Brother Vs. Brother - General Discussion

[Lisin]

Discuss Brother Vs. Brother Here!

[DownTheShore]

I figured that I'd start a general topic for this season in which anything about it can be discussed.

 

I'm at the point after the first episode where neither team is distinct to me and it'll still take me a while to separate Drew and Jonathan, much less who is on which team.

 

I felt bad about the woman who got sick, but was glad that they got rid of her right from the start because it wasn't fair to the rest of the team. 

 

That guy from Staten Island who wanted to do the bathroom all by himself annoyed me right off the bat, though I have to say that the bathroom came out better than expected - given the rather baroque style he seemed to have used in those images they showed as examples of his work.

 

I was really surprised by that baseboard molding error; haven't any of those people every seen a baseboard before?

[auntjess]

Yes, that baseboard error should have been caught.
I couldn't figure why they said that since the sick woman was out, someone else would have to go home if they lost.  Glad it didn't work out like that.
The contestants this year don't yet have any standout obnoxious ones yet, at least for me.
What got me was having David Viisentin pretend to know the LA market. 

(I'd be happy to see them both gone from my TV.)

  They should bring Bryan Baeumler in to judge the work one week.)
That fireplace looked dangerous when they started, with that hole up at the top.
 

[DownTheShore]

I think that all the contestants are on their "best" behavior in the first episode, trying to be helpful to one another for the most part, until the figure out who is the weakest one on their team.

[auntjess]

On this second one, considering the small amount of time and budget, spending 3 days on "curb appeal" seemed crazy.
I gather you can hire people, so spend a thousand and have the bushes thinned, put in some showy bushes, maybe a little paint, and let it go.

It didn't look awful to start with, and if you're buying, I'd be a lot less daunted by the thought of taking out bushes than inside work.
 I can't remember now whose ceiling was left undone, but Rick could have helped his brother get the built-ins finished properly.
Too, lots of houses just have washer/dryer hookups.
Did they put in french doors, per the brothers' list?  Don't recall any mention of it.

[Kromm]

I'm at the point after the first episode where neither team is distinct to me and it'll still take me a while to separate Drew and Jonathan, much less who is on which team.

I didn't see Season 1 (or more than a tiny bit of their other shows), so these guys are just kind of a pair of interchangeable slightly weaselly faces and gnashing huge super-whitened teeth to me at this stage.

[auntjess]

Their main show is Property Brothers, where Drew, the real estate agent (don't remember if he's a realtor) brother shows them fixer-upper houses, then Jonathan designs makeovers, and remodels the one they choose.  Word is that others do most of the work.
They also do Buying and Selling, where they Drew finds couple a new house while Jonathan makes their house more sellable.
Formulaic shows, but not as bad as Love It or List It.

[Kromm]

Are their teeth as overbleached and abundant on that show?

 

Seriously, they must get a lot of mileage from that Twin thing. 'Cause I don't look at them and think "TV stars".  I'm too busy being creeped out.

 

I guess I'll stick this show out for a bit, but I keep expecting one or both of the Brothers to pull out an axe and yell "Heeeeeeeee's Johnny!" at some point.

[auntjess]

I've never noticed their teeth that much.
They do indeed overdo the twin thing.
What you have to understand, is that they get lots of points for being "not as bad as..."  fill in Hillary, or David or Nicole.

It's all relative.

[mlp]

 

I guess I'll stick this show out for a bit, but I keep expecting one or both of the Brothers to pull out an axe and yell "Heeeeeeeee's Johnny!" at some point.

 

ROTFL  I don't think they're quite that bad but I do wish they'd both shave.  They're basically good-looking men but they look seedy.  And they're both rather smarmy. 

 

If this thread is any indication, there's a decided lack of interest in this show.  Two seasons may be all it's destined for.

 

I'd like to know what the homeowners agree to when they sign contracts with the show.  Some of the renovations are structural.  What if they hate the changes?  If they don't like the new colors, they can paint but once a wall or fireplace is bashed down, they're sort of stuck with the replacement.

[mlp]

The homeowners had a big keyboard and all kinds of other music stuff in the room that became the master suite and bath.  After the renovation, none of it was in evidence anywhere as far as I could see.  That really bugged me.  It was like they cheated and hid whatever didn't fit into the new scheme.

[BradandJanet]

 

If they don't like the new colors, they can paint but once a wall or fireplace is bashed down, they're sort of stuck with the replacement.

 

This show reminds me of Trading Spaces, albeit with slightly more adult supervision (looking at you, Hildi). At least Drew and Jonathan inspect the work. Still, there isn't enough time for nonprofessionals to do some of these projects properly. I guess the homeowners are desperate for free renovations and hope for the best.

