house detective

In its classic format, this HGTV show would feature two home inspections per half hour installment. The inspections were usually from some particular greater metropolitan area: Washington, DC; San Francisco, CA; Los Angeles, CA, far Upstate NY, etc. Typically some youngish couple would have foolishly bought a house without an inspection and experience problems, and HGTV's producers would come in with an inspector. The inspector would go through the house and systematically find problems. These would be revealed in a way that maximized drama and opportunities for corny puns (usually related to the occupation of the home owner). Dangerous problems would be accompanied by scary mood music, even if they weren't expensive to fix. In the end, the condition of the house nearly always turned out to be better than feared and our home owner would rally to the cause of fixing the problems. After each inspection, a tiny segment called "Inspector's Notebook" gave tips on certain specific topics mentioned in the preceding inspection.

In its newest incarnation, House Detective is now on a one-inspection-per-show format, with the latter half devoted to fixing problems discovered in the first half. It's also hipper for a wealthier, more happening audience, featuring more style and fewer puns.

• HGTV House Detective
• HouseMaster Home Inspections
• National Institute of Building Inspectors

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