321 replies to this topic

[marxfan]

I thought it'd be fun and different to discuss the best and worst homes on TV. From cozy homes you'd like to live in, lushly decorated abodes that are simply nice to look at, or total pits that you wouldn't wish upon your worst enemy. Pick from any show (reality shows included). By the way, the name of the post is based on a game my friends and I played in middle school called M.A.S.H., which stood for, as you've already guessed, mansion, apartment, shack and house. I decided against calling the topic M.A.S.H. because I didn't want to confuse anyone. My picks for the best homes:

Monica's apartment from Friends: I love the lavender walls, the perfectly sized kitchen and the roomy and comfortable TV area. I also love the eclectic, girly decorations and the front door with a knob in the middle.

Mary's one room apartment in the first few seasons of The Mary Tyler Moore Show. If I were a single girl living alone, I'd like to live that adorable little place too (though the shag carpeting would be the first to go). I also lurrrved Rhoda's hot pink attic apartment with the hippie bead curtains and that brass "etc." sign on the wall.

I liked the guest room where Mr. Belvedere stayed with the forest green walls and the writing desk with the brass lamp. I also remember the bed with the plaid bedspread. Home-y and austere at the same time.

Favorite reality show home: Hogan Knows Best. Beautifully furnished and I love that massive kitchen.

Worst?
Homes in every other '70s show (I agree with my folks that it was the ugliest decade). The Bunkers' house in All in the Family had all that brown and orange, and then there's that nasty rat hole of a house from Sanford and Son... yes, I know, Fred Sanford was a junk collector and that's what his house was supposed to look like, but, still, yech! I always felt so sorry for Lamont for having to live there.

Both homes on Everybody Loves Raymond were terrible. Ray and Debra's house poorly decorated and cluttered, and Frank and Marie's house was dated looking and sterile.

[HelenaHandbasket]

Even better, IMO, was Niles' apartment with all that beautiful hardwood. It had all the elegance of a mansion, but the workable size of a very large apartment.

[sonneta]

Giles's apartment/loft on Buffy. It was small, but had all sorts of wonderful, ecclectic wall hangings and such. Also, the outside with the little courtyard was just beautiful.

[aquarian1]

The house on The Brady Bunch was designed by the dad, who is an architect, but all kids still had to share rooms.

I *love* the house in The Addams Family. Creepy stuff, but toally fun. I love all the booby traps and moving statues. If I ever get rich, I'm going to recreate it as one of my houses, just for fun.

[Imaginary Foe]

This thread can't go without a mention of "the hatch" on Lost which I guess counts as Desmond's home. I wouldn't mind purchasing a house like that myself.

Living on a beach ... not the best TV home

[D.C.]

Didn't somebody actually draw blueprints of a bunch of TV houses, based only on watching repeats of the shows way too many times? I know he did one of Rob and Laura Petrie's house, but I can't tell you what the others were. He had a few exhibits at art galleries with them, and I think there's a book out.

[JuliJBG]

The Huxtables had quite the big place for NYC, but I loved it-- I always wanted my own room, so I was jealous of their pad.

I am also thinking of the house in Rosanne-- I think it was the first realistic and normal house on tv. It was filled with not so nice furniture, the kids shared a room, and it was generaly messy. Not a great place, but nice to have a more accurate depiction of how most of America lives.

The house on The Brady Bunch was designed by the dad, who is an architect, but all kids still had to share rooms.

Didn't he design it before "they all bcame the Brady Bunch...". I never understood why he never put on an addition, or designed another one, though.

Edited by JuliJBG, Nov 6, 2005 @ 10:55 AM.

[Rinaldo]

The Huxtables had quite the big place for NYC

Yes, but it was only a slight stylization of an upscale townhouse in Brooklyn Heights (where they lived, as an affluent family like the Huxtables likely would).

I too liked Mary Richards's one-room apartment, complete with the sunken living-sleeping area with shelves in the little walls, and the walk-in closet through which one got to the bathroom.

I also liked the Petries' house (twin beds notwithstanding). it was a tad unrealistic (two-level living-dining room), even for the postwar wave of suburban ranch houses, and yet it became so popular that people asked to have their houses designed just like it.

I liked the house on Roseanne because it was overflowing and cluttered just like real peoples' houses.

I liked the Steadmans' and Westons' homes on thirtysomething for similar reasons -- you can never quite get everything put away. I know some people thought the houses were ridiculously opulent for the characters to afford, but they seemed about right to me: young professional married couples plunge into homeowning with an old house that's a little beyond them (probably they got help from the parents on the down payment) that they could afford because it had things wrong with it, and they spend the rest of their lives trying to get everything working properly, with a mixture of hand-me-down and thrift-shop furniture.

