I watch a lot of Home and Garden Television. So do you, probably. Here’s a piece I wrote for Pacific Standard on why HGTV shows are like crime procedurals, why “character” doesn’t always mean what we think it means, and why “open concept” doesn’t just refer to upgraded kitchens anymore:

“The ungenerous way of characterizing this would be to say that HGTV is selling a capitalist fantasia that would be severely complicated, even frequently unspooled, if it were to be extended past the space of the episode. The generous way of characterizing this, though, is that HGTV is not interested in progress—only process. Indeed, it’s not invalidating the former critique to say that, just like Law and Order and CSI, these shows are procedurals.”

“Open Concept: Why do so many people watch HGTV?”