[LazyToaster]

I would never agree to participate (as a homeowner) unless I was promised that work done would be finished and/or fixed to my standards if needed. The problem in my mind is the skills of the competitors are all over the page and then there are the time constraints. Ugh.

[auntjess]

I really thought that HGTV should have eaten at least some of the cost of the rewiring, because that was nothing that anyone would have known.
Too, why can't two people work on one room when it's a big project like a bathroom or kitchen?  There wasn't budget for a bunch more projects, and there was plenty of work for 2 people in the tiling.

I think saving the rooster was a whim of the current owners, and not anything that would increase the value.
Please, no more Hilary and David!  The Natural Born Sellers couple, whom I love, would be better and know more about this market.

[DownTheShore]

This show reminds me of Trading Spaces, albeit with slightly more adult supervision (looking at you, Hildi). At least Drew and Jonathan inspect the work. Still, there isn't enough time for nonprofessionals to do some of these projects properly. I guess the homeowners are desperate for free renovations and hope for the best.

 

OMG!  Hildi!  I would have come at her with a baseball bat if she was the one who worked on my house.  Remember that one where she nailed LP albums to an entire wall, and when they did one of those "where are they now" shows, the woman said that they pulled all the records off and had to patch and spackle the wall because of all the holes in it.  Or that thing she did with the feathers?  Holy heck, her and her design visions!

 

I remember last year with B vs B, when one team didn't finish properly, the brother had his construction team finish up the work.

 

I still don't have a person on the show this season whom I'm rooting for.  And I'm getting tired of contestants with one word names, like Six.  And what's with Peggy - does she do anything else but make sad faces and cry?

 

I think that two people don't want to work on the same project because they want to get all the credit for it and don't want to have to accommodate anyone else's design ideas.

Edited June 28, 2014 by DownTheShore

[auntjess]

I like Avi and is it Rick that got moved?
Peggy seems to be getting better, and she was doing some construction work.
I'd have thought the place to start looking for the age of the house, would be the utility room, where you could see the wiring, what type of pipes.

[DownTheShore]

That's what I thought, too, that the utility area would be the giveaway.  Something like the circuit breaker box might even have an inspection date stamped on it; and if it had fuses instead of breakers that would even date it further.

[BradandJanet]

@auntjess and @DownTheShore, I don't buy the constant theme in these remodeling shows about suddenly discovering bad plumbing and knob and tube wiring. Sure, it can happen, but usually a tour of the basement, attic, utility room, or attached garage gives a pretty good idea of what's going on in a place. Leaks make spots on walls and ceilings too. I guess there's drama in watching the pro deliver bad news to the client: You can't have the spa tub because we have to rewire the basement.

[DownTheShore]

Also, I think that a lot of people buy houses who have no knowledge at all about what is exactly behind the paint on their walls and think that their lights and outlets are powered by magic.  They don't know what they should be looking for when they buy a house, and either a home inspection isn't required or they decide to skimp on it.

[auntjess]

I wanted Jonathan's team to win, and hated that one had to go home.
Peggy's gotten a lot better, and was sorry she left, but am glad that Adi is still there.
The theme of this show seems to be kick 'em when they're down, as far as taking money from the budget of the losers of that challenge.
And Jonathan's team is always shorted a few seconds, because they're always standing farther away.

[mlp]

I'm not sure yet whom I want to win.  I liked the young girl who was just eliminated but I didn't think she had the experience to see it all through.  I like Adi a lot but he's had a few problems that may weigh against him in the end.  I don't care for the female on the other team but I'd be OK with either male winning.  I think the fact that I can't remember all these peoples' names after watching them for weeks ought to tell me something about my level of interest.  LOL

[auntjess]

I don't really dislike anyone.
While I like Adi, I also like Eric, just because he sounds Eastern seaboard.

[DownTheShore]

IIRC, Eric is from Staten Island.

 

I've watched all the episodes, but I'm not vested in any of the contestants.  The show has become predictable to me - which isn't good for something just in its second season. 

 

There's always going to be someone who doesn't budget properly.

 

There's always going to a female contestant who is too non-confrontational to make sure she gets the project she wants.

 

There's always going to be one guy whose estimation of his own capabilities is wildly over-inflated.

 

There's always going to be one person who can't put the pedal-to-the-metal and speed up their work.

 

There's always going to be one person who takes on a huge built-in project.

 

There's always going to be one person who designs a laundry space while apparently never having done any laundry in their life.

 

There's always going to be one designer in love with the blue-sliver-gray color palette.

 

There's always going to be a contestant who goes by a single nickname.

 

There's always going to be someone who gets sick/injured.

[mlp]

 

There's always going to be one person who designs a laundry space while apparently never having done any laundry in their life.

