of new shows in the Fall line up.

One involves Donna Moss who got kicked off of a previous season on  Design Star, and now has her own show. Donna is from Dallas and calls herself "The Queen of Bling". Really.  I just happened to see the sneak preview and let's just say that HGTV must be trying to create a Bravo type Housewives decorating franchise. You know, rich, over done women decorating, complete with drama and lots of bling and bad taste for us all to ogle and love to hate. Clever programming, or just tacky disaster?

From HGTV: "Donna Moss, a former finalist from season one of HGTV Design Star, is the host of the new series Donna Decorates Dallas. Each week Donna works with her two daughters, Tiffany and Ashley, along with a team of skilled artisans and craftsmen to create unique and timeless home interiors. As a former professional in the travel industry, Donna brings a global perspective to her designs. Her favorite design motifs include elegant Old World themes with glamorous Gothic tones and lush Hollywood-inspired rooms."

It's funny how on both Food Network and HGTV that some of "the losers" end up with a show anyway.

In the preview episode, Donna goes to a bloated Dallas McMansion of a house to add some new bedding to the master bedroom. The decor is high end Steinmart if you get my drift. The Queen of Bling immediately escalates the project to an entire room do-over, complete with knocking out walls, and managing to cram in about $50K (or more) of high priced junk from some design mart in Dallas.

There was also a side trip to another client's house who hated some chairs that had been placed there by Donna Decorates Dallas. The Queen of Bling and her assistant fixed it pronto! They took away the offending chairs, and brought in two tufted throne like chairs more in line with the client's hefty taste. Then they bedazzled them with large fake jewels that were hot glued into each tuft point.

It is so awful, that it is almost a joke, like watching movies my friends and I used to call "pig heaven" (that usually starred Pia Zadora). They were so bad we loved them. Well this room is so bad I thought maybe it was a "pig heaven" joke. But sadly, it is not that lovable.

Room design on HGTV by Donna Moss, The Queen of Bling, on her new show Donna Decorates Dallas

Does HGTV have a hit on its hands with Donna Moss? Will we all tune in every week to see what bad taste she whips up, and then snark it to death on the blogs? Or will we really not care. Stay tuned.

D #2 of The Double D Season, is none other than New Jersey Housewife Dina Manzo, who got out after season one on Bravo. She often told us she was an interior designer who also did event design HERE.

Dina Manzo interior designer and event designer

Her style is commensurate with her peers and her location and the environment they all live in.  I imagine in New Jersey, she is very successful.

Some of Dina Manzo's event design

And obviously so does HGTV. They snatched her up from Bravo. Tonight, she is a guest judge on Design Star, where the challenge is to create a wedding decor in two days. This appearance is a prelude to her new show in the Fall on HGTV called "Dina's Party".

The first episode on the new show is called: "A Big Pink New Jersey Wedding". Attention brides!

The weird thing is how Dina does her over-the-top event design in people's homes, turning a tacky home into a mini tacky catering hall.

A Big Pink New Jersey Wedding

This was the client's living room after Dina got done with it

Will  Dina bring back the ice sculpture?

The client's living room before it got transformed into "A Big Pink New Jersey Wedding"

Wowza! Excess and bling and bad taste!!!! Way to go HGTV! Your ratings will surely soar. I can hardly wait for Jenny and Nicole and Erica to weigh in!


10 comments:

  1. Valerie, you out did yourself today with this post. The photos are jaw dropping in their garishness and simply laughable. Are there really people out there who believe this is good design or is HGTV simply pulling our leg?

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  2. This and hours and hours of House Hunters, oh boy.

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  3. Tacky with a capital T!!! I saw the previews for this Donna lady's show and it seems quite appropriate that she's decorating mc-mansions somewhere. I guess, as some say, taste is subjective....and there are appparently plently of housewives (have you seen the NJ Housewives homes? omg) who like that style (if you can call it that)!

    Honestly, I'm not even that impressed with the Norvagratz's show this year...while they throw out some creative ideas, some of their rooms end up looking cheap and not well thought out.

    great post!
    xo,
    Katherine
    http://antweak.blogspot.com

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  4. More is More right? Although I have to agree that this is over the top and definitely not my style. I have to give an E for Effort.(I think that's between D and F.)In the defense of the Jersey style I will have to say I am much more upset by a complete lack of any taste than bad taste. Tacky or not these designs are the someones creativity at work. I have been to homes with not a picture on the wall, not a pillow on the sofa, not one bit of creativity or any style at all. To me that is the greater crime.

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  5. Yikes, is the D for Disaster? I was not a fan of Dina's home (Liberace does Tuscan) and I have yet to see the Dallas lady's work. I cringe to think what the clients are paying for this.

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  6. Sometimes it's good to see bad taste in motion to scare the bagebezz out your own personal disaster.

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  7. Programming in general is in a very sorry and sad state at the moment...and some networks are falling down the black hole of bad taste faster than others...HGTV being one of them. If it weren't for blogs and magazines...we'd all be starving to death for beauty, thoughtfulness, personality, and taste in design...not that TV had a market on those things before, but they *were* there.
    And I don't think I can take one more golf course made out of cupcakes on the Food Network. Please TV higher-ups...bring back quality and class!!!
    xo J~

    (I watched lots of 'I Love Lucy' on her birthday weekend...now THAT was programming! And their Hollywood 'hotel suite' beat out any design on TV today!)

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  8. Tiffany and Ashley...lol...

    The big pink Jersey living room...store it, dye it all black, and it's ready for a funeral, a Goth wedding or Halloween. Why pay more for gore decor?

    And I thought, "Spice Up My Kitchen" was bad.

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  9. I'll watch Candice Olson of Divine Design anyday, a true interior designer with beautiful taste. These other ladies are jokes compared to Candice.
    I just watched the episode with Donna Moss-Master bedroom makeover-Horrid taste. Awful. Look at the window treatments! LOL!! And the faux fur arm rolls....and the hodge podge accessories. What a disaster!!!!!

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