Frasier's apartment? I could never really get on board with it. Mind you, I would love to have that view and that kind of space in Seattle -- sign me up. But can I suspend my disbelief enough to imagine a three-hours-a-day radio personality affording that place, decorating it on that level, and also supporting his father and paying full-time live-in help? Sorry.

Edited by Rinaldo, Nov 6, 2005 @ 2:34 PM.

[mooncreek]

The couch on Married...with Children was very similar to the one we had at the time. Otherwise, it was more like Roseanne - clutter everywhere.

I always liked Frasier's place. It fit the character perfectly and it needed that damn recliner to mess with his head.

Worst:
They need to fire the people responsible for the homes on The Real World and The Surreal Life. I realize part of it is to make the casts crazier than they normally are but a little subtlety would be appreciated for us viewers.

[Irish Wolf]

Frasier's apartment? I could never really get on board with it. Mind you, I would love to have that view and that kind of space in Seattle -- sign me up. But can I suspend my disbelief enough to imagine a three-hours-a-day radio personality affording that place, decorating it on that level, and also supporting his father and paying full-time live-in help? Sorry.

Not to mention the fact that in order to have that view, I think you'd have to remove First Hill, or something... :)

[roguetamlin]

I have always lusted after Buffy Summers' house. Whenever I see a house like that, I swoon and want to buy it.

[Namaste]

I have craftsman-style bungalow love for the Girardi's house in "Joan of Arcadia." That goes for the furnishings as well.

[miak2]

I always liked the Chase's house from "My So-Called Life". Love those California craftsmen bungalows. Also, Martha Stewart's Turkey Hill. I hear she's selling it. Time to go see what's in the penny jar.

[Knee High Boots]

Another big fan of the Craftsman home here! The Eppes family home from NUMB3RS, inside and out, is my dream abode. Swoon, drool.

And I wouldn't mind having Charlie as a housemate, either. Wink wink, nudge nudge.

Edited by Knee High Boots, Nov 6, 2005 @ 3:53 PM.

[lilxprincess]

Gilmore Girls is all about the houses.

Lorelai and Rory's house is lovely. It looks cozy and lived in, not like something out of a magazine.

Rory's poolhouse does look like something from a magazine. But it's so cute!

Luke's apartament fits him so well, right down to the flannel sheets.

Rory and Paris' dorm at Yale. Yes, it's huge and unrealistic, but I still like it.

Babbette and Morey's house is hilarious but I would never want to live in it.

Emily and Richard's house is terrifying. It looks like a museum.

[D.C.]

Aha! Blueprints.

[Anyone Bueller]

Jeannie's bottle on I Dream of Jeannie could be considered a home, couldn't it? If so, that's the coolest television home. Southfork Ranch on Dallas is also pretty bad-ass. Though after I actually visited Southfork Ranch and discovered that the show used wide-angle lens and mirrors to "enlarge" the house and swimming pool, it lost some of its coolness in my eyes.

And even though it's not the worst, I'm not exactly crazy about Blanche's house on The Golden Girls. To quote Sophia Petrillo, too much wicker!

[BetyBee]

As a kid I just loved the house on Please Don't Eat the Daisies (yes, I'm ancient) because it was so big they would occasionally find a room they didn't know they had. I loved that concept. I still have dreams where I find a room I didn't know we had! I think the Keatons had a nice homey home on Family Ties and the Full House house seemed to know no bounds when it came to creating new rooms.

[Divaah46]

Another big fan of the Craftsman home here! The Eppes family home from NUMB3RS, inside and out, is my dream abode. Swoon, drool.

Can't stand the show, but my GOD that house is gorgeous. Whoever owns that house is real life are lucky people indeed.

[ladyrott]

On Buffy, I really liked the apartment that Anya and Xander shared. It was roomy and had those nice ceiling fans.

[nicepebbles]

marxfan: worst
The Bunkers' house in All in the Family had all that brown and orange, and then there's that nasty rat hole of a house from Sanford and Son... yes, I know, Fred Sanford was a junk collector and that's what his house was supposed to look like, but, still, yech! I always felt so sorry for Lamont for having to live there.

ITA. Also on AitF, everything had like a dingy tint to it. That really annoyed me. On SaS, if I was a woman, I would not be coming over. Ever.

blockedwriter: I loved Frasier Crane's apartment. Fussy and prissy as he was about details, it paid off with that beautiful place. The great view and wonderful furnishings made up for the awful old recliner that Martin insisted upon keeping. I loved the character of Martin, but I really hated that recliner.