 

Heh.  That made me laugh.  I think you've summed it all up very nicely but you left out the formulaic brother-to-brother "rivalry"  and not very funny "barbs."  I understand that shows like this have to be structured in many ways for obvious reasons but the way that every episode of this one is pretty much the same annoys me.  I also don't buy that the contestants can get everything shown done in the time alloted.  In fairness, we sometimes do see brief shots of others at work but it still bugs me that the producers expect us to believe that the contestants can finish all the work AND pick out pillow shams in the same short time period.

[PreBabylonia]

 

Please, no more Hilary and David!  The Natural Born Sellers couple, whom I love, would be better and know more about this market.

 

 

Guess I don't agree with the majority - I love David and Hilary, think their chemistry is fantastic! Really enjoy Hilary's designs too and would give some weight to her opinion. Maybe you need to see screechy Jillian Harris (of Bachelorette infamy) to appreciate the good taste and charm of Hilary. Jillian and Todd somebody host Love It or List It Vancouver - a far inferior spin-off with a much higher budget, due to the inflated house prices in the Vancouver area. Hilary and Todd and the Property Brothers frequently appear together on home shows - must be a HGTV thing. Now, the two I can't stand are the couple that star in Flip or Flop - I think their names are Tarek and Christina. He's kind of a whiny nonenity while she has a voice like fingernails on chalkboard and over-dyed, brassy hair. I really despise her - maybe it's because she thinks she's hot shit, or maybe it's the sense of entitlement both of them carry. Anyway, whenever I see their show I always hope the renos will go badly and they'll be driven out of the business. I know it's "Reality" not reality, but I can always hope...anyway the brothers are pretty big stars on the local TV reality scene and although I don't think they're "hot" like their promotional material tries to stress, they seem okay to me. The show itself seems kind of meh - and I'm always annoyed that I can see four or five episodes at a time, but never get to see the semi final nor the last one. Took me ages to see which one won the first season. The show doesn't seem to be adequately promoted, not as much as the brothers other shows.

[PreBabylonia]

Wow...nothing? I always prefer his team, because I much prefer Jonathan to Drew. Not half as smarmy and he dresses to accentuate his body. Also seems a little more easygoing. There are times that Drew just seems like a jerk. As for the teams themselves, I keep forgetting which team goes with which brother. Maybe it would help if we could see them go out to dinner (in a casual place) and interact on the first day, kind of like Gordon Ramsay does with the winning teams on Hell's Kitchen. Just lets you separate the players a bit, and we could associate them with the team leader in some way.

[PreBabylonia]

I thought it was much too early to send two teammates off, especially since it meant a future reworking of the teams. Makes it look like the producers were working much too hard to add complications and drama. Just let things evolve naturally, and throw the twists in later. Too Big Brotherish interferring, I think.

[auntjess]

So Sunday will be the finale.  I thought we'd have a final 2 or 3.

[suedehead]

These two must have some juicy pics of an HGTV exec in order to have THREE shows. 

[radishcake]

 

In an emotional season finale, the last four competitors renovate tract homes with one-track minds -- to win the $50,000 prize. It's a nail biting, nail-pounding fight to the finish. And when the pressure mounts, one team member has an emotional breakdown. While the other house, another competitor struggles to not let down his team. Jonathan and Drew jump into action, and to help their teams sprint to the end. Ultimately, the brothers can select only Brother vs. Brother

 

[NYGirl]

Say wha?????  I think Eric deserved to win.  For a contractor he had great design sense throughout the competition.  Every single room he designed was beautiful.

 

I knew Jonathan's team wasn't going to win.  As much as I loved Adib (sp) he was too slow.

 

Hilary had a wonky eye.

[Kira53]

I wish they had to account for the increase in value.  They can have any result the producers want...If it was by that amount why wasn't it obvious?  I liked the loser house better.  The closet is the determination.  Function is important and everyone wants more closet space.  How could that color be the winner?

[Songbird]

Say wha?????  I think Eric deserved to win.  For a contractor he had great design sense throughout the competition.  Every single room he designed was beautiful.

 

I knew Jonathan's team wasn't going to win.  As much as I loved Adib (sp) he was too slow.

 

Hilary had a wonky eye.

Yes, there was something definitely wrong with Hilary's eye. They tried to keep the camera angled on her good eye side, but you could still see there was obviously something wrong with the other eye. Hope it's nothing too serious....

 

I thought Eric deserved to win as well.

Edited July 14, 2014 by Songbird

[Lizzing]

I'd like to see some accounting to on the increase in value.  For me, at any rate, two walkin closets and a nice shower stall (let's face it, attaching the rest of the sliding glass door would take about 15 minutes, tops) far outweighs a closet with a door that can't open properly and a soaker tub that will gather dust.  I'm just biased against soaker tubs though...they take too long to clean before and after soaking, so unless I have maid service (which I don't), I'd never use it.

