Sony Pictures Home Entertainment presents

Trading Spaces: Great Kitchen Designs and More! (2005)

"Alright, let's trade spaces!"- Paige Davis

Stars: Doug Wilson, Vern Yip, Genevieve Gorder
Other Stars: Ty Pennington, Amy Wynn Pastor, Carter Oosterhouse
Director: Chris Emmanouilides

MPAA Rating: Not Rated for (nothing objectionable)
Run Time: 03h:45m:00s
Release Date: 2005-04-26
Genre: television

Style Grade	Substance Grade	Image Transfer Grade	Audio Transfer Grade	Extras Grade
B+	B+	B	C+	D+

 

DVD Review

If the TV show Trading Spaces has accomplished one thing during its multi-year run, it is that millions of previously lazy homeowners have decided to do some renovating on their homes. It got me pumped up to do some remodeling, that's for sure. Unfortunately, the show's success has spawned numerous copycat shows, including the ultra-annoying ABC show, Extreme Makeover, starring Trading Spaces alum, Ty Pennington.

The idea for the show came from the British TV show Changing Rooms, which was a hit overseas. Trading Spaces first aired in 2000, with Alex McLeod hosting. Fortunately, for men everywhere who were forced to watch the show with their wives, McLeod was let go, and the lovely Paige Davis took over. Her spunk and liveliness really put the show over the top, making it a huge ratings success for the TLC channel. Recently, it has gone through an upheaval thanks to a format change that focuses less on the host (Paige Davis is gone), and more on competition between the two teams. Unfortunately, this change has proven to be for the worse, as ratings and the overall quality of the show have suffered greatly.

For those who have never seen Trading Spaces, here's the way a typical episode works. Two teams of homeowners that live close to each other agree to re-design/re-model a room in the other team's house, with the help of one of the show's professional designers and carpenters. When the work is done, each team goes back to their own house to see what's been done. While most of the people in the episodes on this DVD are happy with the work, there's always a couple who dislikes their home's new look, and that's when the show is even more fun.

The designers and carpenters are a huge part of the series' success as well. Not only is the "hunky" Pennington a hit with the ladies on Extreme Makeover, but designers Vern Yip and Genevieve Gorder have enjoyed success outside of Trading Spaces as well, with commercials and books among their accomplishments. Plus, it's always great to see controversial designer Hildi at work. Her strange, usually ridiculously ugly taste has destroyed many a room, causing many of them to actually look worse than they did before the staff got there.

Trading Spaces: Great Kitchen Designs and More! features five complete episodes from the "good," Paige Davis years, and a breakdown of each episode is as follows:

Chicago: Fairview Avenue: Vern Yip and Genevieve Gorder are the designers assigned to open up a cramped kitchen and spice up a family room, respectively. Good old Ty Pennington is along to cut up some wood in this entertaining episode.

Massachusetts: Indian Ridge Road: One couple is sick of the seagull that is painted on their bedroom ceiling , and another is sick of their kitchen. Designer Frank Bielec puts a religious spin on the new bedroom, while Christi Proctor decides to paint the kitchen Army green. The much less annoying Amy Wynn Pastor is along to cut the wood this time.

Austin: Wyoming Valley Drive: The unstoppable Hildi is on the loose, ruining one couple's kitchen, while the other couple isn't much luckier, as Laurie Smith comes up with one of the tackiest dining rooms you'll ever see.

Miramar: Avenue 164: Designer Doug Wilson has the daunting task of painting 40 kitchen cabinets for some rather attractive home owners, while Frank is back in action, this time painting a bedroom fire-engine red. Yikes!

New York: Taft Avenue: A couple of newer designers are featured here, Barry Wood and Edward Walker. While they aren't the seasoned veterans that we've been used to, they still do a good job with their respective tasks.

Rating for Style: B+
Rating for Substance: B+

 

Image Transfer

	One
Aspect Ratio	1.33:1 - Full Frame
Original Aspect Ratio	yes
Anamorphic	no

Image Transfer Review: These full-frame presentations look almost exactly like they did during their original TV broadcasts, which works great on DVD. The bright colors of the various paints, walls, etc. come across very nicely, with excellent shadow rendering and solid black levels. There is a bit of grain, but nothing that becomes a major distraction.

Image Transfer Grade: B
 

Audio Transfer

	Language	Remote Access
DS 2.0	English	yes

Audio Transfer Review: The Dolby Digital 2.0 track is also very similar to the original broadcast sound, with nearly everything, except for a few music cues, staying up front. Very little bass can be heard, but dialogue is never a problem, as it is always crisp and clear.

Audio Transfer Grade: C+ 

Disc Extras

Animated menu with music
Scene Access with 70 cues and remote access
Subtitles/Captions in English with remote access
Packaging: Keep Case
Picture Disc
1 Disc
1-Sided disc(s)
Layers: dual

Extra Extras:

1. Trading Spaces Unglued: Compilation of clips that were cut from show when it aired on TV.

Extras Review: The only extra feature is Trading Spaces Unglued, a nearly 10-minute piece featuring clips that were cut out of the show when it aired on TV, including a collection of very funny bloopers.

Extras Grade: D+
 

Final Comments

Trading Spaces used to be a wonderful show, which has now worn out its welcome. It's nice to have a collection of the its better offerings with Trading Spaces: Great Kitchen Designs and More! The audio and video are similar to their TV broadcast counterparts, and there's only one extra feature, but fans of the show will love this DVD.

Chuck Aliaga 2005-04-28