I loved his apt as well. Granted, in reality he couldn't afford it, but since when is TV realistic?

julijbg: The Huxtables had quite the big place for NYC,

I loved their home but I could grasp just how big it was. I mean they had a basement but wasn't his office in the basement? And Claire had an office but where exactly was it located?

I liked the Buchman's apt of MaY but I was annoyed at the fact that people would have to walk thru their bedroom to get to the bathroom.

[space cadet]

Buffy always lived in a very pretty house, and it was, if I remember from the commentary for "What's My Line" correctly, the "set" house was set up to be exactly like the house in real life.

[avocado]

I still have dreams where I find a room I didn't know we had!

I have these dreams all the time.

I like the homes on Alias, particularly Sydney's 2nd apartment (luscious wood, great lighting) and Jack's. It was perfect for him.

[EnglishMuffin]

Frasier's apartment? I could never really get on board with it. Mind you, I would love to have that view and that kind of space in Seattle -- sign me up. But can I suspend my disbelief enough to imagine a three-hours-a-day radio personality affording that place, decorating it on that level, and also supporting his father and paying full-time live-in help? Sorry.

I totally covet Frasier's apartment, and I don't think it's without the bounds of possibility for him to afford it. He's, what, 40 or 41 when the series begins, so he's had about ten years in private practice, which could be extremely lucrative. If that money was properly invested it could yield a good income. Further, he seems to make a good salary from the station (good enough that he's not tempted to give it up and go back into private practice), particularly after Bebe becomes his agent. Martin would have a pension and possibly some savings of his own, so he's likely to be contributing to the rent/mortgage, and to Daphne's pay.

I know, I've thought about this too much.

Also on Frasier, I like Niles and Maris's house or castle or whatever it is. I think we only get to see a couple of rooms, but it's so completely right for Maris's brand of bonkers-ness, with the stone and the huge doors and the faux-gothic.

[Backstagebear]

Buffy's house and Giles' apartment were all build with all 4 walls intact. Each wall could independently roll out to allow photography.

It strikes me that this would be useful for cleaning, as well.

[dustylil]

Ghastly as the decor of the Bunker home in All in the Family was, at least it seemed representative of a working class urban home of its time. In the seventies, the homes of characters really began to separate themselves from reality.
To my mind the worst example of this was in The Waltons. A spacious house with electricity, running water and indoor plumbing owned by a poor mountain family in the midst of the Depression? I don't think so.

[BookWoman56]

I liked the Steadmans' and Westons' homes on thirtysomething for similar reasons -- you can never quite get everything put away. I know some people thought the houses were ridiculously opulent for the characters to afford, but they seemed about right to me: young professional married couples plunge into homeowning with an old house that's a little beyond them (probably they got help from the parents on the down payment) that they could afford because it had things wrong with it, and they spend the rest of their lives trying to get everything working properly, with a mixture of hand-me-down and thrift-shop furniture.

I always liked the Chase's house from "My So-Called Life". Love those California craftsmen bungalows.

Let me throw in the love for the Manning house on Once and Again here, and I think we've got a Herskovitz/Zwick theme going here. Lily's house seemed very right for a middle-class suburb, and was reasonably cluttered. I remember when Rick moved in and couldn't find a place to work because the dining room table had stuff (laundry?) all over it. Also, when the Sammler kids needed their own rooms, the solutions seemed practical. As opposed to the house suddenly having two extra previously undisclosed bedrooms, they made one bedroom out of the attic and converted the garage into another. Angela Chase's room on MSCL looked like a real teen's room; in the pilot, IIRC, her mother comes into the room and is horrified by the mess. I also loved Melissa's apartment on thirtysomething and Judy's apartment on Once and Again; both characters were somewhat artsy and their apartments reflected their creative sides.

In general, I think the H/Z shows did a great job of having houses/apartments that matched the characters' lifestyles and personalities. They seemed to be places where these people actually lived, as opposed to artificial sets where all the furniture and accessories match perfectly, and elves come in every night to clean and make sure nothing is ever out of place.

[NYGirl]

I always loved the Taylor home on Home Improvement! The living room/dining room/kitchen area was so nice and spacious.

[Brn2bwild]

Little House on the Prairie has my vote for worst house. That log cabin might have been charming at first, but after several years and several more children, it was time to burn that thing to the ground. Especially in light of all of the lavish Victorian pads owned by their neighbors.