[auntjess]

I wonder if it would be fairer to base the winner on percentage increase, rather than dollar amount, and haven't done the math to know if that would matter.

I was wanting Adi to win, or Eric, so I'm disappointed, but not overly.

[DownTheShore]

I think it's more a lack of imagination on HGTV's part.  They're concentrating so much on "H" part of their name in regards to selling and buying, with very little on the "G" part now.  I miss shows like Curb Appeal and Landscaper's Challenge, or the shows where we actually learned why certain design choices were made in the home decor.  Instead, they're giving multiple shows to Jonathan & Drew, and to Scott McGillvray (sp?) to rechurn their schtick, do multiple versions of Love It Or List It, similar shows involving first time homeowners, multiple versions of HH, etc.

 

I want to see a show that's akin to PBS's Victory Garden - where people actually grow a garden with vegetables.  I want to see a show about planting beautiful gardens for full sun, full shade, desert climates, northern climates, etc.  I want shows set in places other than southern California where the weather is fine and everything seemingly grows year-round.  I want gardening shows set in places where people have to deal with quirks of nature like weather and deer eating the plants and squirrels digging up the flower bulbs.

 

I want them to do a show on decorating rental apartments (not condos) that are plain boxes as they are in real life - none of those apartments that have quirky sunrooms or beautiful crown molding/baseboards or windows and doors that are fully trimmed out with white-painted or natural wood.  I want to see what they do with a plain rectangle of a living room with a metal & glass sliding door as its only light source.  Or an apartment bathroom with no window and a noisy exhaust fan.  Or old and ratty cabinets and appliances in a narrow kitchen.

Edited July 15, 2014 by DownTheShore

[auntjess]

DownTheShore, Ahmed Hassan just post yesterday on his Facebook page, that he'll be having a gardening show on PBS.

[mlp]

I wanted Eric to win too so I was disappointed.  I liked Adi but he'd screwed up too often.  I also liked his partner.  I did not much care for the woman who won and she lost me as soon as she started crying. 

[DownTheShore]

Thanks for that info.  I'll be looking for it.  At least on PBS there won't be that fast scene cutting to try to drum up drama and excitement as was done in Yard Crashers.  That has always annoyed me - it  seemed aimed solely at people with ADD.   I always wondered, too, if a lot of people turned down his offer of help in a knee-jerk response simply because he wasn't white; I could easily see that happening.  Perhaps that's why they switched hosts.

 

Hopefully the new show will move beyond putting firepits in water fountains...

[DownTheShore]

In my eyes, the master bed/bath with the double closets trumped the other one.  You can never have too much storage space, while you can always use the main bath in the house to soak in a tub.

 

I don't think that what's-her-name's design skills were that good; puke-green is not "zen".

 

I am of mixed-mind re Eric - my instinctive reaction was to dislike him, but I think I do him a disservice by that.  Adib, while seeming a nice guy, always took on more work that could realistically be completed within the time frame.

 

What really surprises me with these shows that stress "the new value of the home is...." is how they don't subtract out the cost of the renovations to get what the real value-earned is of the remodeling.  A lot of those renovations don't add a whole lot of value, even the kitchen ones, if the house footprint isn't being changed also.

[radishcake]

DownTheShore, Ahmed Hassan just post yesterday on his Facebook page, that he'll be having a gardening show on PBS.

Oh goody!! I love him and I've missed his show! He was the best landscape designer to me for any of the yard shows.

[DownTheShore]

Adib:  "The toilet right next to the tub - that's nasty!"

 

What???  If you've got a small bathroom, where else is it going to go?  Where's he from - one of those countries that puts the toilet in a separate room by itself without a sink?  Now, that's nasty!

 

(Not to mention it being extremely convenient in an emergency if you've got an illness that includes nausea and diarrhea.  ;->)

Edited July 17, 2014 by DownTheShore

[Donny Ketchum]

Since no one's mentioned it, Melissa won.

[NYGirl]

So are the Scott's so arrogant that they are not even having teams? Just Drew vs Jonathan? WTF?

[auntjess]

Yes, and is the little brother the judge?  I see him in the promos.
I didn't watch them do their own house, and I'll probably skip this one too.
 

[NYGirl]

They are saturating HGTV with their presence.  Too much!!!

[auntjess]

And yet there's still time left for Hilary, David, and now--Nicole.

[NYGirl]

I hate Nicole!!!  The only saturation I don't mind is Tarek and Christina.. the episodes are quick and the drama minimalized.  Sorry to go off topic.

Edited May 10, 2015 by NYGirl

[CruiseDiva]

So, anyone know which brother won tonight's challenge? I fell asleep before the ending.

[NYGirl]

I'm ashamed to say I watched even though I was so adamant about not watching. The concept isn't as bad as I thought even though I still prefer the other format.

CruiseDiva: Jonathan won.